Millennium

Contemporary Georgian Political Speech from a Gender and Party Perspectives

2024-09-02T16:14:01+04:00

This paper investigates contemporary Georgian political speeches through the lens of gender and party affiliation, analysing linguistic strategies and rhetorical styles used by different political actors. Despite a long-standing interest in political language in Georgia, systematic politolinguistic research remains underdeveloped, particularly in applying digital methods. The study highlights various aspects that are relevant for the analysis of political speeches and presents corresponding tools.
Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including sentiment analysis and argument analysis, the study identifies notable differences in speech patterns. Female politicians like Salome Zurabishvili and Tako Charkviani, utilise more accessible language, more frequently employ personal pronouns, and focus on emotional appeals. In contrast, male politicians like Irakli Kobakhidze and Nika Melia exhibit more argumentative structures and a focus on factual statements, reflecting analytical and policy-oriented communication styles. The study’s findings highlight the importance of considering gender and party affiliation in analysing political language, offering insights into the interplay between linguistic choices and political strategies in Georgia’s evolving democratic landscape.

The Problem of the Face of the Dragon in Caucasian and European Mythological-Epic Texts

2024-09-03T13:37:44+04:00

The article discusses both universal as well as specific national characteristics of dragons, their types, habitats, and ways of defeating them. The purpose of the article is to clearly reveal the image of the dragon in epic and mythological works, its functions and role in the life of heroes. Dragons are connected to many areas of the world and stand for both good and evil beginnings, hold wisdom, help the hero in some cases, protect treasures and fight with the hero, who sometimes fails and sometimesdefeats the adversary. At the same time, the dragon can be considered a challenge in the hero’s life, without which he could not prove his heroism. Every mytho-epic hero needs his dragon on the path of life to prove that he is truly a hero, in this case the dragon is a necessary and crucial power.

On the History of a Castle in Samegrelo (Chakvinji Castle)

2024-09-03T13:44:21+04:00

Chakvinji Castle, located in the village of Jikhashkari, Zugdidi province, is an outstanding historical monument of Samegrelo. In addition to historical documents, it is mentioned in the inscription of the icon of St Nicholas made in 1640 by order of Levan II Dadiani. Chakvinji Castle is also found in the notices of foreign travellers,for instance in the travel materials of Johann Anton Güldenstädt (1771–1772). In the 1820s, Eduard Eichwald also provides us with some information about the castle. The history of Chakvinji Castle dates back to the distant past, and it served as a defense facility for many centuries. In the feudal age, it was the centre of Odishi province; the palace and residence of the House of Dadiani was located there, and Davit Dadiani, the last Prince of Samegrelo, was born there on 26 January, 1813. Archeological investigations of Chakvinji Castle and the fixing of its architectural structures began in 1968–1969. The archaeological finds were quite diverse and dividable into three periods: the material of the first period is from the early feudal period, the second, from the middle feudal period, and the third, from the late feudal period. This article presents a new analysis of the existing historical, archaeological, architectural and linguistic materials concerning Chakvinji Castle. It describes the present condition of Chakvinji Castle, which is very deplorable and in urgent need of conservation and restoration.

Digital Processing of Proverbs in Kartvelian Languages – Theoretical and Technological Framework

2024-09-02T13:02:31+04:00

One common aspect of intangible legacy is language. Texts with a variety of genres and contents are the tools through which language is realised. Proverbs should receive particular consideration among these tools since they bear distinctive national characteristics. The creation of a database of proverbs of the Kartvelian languages (Georgian, Megrelian, Laz and Svan) and the implementation of linguocultural research using this database is especially interesting and topical, because it proves the genetic unity of these languages and the existence of a common cultural-mental and linguistic space of the Georgian people. The Kartvelian languages, as well as communities, are closely related. Therefore, essential differences between the proverbs of the Kartvelian languages are rare. Differences are due to the geographical location, local rites and customs, specifically toponyms and anthroponyms, as well as other local features. All this has been reflected in the proverbs. The comparison and harmonisation of Kartvelian proverbs based on their semantic equivalence is a significant resource for interdisciplinary research. The theoretical and technological framework for the digital processing of proverbs in the Kartvelian languages are discussed in this paper.

Digital Methods of Comparative Manuscript Research: The Martyrdom of St. Febronia

2024-09-02T13:12:58+04:00

The Martyrdom of St Febronia, a nun persecuted, tortured and killed under Emperor Diocletian for not renouncing her faith, has been recorded in Georgian in several manuscripts, four of which are introduced and analysed in the present article: Sinai, St Catherine’s Monastery, georg. 6 (nuskhuri script, dated to the 10th c.), Tbilisi, Korneli Kekelidze National Centre of Manuscripts, A-95 (nuskhuri script, datable to the 10th c.), Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, MS Georg. b. 1 (nuskhuri script, datable to the 11th c.) and Sinai, St Catherine’s Monastery, georg. NF 84+90 (double palimpsest, asomtavruli script; the Martyrdom of St Febronia contained in its middle layer is datable to the 9th–10th cc.). The analysis focuses on the comparison of these four versions concerning differences and their types (additions, grammatical and lexical variations, word order), including a calculation and evaluation of the differences via Levenshtein distances and their visualisation.

Georgian Paleographic Fonts and their Role in Scientific Studies

2024-09-02T13:21:39+04:00

This article examines the role and significance of Georgian paleographic fonts in both scientific and popular contexts. Paleographic fonts, which digitally reproduce historical writing, greatly contribute to the study of the history of writing and to adequately reflect it in digital technologies. The article discusses the challenges and advancements in creating Georgian paleographic fonts, focusing on the transition from traditional to digital formats and their implications for research and public usage. Georgian paleographic fonts, still an emerging field, are essential for the accurate representation of historical scripts like Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri, and Mkhedruli. These fonts serve dual purposes: aiding scholarly research by providing detailed, authentic representations of historical writing and enhancing popular culture through their application in modern media. The article highlights specific examples of Georgian paleographic fonts, detailing their development from manuscripts and their integration into contemporary digital systems. The discussion includes the benefits of digital paleographic fonts over traditional printed materials, such as their ability to incorporate extensive graphemes, ligatures, and historical punctuation. Additionally, these fonts facilitate dynamic representation and paleographic analysis of text, offering a new way of visualizing paleographic features and making them accessible for educational and scientific purposes. Overall, the article underscores the growing importance of digital paleographic fonts in preserving Georgian script heritage, advancing scholarly research, and promoting historical awareness. Future projects aim to expand the digital repository of these fonts, increasing their functionality.

The Issue of Equivalence of Aphorisms in the English Translations of Shota Rustaveliʼs “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin”1 (Based on One Aphorism)

2024-09-02T14:15:41+04:00

Shota Rustaveli's The Knight in the Panther’s Skin is an exceptional work within medieval Georgian literature, renowned for its profound cultural and literary significance. The epic has been preserved in over 160 manuscripts and translated into 58 languages, including multiple English versions. The richness of Rustaveli’s language and the depth of his aphorisms present unique challenges for translators. This article investigates the complexities and nuances involved in translating aphorisms from The Knight in the Panther’s Skin into English, focusing on the works of Marjory Scott Wardrop (1912), Venera Urushadze (1968), and Lyn Coffin (2015). By analysing the aphorism „ოდეს ტურფა გაიეფდეს აღარა ღირს არცა ჩირად~ (“When the lovely is cheapened, it is no longer worth even dried fruit”), the article highlights the diverse approaches and strategies employed by these translators.

Corpus-linguistic Analysis of Verba Sentiendi in „Vepxistqaosani“ in Georgian and Basque

2024-09-02T14:27:04+04:00

The aim of the present analysis, which is based on a BA thesis in Empirical Linguistics at Goethe University Frankfurt, is to examine the translatological relationship between the Georgian epic Vepxistqaosani and its Basque translation by Xabier Kintana (1999). The verba sentiendi, which represent a separate group of verbs due to their specific characteristics, are in the focus of the analysis and are discussed in detail. The equivalence model by Henjum and Koller (2020) serves as a theoretical framework for the analysis of the relationship between source and translation. The third chapter of the epic (ნახვა არაბთა მეფისაგან მის ყმისა ვეფხისტყაოსნისა / Arabiako erregeak zaldun tigrelarruduna dakusa) was chosen as an example for the study. The methodological framework is based on the principle of phrase alignment, based on the methodology of the corpus project “Rustaveli goes digital”. For the empirical analysis, the verbs which were identified as verba sentiendi are analysed grammatically and two surrounding sentences each are translated and parsed to examine the contextual content. The core part of the analysis consisted of a detailed comparative consideration of the previously determined and analysed verbs regarding their textual environment. For this article, the procedure of the empirical analysis is presented exemplarily, with the focus lying on the presentation and discussion of the results of the empirical analysis.

Semantical Analyses of Deverbal Functional Elements from a Corpus-linguistic Point of View

2024-09-02T14:49:27+04:00

The paper focuses on grammaticalisation processes in the Georgian Language and examines functional elements of verbal origin. These elements include ა-დგ-ა a-dg-a (PR-stand-AOR.S.3.SG) meaning “s/he stood up” and indicating an abrupt start of an action”; ა-იღ-ო a-i-ɣ-o (PR-SV-take-AOR.S.3) meaning “s/he took something” and signifying an “action without further ado”; ჩან-ს čan-s (be_visible-S.3) meaning “it is visible” and conveying the sense of “it seems”. The study presents the functional and semantic characteristics of these elements. Methods such as lexical substitution and elimination are employed to describe their functions, and a language competency test is used to assess their roles in discourse. The paper aims to provide a quantitative analysis of data obtained from a corpusbased study of these functional elements. Additionally, it offers combinatorial rules to address the issue of homonymy caused by such grammaticalised functional elements in the Georgian national corpus (GNC). The research primarily relies on the Georgian National Corpus (GNC) (http://gnc.gov.ge/). Empirical data is collected from the Georgian Reference Corpus (GRC), which encompasses contexts from Old, Middle and Modern Georgian, as well as the subcorpora of political and law texts. The article analyses the contexts provided for the elements under research across eleven TAM categories. Functional elements pose challenges in computer-based language processing, particularly in computer linguistics. Since the Georgian language lacks proper functional processing, the Georgian National Corpus (GNC) provides no algorithm yet to differentiate functional elements from those belonging to paradigmatic classes. This leads to homonymy and unresolved disambiguation issues. The paper aims to address these ambiguities and proposes rules based on the positional distribution scheme of the research elements. The formal rules are illustrated in charts.

Can Counting Words make Sense? A Simple Application of Visual Tools for Basic Machine Learning in Linguistics

2024-09-02T15:39:49+04:00

The field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) is rapidly advancing with the development of tools for automatic text and language processing. The introduction of Chat GPT and other similar tools has sparked discussions about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in society and academia. These tools are typically based on machine learning (ML), which allows computer programs to learn from data and generate models to make decisions. While ML models can be trained on language data to predict answers to research questions, they are not always easily accessible or optimized for linguists. This paper proposes using simple graphical tools for machine learning to help linguists formulate research questions and hypotheses, thus allowing them to assess the potential for fruitful investigations with specific data sets. By providing a user-friendly interface, these tools aim to overcome the barriers that deter linguists from utilising machine learning techniques. To illustrate the application of such a tool for preliminary studies, three experiments are described in this paper, all of which represent real questions of interest from within the field of Caucasiology. In the appendix, a step-by-step guide to recreate the process is given.