Kadmos. A Journal of the Humanities

Les trois croix dans le "kartlis mokceva"

2025-12-16T14:05:23+00:00

Kadmos. A Journal of the Humanities 17.2025 publishes a Georgian translation of the article Les trois croix dans le kartlis mokceva by Kartvelologist Michel van Esbroeck. The original text of the article was published in Caucasica 2, 1998: 70-76. The Georgian translation is by Tsisana Bibileishvili.

For the Analysis of the Grammatical Section of the Georgian-Italian and Italian-Georgian Dictionary of Emmanuele da Iglesias

2025-12-16T13:22:05+00:00

The manuscript of the Georgian-Italian and Italian-Georgian Dictionary, accompanied by a Grammatical Overview of the Georgian Language, compiled by the Catholic missionary Emmanuele da Iglesias, who was active in Georgia and the Black Sea region during the first half of the 19^th century, was discovered in 2011-2012 by a Georgian research expedition in the General Archives of the Capuchin Order. This lexicographical work constitutes one of the earliest Western attestations of a Georgian dictionary produced within the intellectual framework of early modern missionary linguistics. In the Georgian-Italian section, da Iglesias draws directly on Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani’s celebrated dictionary, while simultaneously adapting it to the conventions of European lexicography. In accordance with long-established missionary practice, the dictionary is complemented by a grammatical overview, in which the dependence on, and creative adaptation of, the indigenous Georgian grammatical tradition is clearly discernible. Supported by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, an edition of the extant Georgian-Italian part has already been published, while the printed and digital editions of the Italian-Georgian section and the grammatical overview are currently in preparation. The lexicographical and grammatical data preserved in the manuscript offer a rich corpus for future research, and promise to illuminate not only the history of Georgian linguistic description, but also raise broader questions.

Medicine in 18th-19th-Century Georgia

2025-12-16T13:34:30+00:00

The paper discusses Georgian and foreign sources on European Catholic missionaries’ medical practices in Georgia, and the pressures they faced under the colonial rule of the Russian Empire. It analyzes various lexicographical material generated by those Catholic missionaries, among them the Botanical Italian-Georgian Dictionary (SN4742), the Italian-Georgian Dictionary (“Goruli”-QN 500) and Emanuele da Iglesias’ Italian-Georgian Dictionary (AC28), which bring together Georgian equivalents of medicinal and botanical terms. It is shown that Catholic missionaries “transferred” the traditional Georgian healing knowledge preserved in karabadins (traditional medical handbooks) into the European lexicographical tradition, thereby helping to introduce it to the Western world. The issues are examined through the lens of historical methodology and global history, with particular attention to the circulation of knowledge. The paper also draws on Russian archival documents from 1837 (Fund 16, Case N 5404), which include official police reports on the surveillance and persecution of traditional healers. The sources show that, in Georgia, the Russian Government initially exerted pressure on educated, formally trained Georgian physicians, and, beginning in 1837, moved on to suppress folk medicine as well.

Harmonic Interval Organization in Georgian Traditional Polyphony: Evidence from Computational Analysis of Archival Field Recordings (1948-1973)

2025-12-16T12:46:09+00:00

This article presents our computational approach to analyzing harmonic interval distributions in traditional Georgian vocal music using a corpus of archival field recordings from the TSC Folklore Laboratory. By employing a deep learning model for performing multiple fundamental frequency (F0) estimation on polyphonic recordings of vocal music, we extract harmonic interval distributions from 2,494 polyphonic song recordings across 18 regions of Georgia. Through dimensionality reduction and clustering techniques, we identify patterns in interval usage that reflect regional musical traditions. Through verification experiments testing the accuracy of classification of the recordings’ region of origin based on the lower-dimensional embedded representations of their harmonic interval distributions as well as by the modal region of the recording’s assigned cluster, we demonstrate the predictive power of the representations of harmonic interval distribution within polyphonic recordings as extracted through our methods, offering new insights into the harmonic organization of Georgian polyphony and showcasing the potential of computational methods in ethnomusicology.

Ergative Case Acquisition in Georgian Children

2025-12-16T13:00:11+00:00

Case system acquisition, an important part of overall language acquisition, plays a major role in morphologically complex languages. In Georgian, the acquisition of the ergative case is especially interesting due to the split ergativity system of the language. This article examines the acquisition of the ergative case in Georgian children (48-84 months).

Based on sentence repetition task data, we analyze the functional use of argument cases, case omission, and the mistakes made by children. The study considers all three argument cases, while the article focuses on ergative case acquisition.

We conclude that, at the age of 48-84 months, children generally use the ergative case functionally and correctly. However, errors persist, indicating that acquisition is not fully completed by this age.

Key findings include:

Georgian-speaking children demonstrate a high rate of functionally correct use of the ergative case across the examined age groups, with errors persisting in older children, suggesting that full mastery of ergative functions may extend beyond the age of 84 months.
The highest omission rate (15%) occurred in the 61-72-month group (compared with 6.25% at 48-60 months and 0% at 73-83 months). This could reflect a simplification strategy at this age. It would be interesting to see if the same pattern held in case of an increased number of participants.
Case substitution patterns revealed that the children studied never constituted the ergative case for the nominative case, while nominative-for-ergative substitutions were frequent. These patterns are influenced by Georgian’s split-ergativity system and initial nominative constructions. It would be interesting to compare this characteristic with data from other split-ergativity system languages.
The use of the archaic ergative marker -man presented an unexpected discovery, warranting further exploration.

Our research suggests that by the age of 48 months, the acquisition of ergative case has already started, and it continues beyond 84 months.

Kartvelian Cultic Toponyms in Present-Day North Ossetia

2025-12-16T13:18:04+00:00

The religious traditions of the Ossetes are a blend of ancient Caucasian beliefs, Iranian influences, Christianity, and Islam. The most prominent are the elements of Caucasian origin, much like those of neighboring groups. Toponymy acts as a historical record, revealing information about past cultures and religions. An abundance of toponyms with religious connotations helps identify significant shrines and deities worshipped in a region. This research focuses on toponyms of Kartvelian (Georgian) origin in North Ossetia. Existing research by Ossetic and Georgian scholars has identified Kartvelian religious vocabulary in Dvaleti toponymy. However, their focus has been limited, paying less attention to Kartvelian religious toponyms beyond said region. Thus, this article explores the Kartvelian cultic toponymy of a wider area, including the Alagir and Digoria regions.

The presence of these toponyms suggests a shared belief system between the Ossetian population and their Kartvelian neighbors.

This study employs qualitative research methods, including content analysis of existing literature, and ethnographic materials from the local population. Due to limitations on fieldwork, the study relies on toponymic data from previous research, particularly A. Tsagaeva's work. Additionally, the comparative method of historical linguistics is used to compare toponyms with Kartvelian vocabulary.

The article discusses specific examples of toponyms with religious meaning across North Ossetia. These toponyms share clear connections with Georgian deities, holidays, and religious terms, demonstrating the continuity and duration of cultural interaction between the regions.

Th. Otkhmezuri, ed., Medieval Georgian Literary Culture and Book Production in the Christian Middle East and Byzantium

2025-12-16T13:46:08+00:00

Since ancient times, Georgian culture and literature has been developing in close connection with other cultures of the world. Georgian literary tradition which originated in the footsteps of the Christianization of Georgians, has been connected to the monastic centres of the Christian Middle East and Byzantium. The intellectual activity of Georgian monks and scholars in foreign monastic and educational centres played a crucial role in shaping the Georgian Christian culture and thought. Moreover, the Georgians established their own monasteries in Palestine, Mount Athos, Antioch, and different regions of the Byzantine Empire. These centres undertook large-scale cultural and educational projects – translation of the most significant works of the Christian literature, creation of original Georgian writings and precious manuscripts. The literary activity of Georgians in foreign monastic centres reflect both – their close contact with advanced intellectual settings and, at the same time, their attempt to maintain ecclesiastic and cultural independence.

The book – Medieval Georgian Literary Culture and Book Production in the Christian Middle East and Byzantium (Jerusalemer Theologisches Forum, Bd. 42), edited by Thamar Otkhmezuri, English translation by Manana Odisheli and Michael Vickers, Münster, Aschendorff, 2022 (505 pp.) – presents to readers in a coherent, diachronic manner, the literary work of Georgian ecclesiastics in the monastic centres of Palestine, Mt Sinai, Mt Athos, the Black Mountain, Constantinople, and Petritsoni (Bachkovo). It aims to show how Georgians adopted the ideas and values that were predominant in the advanced literary and cultural centres of the Christian world, and how they introduced these ideas and values into Georgian national literature, converting them into an essential part of Georgian intellectual heritage.

The book also discusses the issue of relations of the Georgians with other ethnic groups – the Greeks, the Armenians and the Latins – in the multicultural and multilingual setting of the monastic centres. The book is an attempt to fill the gap that exists in the West regarding the history of medieval Georgian culture and literature. It provides international scholars with the current thinking of Georgian specialists on the history of medieval Georgian literature. The authors of the chapters are: Palestine: Tinatin Chronz (University of Cologne), Anna Kharanauli (Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University), Tamara Pataridze (Catholic University of Louvain), Tinatin Tseradze (Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts), Mount Sinai: Zaza Aleksidze – Dali Chitunashvili (both Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts), Mount Athos: Thamar Otkhmezuri, Maia Raphava (both Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts), The Black Mountain: Thamar Otkhmezuri, Constantinople: Darejan Kldiashvili (Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts), Magda Mtchedlidze (Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University), Petritsoni: Nikoloz Aleksidze (Free University of Tbilisi), Georgian and the “Others”: Thamar Otkhmezuri.