Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Thus it's possible this verb form that means 'tremble, shake', and came to mean 'frighten, scare' came from a more basic system of verb compounds for verbs of motion. It thus might reveal something about how words were constructed in early forms of Kartvelian. 020
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 06/10/2026One possibility is these forms are related to a more basic root motion root *tx- 'twist, weave, plait; spill' as expressive compound forms. This seems to have been an areal trait of neighboring families like Abkhaz-Adyghean lgs where verbs of motion are often derived compounds: 140
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 06/10/2026However, something about this root suggests it might have an earlier origin. Quite a few Kartvelian verbs of motion end in or involve -tx: *pertx- tremble, shake *partx- quiver, flap *ratx- stretch, unclose *txar- dig *txew(l)- catch *txleš- slap, beat Are they connected? 120
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The sound-changes behind these forms are quite regular, and so surely reconstructible to the protolanguage: Kartvelian *e becomes /a/ in Zan languages, while *r is frequently lost in clusters, which explains the loss in Laz and Svan. 120
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Because of its late attestation and it is not found in direct cognates in the sister languages, it is unlikely that it antedates the 18th century by much. It is however based on a verb of motion found across the family for 'tremble, shake' that came to mean 'frighten'. 120
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The word is first attested only quite late, in an 1892 set of reminiscences of folk life by Dutu Megreli: 'Imagine a slender, tall, shapeless stick, clumsily draped in a dress of various colors and fabrics... as if a scarecrow had been hastily clad in rags and scraps' 120
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Weekly Georgian Etymology: საფრთხობელა saprtxobela 'scarecrow', from ფრთხობელი prtxobeli, participle of ფრთხობა prtxoba frighten, startle, from Kartvelian *pertx- tremble, shake. The underlying verb shifted semantically from a verb of motion to a psychological predicate of fear. 160
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 14/09/2026The word ჟღალი žğali is itself an old participle of the root *žğ-, and this root shows up in the name of the extremely rare wine varietal Žğia, which produces a deep 'black' wine, or a mellow reddish rosé. It was almost lost to Soviet viticulture practices, but is being revived. 041
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 14/09/2026(We would normally expect Georgian /a/ and Svan /a~ä~ə/ to correspond to Megrelian /o/, so the Megrelian word ჟღალი žğali may be a loan from Georgian. The Laz word seems to have undergone some straight-forward cluster reduction of *žğalia to ღალია ğalia.) 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 14/09/2026It is also found in the sister languages, with some small phonological irregularities: Megrelian ჟღალი žğali dark red (hair or meat), ჟღიჟღიბი žğižğibi glowing red Laz ღალია ğalia red-colored animal If Svan ლიჟღჷლი ližğəli 'weep' fits, the root goes fully back to Kartvelian. 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Despite its late date of attestation, the root can refer to a number of kinds of dappled or multicolored array of color: ჟღალთვალება žğaltvaleba hazel (eyes) ჟღალთმიანი žğaltmiani ginger, auburn, calico (hair, fur) ჟღალისფერი žğalisperi wine-dark ჟღალა žğala streaked color 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 14/09/2026It is first attested only very late, in a periodical called Temi ('Community') in 1911 to refer to young people with ginger hair: "Half a dozen young men sat around the table; they were mere youths, yet reddish hues played in their hair" 121
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Weekly Georgian Etymology: ჟღალი žğali 'ginger, auburn, russet', late attested word likely descended from Kartvelian *žğ-al- ginger, calico, hazel. Used for hair and eye color, the root may also describe tortoiseshell cats and the rare ruby-colored Georgian wine varietal Žğia. 1102
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Both French & English get their word skunk/sconse from Algonquian languages, such as Abenaki segôgw, which comes from an Algonquian compound construction: *šek-a·kw-a [urinate-fox-ANIM .SG]. Georgians still use this older loanword სკუნსი sḳunsi alongside the more recent calque. 112
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 07/09/2026All of this of course reflects this mammal's smelly method of defense. The older loanword სკუნსი sḳunsi was probably borrowed from Russian скунс, which itself is borrowed from French skunks, which was pronounced /skɔ̃s/ and nowadays spelled <sconse>. 111
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 07/09/2026The word მყრალი mq̇rali from which the animal's name is derived is old in Georgian to describe wormwood (e.g. in the Book of Revelation). It is a participial form of the Georgian-Zan root *q̇ar, making it cognate to Megrelian ჸორიდუა ʔoridua to rot, decay. 111
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 07/09/2026So how did a name for a plant come to be used for a mammal notorious for its smelly defense mechanism? It seems this was a conscious choice of Georgian encyclopedists to replace the foreign loan word სკუნსი sḳunsi while they were writing the Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia in 1984: 111
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 07/09/2026The earliest attestations of მყრალა mq̇rala in Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani's 17th century dictionary refer not to any kind of mammal but to a kind of aromatic flowering plant called artemisia in Latin but mugwort in English. It is sometimes confused with wormwood, also strong smelling. 101
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Weekly Georgian Etymology: მყრალა mq̇rala 'skunk', recent coinage derived from მყრალი mq̇rali stinking, foul, participle of ყარს q̇ars stinks, reeks, from Kartvelian *q̇ar-. Not native to the Caucasus, it is also called სკუნსი sḳunsi, ultimately from Algonquian *šeka·kwa skunk. 182
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Armenian did the opposite, though not quite in the same position: in word-initial position, *w underwent fortition to *ğw, then *ğ, then /g/, which is how *wóyh₁nom 'wine' became Armenian գինի gini. 031
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Yeah, that's a good observation. My thinking is that there was some dialect of Akkadian that spirantized -bb- intervocalically, which is how 𒆷𒁍𒌝 lābum 'lion' (note almost homophonous with labbum) became Greek λέϝων (> λέων)... 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026There is some reason to believe the Akkadian term was borrowed via some intermediary language. Some ancient loans with non-initial /b/ end up with /w/: Akkadian 𒆷𒁍𒌝 lābum became Hittite 𒌨𒈤 walwa and Greek λέϝων. So perhaps this word too reflects similar spirantization? 141
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026This kind of semantic change is common across lgs: sterling < originally silver of high quality damask < originally fabric from Damascus cashmere < originally wool from Kashmir peach < Latin persicum malum 'Persian apple' The term for quality became the product itself. 182
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Since Svan lacks a regular reflex, this root goes back only to Georgian-Zan. But if so, is it an ancient loan? Perhaps: we see forms like Akkadian 𒆷𒀊𒁍𒌋 labbum 'inferior date fruit', in which a label of product quality came to stand for the product itself. 121
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Such umlaut in the history of Georgian is rare but not unattested. Some other examples from Fähnrich show the same process: 121
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026The Georgian form is also curious: normally Georgian /e/ corresponds to Zan /a/, but here it corresponds to /u/. This reflects changes in both languages from earlier *a: a) Zan changed *a to /u/ before labials b) Georgian had irregular cases of umlaut of *a to /e/ before /i/ 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Each sister lg has a cognate of this root, though with peculiarities: Megrelian ლუღი luği Laz ლუღი luği (Svan ლეღუ) leğw The Zan forms reflect regular raising of *a to /u/ near labials, while the Svan form is a Georgian loan. 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026The word is amply attested in Old Georgian texts, e.g. the Adish Gospel (Luke 13:7) dating to 879: აჰა, ესერა, სამი წელი არს, ვინაჲთგან მოვალ და ვეძიებ ნაყოფსა ლეღუსა ამას შინა და არა ვპოვე 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none' 111
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Weekly Georgian Etymology: ლეღვი leğvi 'fig', from Old Georgian ႪႤႶႥႨ leğvi, from Georgian-Zan *lağw- fig, perhaps borrowed from Akkadian 𒆷𒀊𒁍𒌋 labbum 'inferior date fruit', via some other source lg such as Proto-Armenian or Hurrian. It semantically shifted from product quality to the product itself. 193
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 25/08/2026We also find similar forms in Altaic and Uralic languages: Evenki: olgo- dry Orok: xoldoxo dry Literary Manchu: olGo- dry Finnish korttaa: singe, burn Mordvin kurta: singe Selkup: singe So if these language families are not historically related, this may be evidence of ancient language contact. 011
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Greek θέρμη heat and θερμός warm, glowing is of course also where Latin got therma 'hot bath' and hence all the modern words related to _thermal_. Perhaps an even more direct descendant in English is _warm_, from PIE *gʷʰor-mo-s 'warm'. So this IE root really got around... 111
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 25/08/2026However, even protolanguages borrow words, and something like this root is found across ancient Eurasian language families. In Indo-European we find numerous forms of *gʷʰer- warm: Greek θέρος summer, θέρμη heat Sanskrit हर॑स् háras flame, fire Armenian ջեր ǰer heat, warmth 112
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Although it is not found in Old Georgian, the word is securely reconstructible to Proto-Kartvelian because it is found in each branch with regular sound-changes: Megrelian გოლოფა golopa heat, drought Svan გუალი, გუა:ლი, ნაგუალეუ gwali, gwäli, nagwalew drought 111
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 25/08/2026The word is first attested in Shota Rustaveli's famous late 12th century epic poem The Knight in the Tiger Skin, in which the hero Avtandil is about to leave for the city of Gulansharo to find the whereabouts of Tariel's lost, kidnapped love Nestan-Darejan: 111
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Weekly Georgian Etymology: გვალვა gvalva 'drought', from Old Georgian ႢႥႠႪႥႠ gvalva heat, drought, from Proto-Kartvelian *gwal- drought. Possibly an ancient Wanderwort of the Eurasian Steppe: cf. Indo-European *gʷʰer- warm, Altaic *gUrV- burn, Uralic *korta singe, burn. 282
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 18/08/2026The word is first attested in an 18th cent. extension of the Georgian Chronicles on the 14th cent. invasion of Georgia by Tamerlane: მაშინ მიეტევვეს ქართველნი ვითარცა ხანძარი აღტყინებული ქართა მიერ 'Then [Tamerlane's armies] assaulted the Georgians like fires kindled by winds' 021
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Weekly Georgian Etymology: ხანძარი xandzari 'fire, blaze', from late Middle Georgian, from Armenian խանձառ xanjaṙ spark, from Indo-European *(s)kend- shine. It is thus cognate with Greek κάνδαρος charcoal, Sanskrit चन्द्र candrá shining, Latin candeo shine and English candle. 181
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 12/08/2026All the early associations of this word reflect darkness that results from the movement of the heavenly bodies like the Sun or the Moon, or from natural forces (as with clouds). For darkness of color, Georgian has a whole array of other words, mostly loans or derivations: 031
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Chuxua suggests that Megrelian მუნაფა munapa 'cloud' may also be related; if so, this would reflect both semantic shift (daylight darkening > partial darkening of the sky through clouds > clouds) and also Megrelian's epenthesis of /m/ before accented syllables: *mbunapa > munapa 121
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 12/08/2026The root is attested in at least Georgian and Svan, proving its antiquity in the family: Georgian ბნელი bneli dark, ბინდი bindi twilight, ბუნდი bundi dim, dark Svan ბჷნლე:თ bənlēt dark night Clearly it already has associations with light resulting from astronomical events. 122
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 12/08/2026The word is first found in 9th century translations of the works of Meletius of Antioch in reference specifically to eclipses of the sun or the moon: რამეთუ არა გრწმენა მზისაჲ მის დაბნელებაჲ, მივედით და იხილეთ "Since you don't believe in the eclipse of the sun, come let's see" 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Weekly Georgian Etymology: დაბნელება dabneleba 'eclipse', from Old Georgian ႣႠႡႬႤႪႤႡႠ dabneleba, from ბნელი bneli dark, participle of Kartvelian *bun- dark. Used for both eclipses of the sun and the moon, the root specifically refers to the absence of light, and not color. 184
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026This kind of word-boundary reanalysis is very common across languages. In English, it has happened many, many times when words that used to be vowel-initial acquired an initial /n/, or lost it, because of the preceding indefinite article: 041
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026In other words, medieval Georgians heard a sequence like იმ ბრუჯვილ ეტერს im brujvil eṭers 'that roasted grain' and misanalyzed where the word boundary lay because the nasal-stop-trill cluster is fundamentally acoustically more difficult to interpret than other clusters. 121
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026However in this case, since the following word started with /br/, the effect of M-mobile was not to add an /m-/ to the following word, but to reduce the cluster between the nasal & trilled cons. Across lgs, this precise context is acoustically very unstable: 121
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Other words in the history of Georgian have undergone this same reanalysis; a preceding demonstrative like იმ im 'that' or ამ am 'this' was reinterpreted by speakers as part of the following noun: Old Georgian იმ ტრედისა im ṭredisa > Modern Georgian იმ მტრედისა im mṭredisa 121
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026But the Georgian form რუჯ- ruj- comes from something like /brej-/, how did it lose its initial consonant? This probably reflects a reanalysis known as 'm-mobile': the final /m/ of a preceding word forms a cluster with the onset of the following word, confusing word boundaries. 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026So a semantic shift from a word used to describe roasting grains is not so surprising. The precise source of this loan word is less than 100% clear, but it probably came from one of a number of northwestern Iranian languages with something like the form /brej-/: 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Across languages it is understandably extremely common for words for suntans to come from words of roasting, scorching or heating: Swedish solbränna, lit. sunbrand Italian abbronzare, lit. braze with heat Polish opalenizna, lit. singeing Armenian արևայրուք arewayrukʻ, sun-scorch 131
Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026This root is first attested in the 13th century Gelati Bible in a translation of Leviticus (23:14): და პური და რუჯვილი ეტერი ახალი არა შჭამოთ ვიდრე ამის დღისამდე "You must not eat any bread, or roasted grain, until the very day [that you bring this offering]" 131