ცხინვალი
Georgian
editEtymology
editFirst attested in the 14th century.
From Middle Georgian, from Old Georgian ქრცხილვანი (krcxilvani), from ქრცხილი (krcxili, “hornbeam”) + -ოვანი (-ovani, adjectival suffix), ultimately from Proto-Kartvelian *krcxeml- (“hornbeam”).
The earliest form was probably *ქრცხილოვანი (*krcxilovani), *ქრცხილოანი (*krcxiloani). In the 15th century it developed into კრცხილვანი (ḳrcxilvani) (the ქ (k) → კ (ḳ) development is regular in Middle Georgian). Due to metathesis of the consonants and due to natural drift in the language, the first two consonants of the root (*კ (*ḳ) and *რ (*r)) were lost, while *ლ (*l) was replaced with the more convenient *ნ (*n) (and vice versa. The same development is seen in Old Georgian ჟილვანი (žilvani) → ჟინვალი (žinvali)).
In all forms of the term the root is *ქრცხილ- (*krcxil-) (or later *კრცხილ- (*ḳrcxil-)), suffixed with -ოვანი (-ovani, “having certain characteristics or qualities”), where ო (o) is lost due to phonetic contraction. Old Georgian ქრცხილა (krcxila) (modern რცხილა (rcxila, “hornbeam”)) was the name of a certain type of an endemic tree (of genus Carpinus) commonly found in this region. Thus, the literal meaning of the toponym can be viewed as "the land of hornbeams".
Pronunciation
editProper noun
editცხინვალი • (cxinvali)
- Tskhinvali (the capital city of South Ossetia, a de-facto independent country internationally recognized as part of the country of Georgia)
Descendants
edit- → Armenian: Ցխինվալ (Cʻxinval)
- → English: Tskhinvali
- → Ossetian: Цхинвал (Cxinval)
- → Russian: Цхинвал (Cxinval)
References
edit- Bedošvili, Guram (2002) Kartul ṭoṗonimta ganmarṭebit-eṭimologiuri leksiḳoni [Dictionary of Georgian Geographical Names][1] (in Georgian), Tbilisi: Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, →ISBN, pages 479–482
- Fähnrich, Heinz (2010) “Von Baumnamen gebildete georgische Siedlungsnamen”, in Namenkundliche Informationen[2] (in German), volume 97, Leipziger Universitätsverlag, page 138–139 of 133–143
- Georgian terms derived from Middle Georgian
- Georgian terms derived from Old Georgian
- Georgian terms derived from Proto-Kartvelian
- Georgian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Georgian lemmas
- Georgian proper nouns
- ka:Cities in South Ossetia
- ka:National capitals
- ka:Places in South Ossetia
- ka:Cities in Georgia
- ka:Places in Georgia