Happy Georgian Language Day!

6 MIN READ

There is one place on earth I regret not having visited. Yet, it feels familiar through films and fashion oeuvres, delightful taste of its wines, sweet fruits, and savory dishes bringing the remote feeling of sunshine closer all the way to the Baltic shores. This place is a Caucasian country Georgia – located between the Caucasus mountain range and the Black Sea, and in my heart.

In Lithuanian, we call it by its Georgian name Sakartvelo where the locals call themselves Kartvelebi. My birth country Lithuania has long been a close ally and a supporter of Sakartvelo throughout political conflicts and attempts to join the EU. Politics has penetrated into people’s hearts and minds. Lithuanians seem to travel, trade with and give their highest points at the Eurovision Song Contest to Sakartvelo and vice versa.

This irresistible attraction felt for the country and its culture made me sign up for a Georgian language introduction online session on European Language Day in the autumn last year. The class was organized by the Georgian Embassy in Denmark and their young ambassador. This is when I first learned some Georgian phrases and facts, such as the yearly celebration of Georgian language day on April 14.

Georgian Language Day is to commemorate the national movement in 1978 when the country, one of the Soviet Union states back then, stood up to the Soviet authorities and their attempt to reform the Georgian constitution and introduce Russian as another official language of the state. Mostly students demonstrated against the ruling, which turned into a lasting protest and, finally, on April 14, when the legislation was to be passed, the protesters marched on to the House of the Government in Tbilisi demanding to retain the status of the Georgian language as the only language of the state. The government gave in that day which, since the country’s independence in 1990, is deemed an official “Day of the Georgian Language.” A monument called Deda Ena (Mother Tongue) was erected in the capital city of Tbilisi in the 1980s to commemorate the event.

Today, with its 18 dialects, Georgian is Sakartvelo’s primary language of 87,6 % of its population of over 3 million people. Georgian belongs to the South Caucasian language family. It is a descendant of Proto-Kartvelian, which later formed a Proto-Georgian-Zan family and later split into two separate language groups, namely, Zan and Georgian. Georgian seems to be the most widely spoken family member and the only one having an ancient literary tradition. It does not share any affinity with Indo-European languages, such as, for instance, Armenian – the language of Sakartvelo’s southern neighbor. The Georgian alphabet was invented in the 5th century CE – the time of the first attestations and oldest surviving literary work written using the alphabet. Georgian texts are written from left to right in a “secular” script Mkhedruli, replacing the original “church writing” Khutsuri used until the 11th century CE. The alphabet contains thirty-tree letters with no distinction between upper or lower case. One letter represents one sound, and in return, one sound represents one letter. One distinctive feature concerns consonants which form clusters, as seen in the names of Georgian cities Tbilisi, Mtskheta, Tkvarcheli or words such as “I write” vtser , “I live” vtskhovrob and “day” dghe.

Often, we look for a good reason to pick up a new language. In Sakartvelo’s case, that reason may be a wish to travel and explore culture, gastronomy, and wine. It is claimed that the origin of the word “wine” in different languages can be traced back to the Georgian word Ghvino ღვინო. I, personally, find films to be one of the main inspirations to learn some words in an unfamiliar language. In the Georgian language case, my recommendations would be Eldar Shengelaia’s* films, the undeniable classic of Tengiz Abuladze Repentance (1986)**(not only linguistic but also musical and sartorial inspiration, and much food for thought), or a more recent film from 2019 And Then We Danced by Levan Akin. Another reason is art which piques my curiosity about the country an artist comes from, their background, the language they speak, and the air they breathe. I will be rushing to see Georgian Niko Pirosmani’s (1862/3 – 1918) workpieces once they hang on the walls of the Louisiana Art Museum outside Copenhagen in May. Yet another reason would be music played by someone like the classical pianist Khatia Buniatishvili. And, finally and undoubtedly, literature and a Georgian novelist Nino Haratischwili is worth turning to and becoming inquisitive about the culture the writer is writing about.

The basic vocabulary to start with is this: Sakartvelo – Georgia, Gamarjoba – hello, Madloba – thank you, Arafris – you’re welcome, Ki – yes, Ara – no, Rogor khar? – how are you?, Kargad – good, Saidan khar? – where are you from?, Ra gkvia? – what is your name?, Me mkvia – my name, Nakhvamdis – bye, Gaumarjos – cheers!

Oh, Sakartvelo, the more I write and learn about you and your language, the more I am convinced my next trip should be planned to finally see you. Გნახავ! Happy Georgian language day!

**

* Eldar Shengelaia’s films

** Tengiz Abuladze’s Repentance

Sources: Embassy of Georgia in Copenhagen, Denmark; The Languages of the World Kenneth Katzner (1975, London)