[citation needed] The Kartvelian languages, including Georgian, Zan and Svan, were once known as South Caucasian.

[2] However, since the analysis was automatically generated, Müller et al. (2013) does not conclude whether the grouping is due to mutual lexical borrowing or genetic inheritance.

The following classification is based on Nikolayev & Starostin (1994): The main perceived similarities between the two phyla lie in their phonological systems.

Both phyla are characterised by high levels of phonetic complexity, including the widespread usage of secondary articulation.

By contrast, the Northwest Caucasian noun systems are relatively poor in morphology, usually distinguishing just two or three cases.