KADMOS

Le martyre de Šušanik. Une hypothèse au sujet de la date des traductions géorgiennes des Evangiles

2024-11-25T13:36:11+00:00

Kadmos 15.2023 publishes a Georgian translation of the article Le martyre de Šušanik. Une hypothèse au sujet de la date des traductions géorgiennes des Evangiles by Kartvelologist Bernard Outtier. The article was previously published in Revue des études arméniennes, t. 39, Hommage à Agnès Ouzounian (2020). The Georgian translation is by Tsisana Bibileishvili.

First International Conference on Lexicography at Ilia State University

2024-11-25T13:23:34+00:00

The I International Conference Lexicography in the XXI Century was held at Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia from 10 to 12 November 2023. The conference was established in 2022 by Ilia State University and Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University and will be held bi-annually. The motto of the I International Conference was: “Lexicography – by combining traditional methods and modern technologies”. The topics of the conference included the following: Lexicography and language technologies; Lexicography and corpus linguistics; Lexicography for Specialized Languages, Terminology, and Terminography; Lexicological Issues of Lexicographical Relevance; Bilingual Lexicography; The Dictionary-Making Process; Research on Dictionary Use and Issues of Dictionary Didactics.
During the review process, each submitted abstract was evaluated by two independent blind referees. The conference aims to create a forum for the discussion of issues concerning modern lexicography in Georgia, so as to further popularize this field in our country and the region. Lexicography as a field of knowledge has undergone significant evolution and has become a truly multidisciplinary field. Rapid changes in language technology and artificial intelligence, and the demand for the creation of more sophisticated applications, compel lexicographers to look ahead and foresee the place of lexicography and lexicographers in these developments.
Conference proceedings are published here.

Conference Report: International Conference Lexicography in the XXI Century, Tbilisi 10-12 November 2023

2024-11-25T13:28:04+00:00

The international conference Lexicography in the XXI Century took place at Ilia State University in Tbilisi, organized by the Centre for Lexicography and Language Technologies. In three days, it featured three keynote lectures, 25 regular papers and a poster session with nine posters.

The absence of parallel sessions brought all participants together in one room so that we built up a shared experience. Scholars from a wide range of European and North American countries ensured a genuine international exchange. Georgian lexicographers also took this opportunity to present their work to an international audience and engage in discussions.

Each day, the programme started with a keynote lecture. Keynote lectures were delivered by Pius ten Hacken, Lars Trap-Jensen and Tinatin Margalitadze.

It is worth mentioning that the authors included both established scholars and PhD students. This mix was very fortunate and stimulated the exchange of ideas.

In the book of abstracts, the conference is presented as the first of a series. It is good to know that there will be a second conference, organized in Batumi.

South Caucasian Chalk Circle 3 (SCCC-3)

2024-11-17T19:07:13+00:00

On October 2-4, 2023, the Linguistic Conference South Caucasian Chalk Circle 3 (SCCC-3) was held at Ilia State University, and the International Fall School of Linguists was also held within the same event (https://linguistics.iliauni.edu.ge/). The first SCCC met in Paris in September 2016 and was followed up by smaller meetings in North America and the second SCCC in Tbilisi in
2018. There was an unfortunate break due to the pandemic, and we were delighted to resume the meetings in person in 2023 at ISU, in Tbilisi. Following up on its general theme, SCCC-3 brought together linguists working on different aspects of the scientific study of language and experts in Georgian and South Caucasian (Kartvelian) languages and placed special emphasis on the
morphology and morphosyntax of polypersonal grammatical systems. As in the prior meetings, SCCC-3 included several tutorials, presentation and poster sessions, to create as much space for informal discussions as possible. In 2023, SCCC-3 also hosted tutorials on bilingualism, child language development, and experimental design in linguistic research. The conference was followed by the Fall School of Linguistics (5-10 October).
The conference and Fall School had a big variation of linguistic fields: Kartvelian languages (Georgian, Svan, Laz, Megrelian), Basque, endangered languages, language development, bilingualism, sign languages, neurolinguistics, morphology, phonology, syntax, lexicography, language heritage, dialectology, typology, corpus linguistics and language acquisition.
Together with Georgian linguists, the professors and doctoral students from different American and European Universities and research centres (University of Maryland, USA; University of Paris 8, France; CNRS – Université Côte d’Azur, IKER, Bayonne, France; University of South California, USA; Université Paris Cité, France; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel; Boğaziçi University, Turkey; University of Milan Bicocca, Italy; University of Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, France; University of Chicago, USA; CNRS, SFL, Paris, France; Bar-Ilan University, Israel; Rice University Houston, Texas, USA, University of California, Berkeley, US; University of Montréal, Canada, Queen Mary University of London, UK; University of Toronto, Canada; University of Florence, Italy; University of Nantes, France participated in the event.

The Drought by Aleksandre Kutateli: Religion, Revolution and Power in the Arena of Apocalyptic Expectations

2024-11-25T12:50:15+00:00

The Drought (1927), a short story by Georgian writer Aleksandre Kutateli (1898-1982), draws a picture of a region of Georgia at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the country was part of the Russian Empire and revolutionary unrest was just beginning to stir.
The story describes (the last, enlarged version of the short story was published in 1974) a Georgian village where drought and an epidemic are raging, ruthlessly destroying plants, animals and people alike. Such a state of affairs inspires apocalyptic fears and feelings among the village residents.
The characters in the story fall under two categories: those with religious sentiments and apocalyptic expectations, on the one hand, and those with a revolutionary spirit, who plan to change the existing circumstances and are to establish a new political order, on the other. As the epilogue of the story notes, it is the young revolutionary forces that achieve victory when the communist government is already established in the country.
One of the protagonists of the story is an archpriest named Iakob Pkhakadze, a well-educated clergyman with no personal belief, who uses the religious feelings of the others in order to gain power and influence. This character seems to understand religion in the same way as the Grand Inquisitor from the novel The Brothers Karamazov (1880) by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)
did. It seems plausible to suggest that Kutateli, while perceiving Dostoevsky’s Inquisitor and creating his own image of archpriest Pkhakadze, was inspired by the work of Vasily Rozanov (1856-1919), namely The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor by F. M. Dostoevsky (1894), as this book had a notable impact on the twentieth-century modernist writers in general, and on the Georgian modernists in particular.

Mythic Paradigms in Grigol Robakidze’s Novel The Cry of the Goddess

2024-11-25T12:56:27+00:00

The article opens with an overview of the worldview-philosophical foundations of the poetics of Grigol Robakidze's novels. Namely, it discusses Goethe's doctrine about Urphaenomen on the one hand and the Nietzschean Die ewige Wiederkunft des Gleichen on the other. It is argued that, based on the above-mentioned teaching of Goethe, Robakidze revisited and fundamentally transformed the Nietzschean concept.
The article proceeds by discussing two mythic paradigms, Die ewige Wiederkunft des Gleichen and the myth of Dali, represented in Robakidze's novel The Cry of the Goddess (Germ. Der Ruf der Göttin, 1934). Particular attention is paid to the literary interpretation and blending of the myths. The final part summarizes research findings and concludes that, in The Cry of the Goddess, the embedding of Ursprung in the historical phenomenon is Robakidze’s interpretation of the paradigm of Die ewige Wiederkunft des Gleichen, while the conflict between the mythical and the historical shown in the love of the main character, as well as his death, echoes the paradigm of Dali's myth.

‘An Ancient Persian Tale, Retold in the Georgian Tongue,’ and the Circle of Merchants in The Knight in the Panther’s Skin

2024-11-25T13:01:12+00:00

The article attempts to make a new interpretation of the line ‘An Ancient Persian Tale, Retold in the Georgian Tongue’ from the famous verse in the preface of the renowned epic poem by twelfth-century eminent Georgian poet, Shota Rustaveli. The line under scrutiny informs us that Rustaveli was retelling, in the Georgian tongue, an ancient Persian tale, hitherto rolled from “hand to hand” as an unset “pearl,” which he finally transformed into a precious pearl.

Sixteenth-seventeenth cc. Georgian king-poets Teimuraz I and Vakhtang VI explain that The Knight in the Panther’s Skin is not in fact a Persian story, but was an initiative of Queen Tamar, who compelled Rustaveli to imitate the Persian style. To my mind, the opinion voiced by the two king-poets can be considered reliable: the poem’s plot is indeed an original invention of the Georgian poet, while the literary conventions he used to express it in verse were based on the principles of Persian poetry. This view has been voiced by many Georgian and foreign scholars, with the main argument favouring this assumption being the ex silentio of Persian sources; that is to say, the absence of such a tale in Persian tradition. Further support for this supposition can be found in the fact that Rustaveli, in his poem, gives a negative portrayal of the merchants’ circle – something completely unacceptable in the Muslim tradition, as Prophet Mohammad and his first wife, Khadija, were both engaged in trade.

The author also provides additional parallel material in order to shed extra light on the universally acknowledged two-fold, Muslim and Christian, character of Rustaveli’s poem.

The Principle of Justice as the Premise of Equal Coexistence within a State, or One’s Path towards Self-Actualization

2024-11-25T12:02:07+00:00

The article presents a preliminary study based on eight miniatures by Nikolo Mitsishvili, exploring key themes related to justice, the state, and the human self. Additionally, the article investigates the concept of re-humanizing the deconstructed self in the context of an unjust state. Mitsishvili’s miniatures serve as both structural and conceptual foundations for the article, guiding its division into sections based on the miniatures themselves and the specific research issues they metaphorically address. For instance: [1] Mitsishvili’s imagery of “walking” symbolizes the self’s desire to transcend a static existence; [2] the concept of “human” is redefined as a quasi-human state; [3] the butterfly is likened to a person trapped in self-destructive behavior; [4] life-creation is interpreted as the process of constructing an absurd or unjust state; [5] the temporality of coexistence reveals the self’s inevitable solitude; [6] dreams are presented as simulated or idealized realities, contrasting with an unjust world; [7] silence is seen as an illustration of a voiceless society, lacking dialogue and thus undermining the principle of mutual presence among individuals; [8] melancholy is depicted as the emotional state of a person who, lacking knowledge, instead relies solely on faith, which leads to inverted thinking. Since happiness for the self depends on knowledge and understanding, faith - being the antithesis of knowledge - naturally engenders melancholy.

Methodologically, this study is situated at the intersection of literature and philosophy. Mitsishvili’s miniatures are treated as literary texts, analyzed through various philosophical frameworks to extract philosophical meaning. This approach allows for a philosophical decoding of the literary metaphors. Ultimately, the study argues that an unjust state can be likened to Plato’s allegory of the cave, where the self is denied freedom, coexistence, and knowledge. Within such a cave-like state, the individual exists merely as “human” - imprisoned, isolated, and immersed in belief rather than true understanding.

An Annotated Parallel Digital Edition of the Gospel of Matthew

2024-11-25T12:08:07+00:00

The article presents the principal findings of the project titled “Digital edition of an annotated parallel corpus of George the Athonite’s recension of the Gospel of Matthew” (YS-21-1562), which received funding from the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia for young scientists. Within the scope of the project, an annotation platform (Annotation Tool 2024) was developed. The Georgian translation of the Gospel of Matthew, specifically the text of George the Athonite’s recension
(Ivir. georg. 62), underwent morphological annotation. It was paralleled with the Greek Byzantine text type at the chapter and verse level. The morphological annotation is accompanied by Armenian and English translations at the word level. The platform allows users to store or download encoded text in TEI XML format. It was designed to facilitate the annotation of other books from the New and Old Testaments using the same model in the future, ensuring their digital availability. The article discusses the methodological basis of the digital edition of the Gospel of Matthew, and describes the process of developing and utilizing the annotation platform. Furthermore, it presents the basic methodology of morphological annotation according to the features of the Old Georgian language.

Heraclius II’s Caucasian Policy in the 1760s (according to the autobiographical memoir of Joseph [Hovsep] Emin)

2024-11-25T12:12:26+00:00

This article examines Heraclius II's Caucasian policy during the 1760s, as documented in the autobiographical memoir of Joseph Emin, a prominent Armenian public figure and leader of the national liberation movement. Joseph Emin's work, The Life and Adventures of Joseph Emin, serves as a valuable historical source shedding light on this period.

The article explores the historical context and significance of Heraclius II's policies in the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, and their implications for the broader region, extending beyond the South Caucasus. By comparing Emin's memoir with other historical sources and scientific materials, this article reconstructs the intricate military and political landscape of the 1760s in the South Caucasus.

This study holds particular relevance for researchers of the early modern history of the Georgian and Armenian peoples, offering insights into an era that to some extent shaped the destiny of these two nations. Furthermore, it underscores the global importance of understanding the multifaceted historical dynamics that unfolded in the region throughout this period.

Shukia Apridonidze. The Structure and Functioning of Forms of Address in Modern Georgian

2024-11-25T13:32:47+00:00

First published in 2023, the monograph by Professor Shukia Apridonidze, The Structure and Functioning of Forms of Address in Modern Georgian is the first work in Georgian to present a reinterpretation of the notion of address and to treat the theme in detail through theoretical analysis and offering practical recommendations. This publication launched the book series The
Library of Kartvelian Studies at Ilia State University.
The forms of address incorporate not only vocative forms of nouns, but also verbal forms (imperatives), as well as interrogative forms (both special and general questions). Ellipted or signaling forms are also added to the list.
“Although the purpose of the work is to study the structure and functioning of diverse forms of address in modern Georgian, the history of the language has naturally had to be taken into account in order to find a more or less satisfactory answer to various questions”, the author says (p. 308).
Linguistic data of the regional dialects are also elaborated. The monograph consists of two parts: Part 1: The Structure of Address Forms, and Part 2: Functioning of the Forms of Address. The Relationship of the Addresser and Addressee.
The study of the forms of address focuses on phonetic (consequently rhythmic and intonational), morphological, syntactic, lexical and pragmatic issues. As such, the monograph presents a comprehensive description and detailed analysis of a number of questions dealing directly or indirectly with the problems of structure, meaning, function and utilization of the address forms.
“In describing some questions of the communication relation between the addresser and addressee, sociolinguistic and culturological aspects predominate,” Professor Apridonidze notes (p. 326), going on to describe how social-political and cultural changes have been reflected in the language.
Special attention is given to the tendencies which are language-specific, i.e. putting the taboo on proper nouns, specific forms of address used by parents for their children, Georgian speech etiquette peculiarities, and more. The last chapter covers normative questions on the use of forms of address in the standard language, and provides recommendations for Georgian language users.
This book is essential reading for scholars, students, amateurs, and for all those who show even a slight interest in the Georgian language and Georgian linguistics. The monograph preserves the distinguished voice of Professor Shukia Apridonidze, a prominent Georgian scholar, and is a valuable contribution to Georgian scholarly research.

Winfried Boeder (1937-2023)

2024-11-25T13:41:30+00:00

Ilia State University and the Editorial Board of Kadmos are deeply saddened by the passing of Winfried Boeder, Professor Emeritus of the University of Oldenburg, distinguished scholar, Kartvelologist, member of the Editorial Board of Kadmos and Honorary Doctor of ISU. The journal thus publishes an 'in memoriam' tribute on behalf of Ilia State University.

Documentation of Megrelian: A Report on Linguistic Expeditions to Samegrelo (2022-2023)

2024-11-25T13:05:36+00:00

During the summers of 2022 and 2023, linguistic expeditions were carried out to Samegrelo. Within this initiative, linguistically valid, genre- and thematically diverse material, totaling up to 55 hours, was generated for the FLEx program so as to document the current sociolinguistic situation in Samegrelo. This was done through pre-designed questionnaires.
The field material from 2022 was entered into FLEx and processed for 6 hours and 23 minutes. This comprised 102 pages of text, consisting of 3,481 sentences and 26,972 unique forms.
At the current stage, the linguistic evidence suggests that the dialects of the Megrelian language do not show a tendency towards uniformity. Instead, they maintain distinctions at the phonetic, morphonological, and morphological levels. Generally, changes in the Megrelian language affect vocabulary and syntax, and are caused by the influence of Georgian.

Universal Syntactic Annotation Guidelines for Georgian

2024-11-25T13:18:04+00:00

One of the most crucial Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks is associated with the universality-driven development of language resources for different languages (e.g. Universal Dependencies (UD), UniMorph, PARSEME, etc.). This article describes the possibility of creating a Syntactic TreeBank for Georgian, and consists of four sections.
The first section briefly describes different linguistic resources that exist concerning Georgian and mentions the importance of syntactic annotation. The second section focuses on the tools used for mapping the existing targets for Georgian to the UD format. The third section includes a description of the principles of syntactic annotation and language-specific documentation files, while the fourth section summarizes the work done and describes the future stages of the development of the syntactic TreeBank.