Thomas Wier
@trwier.bsky.social
Linguist & Caucasologist • Professor at the Free University of Tbilisi • Research languages of the Caucasus, the Tonkawa language • Author of 'Tonkawa Texts' • Weekly Georgian Etymologies
Academic research: https://freeuni.academia.edu/ThomasWier
Academic research: https://freeuni.academia.edu/ThomasWier
This same shift in meaning happened across the Western world in the early modern period -- the first English use of 'cold lead' to refer to bullets occurs only in the 17th century. So the Georgian soldiers who calqued this meaning were part of a wider pattern.
December 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
This same shift in meaning happened across the Western world in the early modern period -- the first English use of 'cold lead' to refer to bullets occurs only in the 17th century. So the Georgian soldiers who calqued this meaning were part of a wider pattern.
The modern meaning of bullet is of course much more recent. This meaning is first attested in a Georgian court case dating to 1749 in which the tools of war - rifle, swords, weapons, bullets and medicine - were confiscated from their owners:
December 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The modern meaning of bullet is of course much more recent. This meaning is first attested in a Georgian court case dating to 1749 in which the tools of war - rifle, swords, weapons, bullets and medicine - were confiscated from their owners:
So it seems likely that something similar happened with the word for 'lead': a northern Caucasian word for blue such as Lezgic *naIƛ̣:(ʷ)V or Abkhaz-Adyghean *ƛ̣ʷV blue, iron came to be associated with a particular metal characterized by that color, as raw lead often develops a blue or purple patina:
December 9, 2025 at 2:26 PM
So it seems likely that something similar happened with the word for 'lead': a northern Caucasian word for blue such as Lezgic *naIƛ̣:(ʷ)V or Abkhaz-Adyghean *ƛ̣ʷV blue, iron came to be associated with a particular metal characterized by that color, as raw lead often develops a blue or purple patina:
...as well as other language families, like north Caucasian languages:
December 9, 2025 at 2:25 PM
...as well as other language families, like north Caucasian languages:
This trend was true of Indo-European languages...
December 9, 2025 at 2:23 PM
This trend was true of Indo-European languages...
Words for metals across languages shift meaning easily, either to the purpose of use (gold/silver > money) or for the color it characterizes. For example, the Kartvelian word for gold was borrowed into Greek as ὦχρος 'pale yellow':
December 9, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Words for metals across languages shift meaning easily, either to the purpose of use (gold/silver > money) or for the color it characterizes. For example, the Kartvelian word for gold was borrowed into Greek as ὦχρος 'pale yellow':
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ტყვია ṭq̇via 'bullet', from Old Georgian ႲႷჃႥႨ ṭq̇wivi lead, from Kartvelian *ṭq̇wi- lead, poss. an ancient loan from a north Caucasian source: Lezgic *naIƛ̣:(ʷ)V blue, Abkhaz-Adyghean *ƛ̣ʷV blue, iron. Metals often get their names from their color.
December 9, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ტყვია ṭq̇via 'bullet', from Old Georgian ႲႷჃႥႨ ṭq̇wivi lead, from Kartvelian *ṭq̇wi- lead, poss. an ancient loan from a north Caucasian source: Lezgic *naIƛ̣:(ʷ)V blue, Abkhaz-Adyghean *ƛ̣ʷV blue, iron. Metals often get their names from their color.
Rayfield's translation probably best captures the feeling of that work:
December 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Rayfield's translation probably best captures the feeling of that work:
In Georgian literature, this old word becomes the centerpiece of Symbolist poet Galaktion Tabidze's famous poem ქარი ჰქრის Kari hkris 'the Wind Blows':
December 2, 2025 at 11:59 AM
In Georgian literature, this old word becomes the centerpiece of Symbolist poet Galaktion Tabidze's famous poem ქარი ჰქრის Kari hkris 'the Wind Blows':
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ქარი kari 'wind', from Old Georgian ႵႠႰႨ kari, from Proto-Kartvelian *kar- wind, to blow, poss. an ancient Steppe loanword: Altaic *găl- sky, wind, Dravidian *gāḷ- wind, air. Made famous in the poem by Galaktion Tabidze, ქარი ჰქრის 'The Wind Blows'.
December 2, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ქარი kari 'wind', from Old Georgian ႵႠႰႨ kari, from Proto-Kartvelian *kar- wind, to blow, poss. an ancient Steppe loanword: Altaic *găl- sky, wind, Dravidian *gāḷ- wind, air. Made famous in the poem by Galaktion Tabidze, ქარი ჰქრის 'The Wind Blows'.
Something similar probably happened to bazhe sauce, which gets its name metaphorically for the rich 'tax' or 'duty' used to make walnut paste with garlic, salt, vinegar, fenugreek, coriander, marigold and red pepper:
November 25, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Something similar probably happened to bazhe sauce, which gets its name metaphorically for the rich 'tax' or 'duty' used to make walnut paste with garlic, salt, vinegar, fenugreek, coriander, marigold and red pepper:
All scholars agree that the classic Georgian bazhe sauce, made from walnuts, garlic and vinegar, is in origin a Megrelian sauce, hailing from western Georgia. Despite its importance, it not attested until the 20th century -- it is not e.g. found in Barbare Jorjadze's 1874 famous cookbook.
November 25, 2025 at 9:45 AM
All scholars agree that the classic Georgian bazhe sauce, made from walnuts, garlic and vinegar, is in origin a Megrelian sauce, hailing from western Georgia. Despite its importance, it not attested until the 20th century -- it is not e.g. found in Barbare Jorjadze's 1874 famous cookbook.
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ბაჟე baže 'walnut sauce with garlic', from Megrelian ბაჟა baža, from Georgian ბაჟი baži toll, duty, tax, from Old Georgian ႡႠႯႨ baži, from Middle Persian bāǰ tax, from Old Persian 𐎲𐎠𐎪𐎶 tribute. It gets its name metaphorically from its enriched flavor.
November 25, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ბაჟე baže 'walnut sauce with garlic', from Megrelian ბაჟა baža, from Georgian ბაჟი baži toll, duty, tax, from Old Georgian ႡႠႯႨ baži, from Middle Persian bāǰ tax, from Old Persian 𐎲𐎠𐎪𐎶 tribute. It gets its name metaphorically from its enriched flavor.
In Georgian cuisine, a ketsi is a commonplace part of meals for cooking and serving mushrooms, cheese, chicken and other kinds of stews. Here for example is the famous Shkmeruli dish, made from fried chicken in a bath of milk, garlic and other spices:
November 17, 2025 at 3:32 PM
In Georgian cuisine, a ketsi is a commonplace part of meals for cooking and serving mushrooms, cheese, chicken and other kinds of stews. Here for example is the famous Shkmeruli dish, made from fried chicken in a bath of milk, garlic and other spices:
Because the word is found in Svan with regular sound-reflexes, we can surely reconstruct it to Proto-Kartvelian. But even protolanguages borrowed words, and Nakh-Daghestanian broadly features this root across subfamilies, indicating its antiquity there:
November 17, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Because the word is found in Svan with regular sound-reflexes, we can surely reconstruct it to Proto-Kartvelian. But even protolanguages borrowed words, and Nakh-Daghestanian broadly features this root across subfamilies, indicating its antiquity there:
As this shows, the word could originally refer to a wide variety of clay-fired stoneware, still reflected in the Svan meaning:
Megrelian კიცი ḳici clay pan
Laz კიცი ḳici clay pan
Svan კეც ḳec wine amphora, kvevri
Zan *e regularly shifts to /i/ before coronal obstruents.
Megrelian კიცი ḳici clay pan
Laz კიცი ḳici clay pan
Svan კეც ḳec wine amphora, kvevri
Zan *e regularly shifts to /i/ before coronal obstruents.
November 17, 2025 at 11:16 AM
As this shows, the word could originally refer to a wide variety of clay-fired stoneware, still reflected in the Svan meaning:
Megrelian კიცი ḳici clay pan
Laz კიცი ḳici clay pan
Svan კეც ḳec wine amphora, kvevri
Zan *e regularly shifts to /i/ before coronal obstruents.
Megrelian კიცი ḳici clay pan
Laz კიცი ḳici clay pan
Svan კეც ḳec wine amphora, kvevri
Zan *e regularly shifts to /i/ before coronal obstruents.
Weekly Georgian Etymology: კეცი ḳeci 'ceramic pan', from Old Georgian ႩႤႺႨ ḳeci wine vessel, from Proto-Kartvelian *ḳec- ceramic vessel, loan from/into Nakh-Daghestanian *kɨ̄ṭV- vessel: cf. Chechen kad pot, Tsez ḳoṭi cup, Udi kot:o-war pan. Ancient pan-Caucasian Wanderwort.
November 17, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Weekly Georgian Etymology: კეცი ḳeci 'ceramic pan', from Old Georgian ႩႤႺႨ ḳeci wine vessel, from Proto-Kartvelian *ḳec- ceramic vessel, loan from/into Nakh-Daghestanian *kɨ̄ṭV- vessel: cf. Chechen kad pot, Tsez ḳoṭi cup, Udi kot:o-war pan. Ancient pan-Caucasian Wanderwort.
So this word ლეკვი leḳvi puppy ultimately is connected not only to more familiar words like English wolf, Latin lupus, and Russian волк, it is also indirectly related to the name of Georgia itself.
November 10, 2025 at 10:47 AM
So this word ლეკვი leḳvi puppy ultimately is connected not only to more familiar words like English wolf, Latin lupus, and Russian волк, it is also indirectly related to the name of Georgia itself.
Several Indo-European branches featured an L-initial form for wolf, including Hellenic, Italic and Paeonian, a poorly attested Paleo-Balkan language. So it may have been a feature of that region's IE languages. Other IE words often preserved the initial *w:
November 10, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Several Indo-European branches featured an L-initial form for wolf, including Hellenic, Italic and Paeonian, a poorly attested Paleo-Balkan language. So it may have been a feature of that region's IE languages. Other IE words often preserved the initial *w:
The word is in turn a loan from a late Indo-European form *lúkʷos, whose metathesis probably reflects some kind of taboo deformation: across languages, it is common for speakers to alter a taboo word for wild animals. Cf. Slavic медведь for bear, lit. 'honey-eater'.
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 AM
The word is in turn a loan from a late Indo-European form *lúkʷos, whose metathesis probably reflects some kind of taboo deformation: across languages, it is common for speakers to alter a taboo word for wild animals. Cf. Slavic медведь for bear, lit. 'honey-eater'.
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ლეკვი leḳvi 'puppy', from Old Georgian ႪႤႩႥႨ leḳvi, from Georgian-Zan *leḳw-, an ancient loan from Indo-European *lúkʷos, metathesis of *wĺ̥kʷos 'wolf': cf. Greek λύκος, Proto-Italic *lukʷos. It is thus cognate to English wolf and Latin lupus.
November 10, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ლეკვი leḳvi 'puppy', from Old Georgian ႪႤႩႥႨ leḳvi, from Georgian-Zan *leḳw-, an ancient loan from Indo-European *lúkʷos, metathesis of *wĺ̥kʷos 'wolf': cf. Greek λύκος, Proto-Italic *lukʷos. It is thus cognate to English wolf and Latin lupus.
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ფოცხი pocxi 'rake', from Old Georgian ႴႭႺႾႨ pocxi rake, harrow, from Georgian-Zan *porcx-/*porcʲx- rake, broom, compound of Kartvelian *purcʲ- leaf and *cx- comb. Thus also related to ცოცხი cocxi broom and dialect forms like ფორჩხი porčxi rake.
November 5, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Weekly Georgian Etymology: ფოცხი pocxi 'rake', from Old Georgian ႴႭႺႾႨ pocxi rake, harrow, from Georgian-Zan *porcx-/*porcʲx- rake, broom, compound of Kartvelian *purcʲ- leaf and *cx- comb. Thus also related to ცოცხი cocxi broom and dialect forms like ფორჩხი porčxi rake.
So ultimately this word for a shape-shifting mythological creature comes from some form of verb of motion. In western Georgia, another name for such a creature is found: მგელკაცა mgelḳaca lit. 'wolf-man', probably a calque of Greek λυκάνθρωπος, whence English lycanthrope.
October 27, 2025 at 11:42 AM
So ultimately this word for a shape-shifting mythological creature comes from some form of verb of motion. In western Georgia, another name for such a creature is found: მგელკაცა mgelḳaca lit. 'wolf-man', probably a calque of Greek λυκάνθρωπος, whence English lycanthrope.
In later times, in the verse epic about King Teimuraz written by King Archil of Kakheti in 1684, we see this word used as a metaphor for the psychological loss of control:
October 27, 2025 at 11:40 AM
In later times, in the verse epic about King Teimuraz written by King Archil of Kakheti in 1684, we see this word used as a metaphor for the psychological loss of control:
Weekly Georgian Etymology: მაქცია makcia 'werewolf', from Old Georgian ႫႠႵႺႨႠ makcia shape-shifting monster, agent noun of Kartvelian *kecʲ- turn, behave, run, possible loan from/into Nakh-Daghestanian *ḳān[c̣]V- run, jump, or Altaic *kăči pass. An old part of Georgian folklore since the Middle Ages.
October 27, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Weekly Georgian Etymology: მაქცია makcia 'werewolf', from Old Georgian ႫႠႵႺႨႠ makcia shape-shifting monster, agent noun of Kartvelian *kecʲ- turn, behave, run, possible loan from/into Nakh-Daghestanian *ḳān[c̣]V- run, jump, or Altaic *kăči pass. An old part of Georgian folklore since the Middle Ages.