Abstract:
The paper focuses on the issue of Georgian translation of German proper names and toponyms containing the grapheme <ch>. The German velar sound [x], denoted by the grapheme <ch>, is transmitted into Georgian by means of the glottal sound “ხ“. This is an undoubted fact. However, Georgian has no correlate of the German palatal sound [ç]. This sound is transmitted into Georgian in two ways, by “ხ“(kh) and “ჰ“(h) forms. In order to choose the best form out of these two sounds, I have analyzed the normative forms of the above-mentioned sounds in the literary German language, as well as their phonetical, phonological and graphic peculiarities. It is well known that, in the German language, the grapheme <ch> denotes both velar [x] and palatal [ç], which are combined variants of one and the same phoneme /x/, and differ solely by the place of articulation. Substitution of these sounds does not change the meaning of the word.
A totally different sound is a glottal fricative [h]. It differs from the above-mentioned sounds by the place of articulation, as well as by its nature and position in a word. Substitution of both velar [x] and palatal [ç] by the fricative [h] leads to a change in the meaning of the word. Therefore, it is inadmissible to transfer the sound [ç] by means of the phoneme ჰ into Georgian, solely based on the similarity of pronunciation. Besides, in borrowed proper names and toponyms, the Georgian spirant ჰ is easily lost before the vowels and at the end of the word. Georgian ჰ has its own function: it denotes the German sound [h] when transferring German proper names into Georgian. Thus, this grapheme cannot be used to denote the German palatal [ç] in the Georgian versions of proper names and toponyms. To summarize all the above-mentioned, we can conclude that the expression of German palatal [ç] by means of the Georgian glottal “ჰ“ is incorrect. For contemporary literary Georgian language, it is more natural and acceptable to use the grapheme “ხ“ for both German sounds [x] and [ç], denoted by the grapheme <ch>.
