აზერბაიჯანულის შუამავლობისათვის სპარსულ-ქართულ ენობრივ ურთიერთობებში

Abstract

During the longstanding Iranian-Georgian language contacts, at various stages of development of the Persian language, lexical units penetrated Georgian either directly from Persian or by way of mediation. According to M. Andronikashvili, in the Middle Persian period, lexical units penetrated into Georgian either directly from Persian or via Armenian (1966:7; 163). However, according to the same author, during the New Persian language period, beginning from the 11th century, the Persian language was a mediator in the process of borrowing from Arabic, because at this time there were no direct language contacts between Arabic and Georgian (1965:257). Analysis of certain loans borrowed by Georgian from New Persian has proved that Persian lexical units were borrowed from Georgian not only directly but also via Turkic languages, namely, Azerbaijani, which was in close contact with the Eastern lowland dialects of Georgian. So far, this fact has not been considered in the research of Persian-Georgian language contacts. The phonetic and semantic forms of seven Persian loan-words point to their penetration into Georgian via Azerbaijani. These words are as follows: 1. ავარა[avara] – The Explanatory Dictionary of the Georgian Language (KEGL, 1950/64) represents this word as a colloquialism and explains its meaning as follows: “an idle, roaming youngster, hooligan, tramp“. Like its Persian etymon, this loanword is grammatically polysemantic i.e. it is both a noun and an adjective: ვიღაც ავარები[viγac avar-eb-i] (some avaras) (noun); ის ერთი ავარა ბიჭია [is ert-i avara bič̣-i-a] (he is a roaming youngster) (adjective). Cf. Persian هراوآ [åvåre] – 1.noun. tramp, refugee; 2.adj. roaming; 3.adj. unhappy, unlucky (Anvari, 1382/2003) and Azerbaijani Avara [avara] – 1.noun. an idle person wandering about the streets, a person who has no job and who is incapable of working; 2.adj. homeless (Orucov, 2006). The first meaning of the etymon “tramp“ was transferred into Azerbaijani and Georgian retaining the initial meaning and, at the same time, acquiring new ones. The semantic closeness between the first meaning of the Azerbaijani version and the Georgian meaning proves that this word penetrated Georgian via Azerbaijani. 2. Georgian დაზგა[dazga] – noun. 1. lathe – a machine for the processing of metal (wood etc.) // a machine for making textile and other objects; 2.a carpenter’s desk; 3. working table for artisans of diverse fields; 4.arch. same as counter (KEGL, 1950/64). Cf. Persian. هاگتسد [dastgåh] – noun. 1. A tool, installation, lathe 2. An apparatus, system; 3. Power, authority (Anvari, 1382/2003) and Azerbaijani Dəzgah [dæzgah] – noun 1. A machine, which produces different objects from wood, metal and other material; 2. A large table where artisans work; 3. A tool for weaving carpets (Orucov, 2006). The Azerbaijani meanings and three Georgian meanings are based on the initial meaning of the etymon. The synonymous meaning of “the counter” has been developed in Georgian from the transformation of the meaning of “lathe” as a working table of an artisan. The fact that this word came into Georgian from Azerbaijani is proved by the phonetic similarity between the Georgian and Azerbaijani forms as well as by the fact that the Persian sound sequence st was replaced by ზ/z which is unusual for Georgian. 3. Georgian თოხუმ-ი [toxum-i] – noun. origin, kin, clan (KEGL, 1950/64). Cf. Persian مخت [toxm] – noun. 1. seed, grain (of plant); 2. egg; 3. clan (Anvari, 1382/2003) and Azerbaijani Toxum [toxum] – noun 1.seed 2. origin (Orucov, 2006). The phonetic form proves that the Georgian parallel was derived from Azerbaijani. 4. Georgian ზაჰრუმა[zahruma] – 1.interjection. Death! Perishing! Annihilation! (KEGL, 1950/64). Cf. Persian رام رِهز [zähr-e mår] - noun. snake poison (Anvari, 1382/2003) and Azerbaijani Zəhrimar – [zæhrimar] - 1. noun. poison; 2.interjection death, pest! (Orucov, 2006). The Persian word combination رام رِهز [zähr-e mår] turned into an interjection in Azerbaijani and penetrated Georgian also in the form of an interjection. 5. Georgian ნარ-ი[nar-i] – noun, archaic. male camel (KEGL, 1950/64). Cf. Persian رن [när] 1.adjective. male; 2.adj. archaic. courageous, brave; 3.noun male animal (Anvari, 1382/2003) and Azerbaijani Nər – [nær] – 1.adj. strong, brave, courageous; 2.noun. male animal/male camel (Orucov, 2006). One of the meanings of the Persian etymon – “brave” – was transferred into Azerbaijani. As for the substantive meaning “male animal”, in Azerbaijani its semantics was restricted and later this meaning was transferred to the monosemantic Georgian parallel. 6. Georgian ჯამბაზ-ი[jambaz-i] – noun 1.acrobat, tightrope walker; 2. actor at the circus, clown (KEGL, 1950/64). Cf. Persian زابناج [jånbåz] – 1.adj. a person who risks his own life; brave, courageous; 2. noun a brave, courageous, fearless person; 3.noun, archaic. tightrope walker, acrobat (Anvari, 1382/2003) and also Persian زابماج - [jåmbåz] - noun 1. A drunkard and troublemaker; 2. swindler, cardsharp (Anvari: 1382/2003) and Azerbaijani Canbaz [jambaz] – noun 1. acrobat; 2. joker (Orucov, 2006). The first meanings of Georgian and Azerbaijani parallels are based on the archaic Persian substantive meaning of زابناج [jånbåz] - tightrope walker, acrobat. As for the meaning “clown, joker“, its basis is the meaning of زابماج [jåmbåz] - “drunkard, trouble-maker”, based on the association of drinking with fun and joking. Thus, this is the case of contamination of two paronyms in the borrower languages. The semantic equivalence of “clown, joker” in Azerbaijani and Georgian points to the fact that this meaning was transferred to Georgian from Azerbaijani. Unlike Azerbaijani, where only the form Canbaz [janbaz] is found, in Georgian, there are phonetic variants ჯანბაზ-ი[janbaz-i] and ჯამბაზ-ი[jambaz-i]. This means that, alongside semantic contamination, phonetic contamination also took place. 7. Georgian ჯომარდ-ი[jomard-i] – archaic, adjective, noun: brave, daring, merciful (KEGL, 1950/64). Cf. Persian درمناوج [jävånmärd] – 1. noun. Generous, noble, merciful person. 2. noun. a brave person; 3.adj. merciful, generous; 4.adj. brave, daring (Anvari, 1382/2003) and Azerbaijani Cavanmərd [javanmærd] see: comərd [jomærd] - adj. 1. generous, noble; 2. merciful, brave (Orucov, 2006). This loanword has two phonetic variants in Azerbaijani. Both meanings of the grammatically polysemantic etymon are transferred in the form of an adjective. The Georgian version is also grammatically polysemantic. It is based on the third and fourth meanings of the etymon. The Georgian word ჯომარდ-ი [jomard-i] is based on the Azerbaijani phonetic form comərd [jomærd]. The examples discussed above prove that certain loanwords penetrated into Georgian either directly from Persian as well as via Azerbaijani. This fact points to the necessity of further research in this direction.