Any Georgian native speaker here?

[Mag.Ludi]

Helen,

I hope your presence brings some life and motivation in this forum again.

[Makrasiroutioun]

You're right about the difficulty of this tongue... I got as far as mastering the script, learning some vocabulary (mind you - I have an advantage due to my Armenian since there are lots of loanwords between the two) and some grammatical features... but when I saw the actual complexity of its other features, it stunned my progress and it discouraged me from advancing any further.

[helen che]

Thanks for such a warm welcome.

[Zorba]

You're right about the difficulty of this tongue... I got as far as mastering the script, learning some vocabulary (mind you - I have an advantage due to my Armenian since there are lots of loanwords between the two) and some grammatical features... but when I saw the actual complexity of its other features, it stunned my progress and it discouraged me from advancing any further.

I know it's probably hard for you to judge, but would you say Armenian is as challenging as Georgian for a native English speaker?

[Makrasiroutioun]

Zorba, I'd say that Armenian is a bit easier than Georgian for an English speaker due to its (mainly) Indo-European grammar, especially if he or she has studied Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, or Old Persian. But even within the Indo-European family, Armenian is quite an oddball, and let's be reminded that only about 23% of its vocabulary is derived from "native" PIE. It has fewer alien features (for Anglophones) than almost any Caucasian language. Its phonology is more complex than any Germanic or Romance language, but simpler than many of the Northeastern Caucasian languages.

Plus there are more native Armenian speakers in many American (the continent) or European cities, so you would have easier access to people and material.

[zhiguli]

I got as far as mastering the script, learning some vocabulary (mind you - I have an advantage due to my Armenian since there are lots of loanwords between the two)

interesting. can you give some examples?

Plus there are more native Armenian speakers in many American (the continent) or European cities, so you would have easier access to people and material.

i've always had the impression that armenians were not exactly enthusiastic about "odars" learning their language. i used to have friends who spoke it and the few times i expressed interest in learning it they replied with something like "why would you want to learn such a useless language?"
as for material, it seems there's even less of it than for georgian. just a few books, mostly teaching western dialect, that are widely available...i've had to turn to russian and french sources to get anything about eastern dialect.

anyway, i'd be glad if anyone reveals serious interest and i could be of any help.

well, i can't promise i'll be studying regularly, but i've got my books and will start reviewing them...

[helen che]

well, i can't promise i'll be studying regularly, but i've got my books and will start reviewing them...

ძალიან კარგი, თუ წყალში არ ჩაყრი ნაშრომს

[zhiguli]

oy, it sounds almost like a riddle...

თუ წყალში არ ჩაყრი ნაშრომს

= if you don't pour the work into the water? რას ნიშნავს ?

[helen che]

it means it will be good if you do not forget what you have learnt and all you've done is not in vain.

[Makrasiroutioun]

Here's an improvised and unverified list! And I'm probably slaughtering the Georgian words in the process of transliterating.

arts'ivi - artsiv - eagle
chit'i - trchoun - bird
iremi - yeghnig - deer
k'at'a - gadou/katou - cat
shavi - sev - black
zamtari - tsumer - winter
qona - ounenal - to have
sts'avla - sorvil/sovorel - to study/learn
gachereba - gayan - station/stop
ganmeroeba - grknel - to repeat
kalaki - kaghak (kaLak in Classical Arm.) - city
st'apilo - stepghin (stepLin in Classical Arm.) - carrot
tsivi - tsourd - cold

And a bunch of other lexical similarities I've noticed. Some are more far-fetched, but some are undeniable. Here I've also excluded the words which look very similar but are semantically different. The similarities slightly increase if I use Classical Armenian as my wordstock.


If you live near an area where there is an Armenian church, they ought to have some book sales every Sunday, as per tradition. They usually carry several dictionaries, and lots of other interesting material, in both dialects. Amazon has some good books for both dialects as well... also, check the library or your university's library.

LOL, zhiguli, I've received the same comment from the few Georgian people I know in my city! I guess it's a conditioned response... most speakers of smaller languages would simply recommend that you learn a major language (Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, etc.) instead of putting lots of effort into learning a language spoken by a few millions.

[zhiguli]

If you live near an area where there is an Armenian church, they ought to have some book sales every Sunday, as per tradition. They usually carry several dictionaries, and lots of other interesting material, in both dialects. Amazon has some good books for both dialects as well... also, check the library or your university's library.

I have been to such book sales, but what I saw there was mostly novels, music books, etc. but no dictionaries or teaching material because (I assume) everyone already knows their language. In any case there is no shortage of material in Russian and a lot of it is available over the internet.

LOL, zhiguli, I've received the same comment from the few Georgian people I know in my city! I guess it's a conditioned response... most speakers of smaller languages would simply recommend that you learn a major language (Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, etc.) instead of putting lots of effort into learning a language spoken by a few millions.

Fair enough, but I think there's more to it than that. As Armenians (and others) have explained to me, they see their language as a kind of private space where they can truly be themselves, and it's a place where foreigners are generally not welcome.
I've heard similar things from Russians who've tried learning Armenian, who tell me stories about how they'd walk into stores where everyone is talking in Armenian and as soon as they come in everyone switches to Russian.

[helen che]

hello everyone. I would like to point out one thing


As for me and all people around me, we are really glad and proud when foreigners are interested in our language. You know for Georgians the language, the land and the religion means the same. I mean it is what helped us in surviving, a very sacred thing. So if anyone wants to please us, it is the best thing to learn the language. I do not know about others, who gave you the impression, that Georgians reccomend to learn other spread languages. We just understand the fact, that ours is less usefull for foreigners.
I think you all must have heard about thousands of Georgians who were sold or made to live in Iran and in Turkey. It happened centuries ago. They couldn't keep the religion, but they still speak Georgian.

The only thing I am sorry for is that we do so little to make Georgian popular, there are few books and textbooks, maybe because the demand is not so high.

By the way

http://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/მთავარი_გვერდი if you haven't heard of it before.

[helen che]

სამი ღვთაებრივი საუნჯე დაგვრჩა ჩვენ მამა-პაპათაგან: მამული, ენა, სარწმუნოება. თუ ამათ არ ვუპატრონეთ, რა კაცები ვიქნებით, რა პასუხს გავსვემთ შთამომავლობას? სხვისა არ ვიცით და ჩვენ კი მშობელ მამასაც არ დავუთმობდით ჩვენ მშობლიურ ენის მიწასთან გასწორებას. ესა საღმრთო რამ არის, საზოგადო საკუთრებაა, მაგას კაცი ცოდვილის ხელით არ უნდა შეეხოს...»

[D39]

ქრისტე აღსდგა!
გიხაროდეთ მის აღდგომს შინა!

[Levo]

Hi everyone!

First of all, pardon me for contaminating this topic with not exactly the appropriate post, but I find it the most appropriate one for what I want to say.

I am interested in Georgia, thus the Georgian language itself too. Once they were a far more developed civilization than the ones in the continental Europe, this is a good point at me already. I have accidentally found videos about Georgian dances and they are just awesome! The songs and the dances together are worth more than Michael Flatley.
The sounding of the spoken language is a bit weird for the first hearing, but it raises one's interest. Also your abc is beautiful.

I don't know why I wrote it here though
Anyway, if you have useful links for the pronouncation, the abc, and grammar for starter latin-abc users I would thank it a lot!

[helen che]

I don't know why I wrote it here though
Anyway, if you have useful links for the pronouncation, the abc, and grammar for starter latin-abc users I would thank it a lot!

[/quote]

http://www.masteranylanguage.com/cgi/f/ ... abet&vm=fc

I think you will find it useful.

[Levo]

http://www.masteranylanguage.com/cgi/f/ ... abet&vm=fc

I think you will find it useful.

Indeed! დიდი მადლობა

[ninkaakanino]

We had Cuncik and ninkaakanino visiting the forum a couple of months back, but I think they stopped visiting because I was so lazy with replying in the forum. You could try PMing them if you want to chat to them.

lol, Zorba i personally have never left due to your alleged lack of communication skill in forum

but i agree, it is tough to get a georgian pen pal, especially if your georgian is at beginner's level. they are too lazy to teach you this difficult language to you i guess

[katie_ita]

hi yes i am georgian ,if u have any question i am ready

[ninkaakanino]

hi yes i am georgian ,if u have any question i am ready

Welcome to the forum, Georgian Katie from Italy. I'm Georgian too by the way. I have to tell you that this forum's been quiet for a while. I wonder what all Georgian learners are up to, not visiting our forum.