TSU-TI — THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES

The Matter Of Language Hierarchy And Language Attitude In The Georgian Political Discourse

2025-11-24T16:04:27+04:00

This research aims to study the matter of language hierarchy and language attitude through examining code-switching used by Georgians in Georgia, in the context of current political situation depicted in media discourse. Code in this research may refer to a language, a register and style. The study investigates 1. how language hierarchy is constructed and reconstructed by examining CS in political discourse; 2. how a change in audience/addressee influences CS; 3. how CS as a naturalistic and interactive phenomenon in spoken discourse is used to project speakers’ identity and their affiliation to their community. The three aims, being mutually inclusive, are explored in connection to intraspeaker CS in the interactional construction of identity. In particular, emphasis is placed on how speakers perform, project and negotiate their different personae at the individual or collective level. Data presented in this research was collected over a period of 12 months (July, 2023–July, 2024). 3210 videos were found from various internet media sources: TVFormula; MtavariTV; BM.GE; Rustavi2TV; ImediTV; and RadioTavisupleba. Out of which we randomly picked 400 videos. Out of which we grouped 55 example of style-shifting, 46 examples of register-switching and 14 examples of code-mixing; 5 examples of code-switching. These are the primary results; We are in the process of conducting matched-guise test (questionnaire) by using the collected examples.

The Soviet Era in the Eyes of the Modern Georgian Writing. Beso Solomanashvili’s Lumpen Millennium

2025-11-24T16:15:54+04:00

Beso Solomanashvili’s creative work occupies a very interesting niche in modern Georgian literature. It is worth mentioning in the context of reflecting on the literature of this era, especially the already passed Soviet era, which has had such a significant impact on modern life that it became the main motif in the works of many contemporary authors. Beso Solomanashvili’s second novel, Lumpen Millennium, is the second book in a narrative designed as a trilogy. It serves as a continuation of the novel The Story of the Old Shooting and the Story of the New Shooting. This is a story of heroes and traitors, true and self-serving individuals, freedom and slavery, the devaluation of values caused by a corrupt era, and the eternal values that are nonetheless preserved, though by very few. This is precisely the case where literature reflects history better than chronicles, vividly paints a picture of the present, and makes us contemplate the concept of the future. Lumpen Millennium is a novel created using magical realism techniques, with a diverse cast of characters. On one side is the nationally marked branch of the Kharjakhishvili family, and on the other, a diverse palette of Russia-loving and treasonous princes and peasants. Some characters in the work are historical figures, including Alexander Chavchavadze, Alexander Orbeliani, Alexander Griboyedov, Maiko Orbeliani, Lavrentiy Beria, Budu Mdivani, Mikheil Javakhishvili, and others. The writer also exposes the actions of the most loyal part of the "co-religionists," the clergy, describing how a Russian bishop arrives in Georgia and sets up camp at Bodbe Monastery with the aim of opening and looting St. Nino's grave. To prevent the bishop from getting bored, two Russian girls are sent to him from Moscow, but despite this, the "holy father" still does not refrain from raping the nuns. The writer’s method of creating character names and surnames is also interesting. The author takes the names of the national branch’s representatives from Georgian history, in honor of heroic ancestors. For example: Elizbar, Kaikhosro, Shalva, Levan; while for the system’s slaves and conscienceless father-son characters, he uses the surname Nakhirishvili. It should be noted that Lumpen Millennium is neither the first nor the last among works in modern Georgian literature dedicated to the Soviet occupation. The relevance of this issue is underscored by the fact that the influences of the Soviet regime are still evident in Georgian reality, politics, people's consciousness, and actions, especially considering that Russia continues to act as an aggressor and, in today’s reality, occupies more than 20% of Georgian territory. Several contemporary authors resonate with the themes of Soviet and post-Soviet Georgia in their works, including: The Sunken City by D. Turashvili, Once Upon a Time by D. Turashvili, Naphthalene by L. Bughadze, Escaped from Paradise by B. Kurkhuli, The Taste of Dictatorship by R. Gorgiladze, The Story of the Old Shootings and the Story of the New Shootings and Lumpen Millennium by B. Solomanashvili, Bunker by I. Pezuashvili, Waiting for Dodo by D. Turashvili, Your Adventure by A. Morchiladze, Nugzar and Mephistopheles by L. Bughadze, The Little Country by L. Bughadze, Cupid at the Kremlin Wall by A. Morchiladze, Oh, World by Z. Arsenishvili, The Boots and Leather Boots by D. Jishkariani, The Eighth Life by N. Kharatishvili, and The Lack of Light by N. Kharatishvili. It should also be noted that Lumpen Millennium has not yet been discussed by either Georgian or non-Georgian literary critics, making its analysis a scientific novelty. The novel will be analyzed using a synthesis of narratology and hermeneutics, along with methods of textual observation, analysis, and conceptual interpretation.

For the Issue of Humorous Oratorical Samples in Georgian Rhetoric

2025-11-24T16:31:10+04:00

The present study deals with the issue of humorous oratorical samples in Georgian rhetoric. The mentioned topic has never been the subject of a special study until now, which determines its relevance and novelty. This type of oratorical samples can be found in small numbers and are confirmed in such humorous periodicals as the newspaper “Intermediary” and the magazines “The Whip and fife”, “The Devil's Whip“ and “The New Whip”. “Devil’s Whip” was the name of a Georgian-language weekly humorous magazine that was published in Tbilisi in 1907-1908, and later, after a certain interval – in 1915-1917, 1919-1921. “Devil's Whip” was issued under different names: “Whip”, “New Whip", “Whip and fife”, “The fife”, “Our fife", etc. It should be noted that the editors of the magazine at different times were T. Bolkvadze and N. Kalandadze, and the publishers – T. Bolkvadze, A. Bukia, E. Lomtatidze and S. Tavartkiladze. Publications in the journal were published under pseudonyms, for example, the pseudonym of the editor and publisher of the journal, Teofile Bolkvadze, was “Devil’s Foot” (Grishashvili, 1987: 30), and Nestor Kalandadze – “Devil” (Grishashvili, 1987: 30), etc. “Devil’s Whip” artwork, caricatures and drawings belong to Oskar Schmerling and Shalva Kikodze. Along with the original works, translations were printed in the magazine, as well as both prose texts and poems. For us, the mentioned periodicals are noteworthy to the extent that, along with humorous oratorical samples, caricatures related to rhetoric and orators were also published in it. For the history of Georgian rhetoric, it is noteworthy not only to reveal such samples, but also to investigate a number of issues, including the issue of their authors, subject matter, field and genre attribution, etc. As a rule, these samples were printed under pseudonyms, for example, “Speech, spoken on December 6 by a fat orator at a meeting of petty merchants in Tbilisi” belongs to someone “Binoculars”, “A speech delivered by Ilia Chavchavadze at the time of the execution in village Guramiantkar” – to someone “the devil”, “The word: said by the Leverkelian missionary Melkhisadec Atonel on Agap in Ozurgeti” – by someone “Papaskua”, “A popular lecture, read by the author on the literary morning oo May 3” the author has published under the pseudonym “Mouse”, “A speech delivered by X at the meeting of women devoted to the motherland. [Poem]” – under the pseudonym of “Satan”; There is another humorous oratorical sample belonging to Akaki Tsereteli: “Praise to the editor: Here's what a proofreading error means”, which, unlike the previous samples, was printed in a non-humorous periodical edition. The mentioned samples are interesting to the extent that Georgian eloquence confirms similar oratorical samples of a humorous nature, which is rare, in general, in the history of rhetoric. The mentioned samples were printed in the above-mentioned periodicals of the 10-20s of the 20th century.

The Symbol of Lion in Georgian Literature

2025-11-24T16:50:39+04:00

The subject of our research is the symbolism of the lion as a predator. The aim of the research is to present the symbolic paradigm of the named animal diachronically. It is interesting how the facial expression of the lion traveled from the ancient samples of Georgian writing to the literature of the later period. Hagiography relies on the Bible, therefore, the lion appears mainly as a symbol of evil due to its predatory nature. In heroic literature, its understandings are different - the lion is found in both negative and positive contexts. It can be said that one of the things that differentiates secular and religious writings is the different understanding of specific symbols. The topic is relevant even today, because we find symbols, metaphors and allegories everywhere and all the time. We use it in speaking, writing, even in our daily life. The symbol is the greatest phenomenon in artistic thought. It turns the event into an idea in such a way that the latter becomes inaccessible and infinitely effective. That's why it's always worth searching for. Scientists of all times and eras have attached great importance to the research of symbols, and today we have facial linguistic paradigms for many subjects. As such, we often find the lion in mythology, in the culture of different countries, in royal initiations, in arts and religions. Georgian culture also knows this symbol very well. The best illustration of this is "Golden Lion" dated to the second half of the III millennium. It should not be a coincidence that at that time Kartvelian tribes paid special attention to this animal and began to depict it. The lion, as the embodiment of a strong guard, can be found on the Georgian coat of arms. The lion is also represented on the shields of the kings of ancient countries. In the history of Georgia, the lion is represented on the equipment of Vakhtang Gorgasali. Of course, a great deal of knowledge and experience about symbols has been accumulated by scientists of old and new times, but we still think that turning to this subject will always allow us to make new conclusions, because facial thinking is inexhaustible. In each era, this or that symbol acquires a new meaning. That is why we were interested in the diachronic study of the symbolism of the lion. The research method is the comparison-analysis of the symbolic meanings of the lion. Depending on the content of the text, we search the context in which the named animal is given and make parallels from other texts. In this respect, the symbolism of the lion is very diverse: although hagiography and hymnography are uniquely based on the Bible the linguistic understanding of the lion is still different. Finally, after the diachronic picture of the lion's symbolism we will find that, in contrast to religious writings, in secular writings, especially in The Knight in the Panther’s Skin

Cases of Word Reduction in the Turkish Translation of “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin"

2025-11-24T17:05:39+04:00

With the artistic realization of the worldview and aesthetic ideals of the 12th century, The Knight in the Panther's Skin stands as one of the most important masterpieces of world literature. A remarkable example of artistic creativity, The Knight in the Panther's Skin creates an independent reality and vast intellectual space. It is also worth noting that, from the perspectives of various disciplines, the translation of The Knight in the Panther's Skin into 58 languages represents an important research topic. Our research focuses on the Turkish translation of The Knight in the Panther's Skin, completed by Prof. Bilal Dindar and Asst. Prof. Zeinelabidin Makassi in 1992. It is important to mention that the Turkish translation was based on the Azerbaijani translation by Ahmed Javad. In this study, we will examine in detail the cases of word omission that the translators did not carry over into the Turkish version. The following lexical units are among those not translated in the Turkish text: [Nagubari], [Tskluli], [Mufarakhi], [Molizgharisad], [Mosatsevi], [Gamzrdeli], [Naertgulevi], etc. Using both contemporary and classical research methods, we present a critical analysis of each lexical unit. Our goal is to highlight the relationships between these lexical units and the similarities and differences between the translation and the original text. We will evaluate the translators' strategies and the degree of equivalence. It is worth noting that when The Knight in the Panther's Skin was written, Turkish classical literature—Diwan literature—was at its peak in Turkey. We will explore potential equivalents for these empirical words in Turkish classical literature and discuss how the translators might have rendered these lexical units in the Turkish translation of the poem. The methodological framework of the research includes a corpus-linguistic analysis of the original text and the Turkish translation of The Knight in the Panther's Skin. The researcher has also employed the method of linguistic-cultural analysis. To assess the adequacy of poetic translations, both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis have been used. A comprehensive corpus-linguistic and linguistic-cultural study of the lexical units presented in the Turkish translation of The Knight in the Panther's Skin—such as [Nagubari], [Tskluli], [Mufarakhi], [Molizgharisad], [Mosatsevi], [Gamzrdeli], and [Naertgulevi]—will contribute to a deeper understanding of this important issue using innovative research methods. The research is relevant to both Georgian and Turkish scholarly fields, as well as to individuals and scholars interested in translations of "The Knight in the Panther's Skin".

Slang and the Challenges of Translating Slang (The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Translated into Georgian by Gia Chumburidze)

2025-11-24T17:43:03+04:00

Slang is one of the most intriguing and complex aspects of language. Its emergence is closely tied to historical, social, and cultural trends. Slang is widely used in fiction, where it often serves to highlight the creative qualities of a character and add a comedic element to a situation due to its national, linguistic, and social nuances. This topic is particularly relevant because slang has received limited attention in translation theory. Its function goes beyond merely conveying meaning from one language to another; it also encapsulates cultural concepts. Since ancient times, translation has served as a means of interlanguage and intercultural communication. Translators face the challenge of finding the most accurate and appropriate ways to translate slang, a goal that can be achieved through various techniques, such as compensation, clarification, antonymic translation, and substitution. In our study, we focused on The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, as this novel presents a fresh perspective on the translation of slang. The paper is based on empirical and descriptive research, employing comparative analysis between the original text and its Georgian translation. English lexical items were compared with their Georgian equivalents to explore how slang is rendered in translation. The primary objective of the study is to identify slang in The Catcher in the Rye and analyze the translation methods used to render these words in Georgian. Through comparative analysis, we aim to reveal the strategies employed by translators when handling slang. The research methodology is interdisciplinary, reflecting one of the key paradigmatic trends in modern humanities. In our research, it is essential to combine insights from linguistics and literary studies. On one hand, we analyze a text from a linguistic perspective, and on the other hand, we consider it as a literary work, requiring a literary analysis. The language in The Catcher in the Rye reflects the sociolect of the protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Holden is a rebellious teenager with uncompromising views on many subjects, and his language is filled with slang and jargon. This approach allows the author to immerse readers in Holden’s world and accurately reflect the reality in which teenagers live, think, and speak. Youth slang is a dynamic and constantly evolving system, making it particularly challenging for translators. The vocabulary of any language mirrors the world around us, and the language of modern prose reflects trends in the speech of young people. Characters in fiction often use slang and jargon to enhance the emotional tone of their speech, making it more expressive and relatable. In our research, we found that vulgarisms are often translated using softening methods, though examples of synonymic translation were also observed. To enhance the artistic effect, translators have created phraseological units typical of colloquial speech, and methods such as equivalent and antonymic translation are frequently used to capture the essence of these phrases. Ultimately, the study has shown that translation is a form of linguistic mediation. The translated text must be communicatively equivalent to the original, effectively replacing it while maintaining the original’s meaning and intent.