Glossary

Pronunciation guide

– Georgian has five vowels that correspond to the Italian "a", "e", "i", "o", and "u". There are no dipthongs - each vowel is pronounced separately when they occur together. A neutral "uh" sound may be inserted into consonant clusters, especially for ease of pronunciation when singing.

– An apostrophe after any of these consonant sounds "p", "t", "k", "ch" and "ts" denotes the non-aspirated version of the consonant. The non-aspirated consonant is formed by holding the air in your mouth as you say the consonant. Instead of your breath rushing out of your mouth, it "implodes"; your airflow stops momentarily, then resumes as you continue on to the next letter.

– "kh" is pronounced as a guttural phlegm-clearer, as in the German "ach". "gh" is the voiced equivalent of "kh", and sounds a lot like a French rolled "r". "ch" is pronounced as in English "chosen". "r" is rolled or flipped as in Italian or Spanish, never pronounced as in American English. "g" is hard, as in the English "glib". "j" is pronounced as in the English "jam".

– "q" is produced by touching the sides of your glottal together and then letting them go. A good way to teach yourself how to say it is to start with an English "k" sound (forward in your mouth) and gradually move it back into your throat. "q" can be approximated in a song by a simple glottal stop, if the singer is unable to produce the strong "q" sound; it should not be replaced by the English "k"!

– There is only one consonant in Georgian that is here transliterated as both "w" and "v". It falls between the two: a very soft "v", where your top lip never quite touches your bottom lip. Here it is translated sometimes as "w", sometimes as "v", to steer the reader towards the word-appropriate pronunciation.

Useful Words and Expressions	Musical words	Personal Relations
ak here; ik there akhali new akvani cradle bednieri happy dzveli old Gamarjobat! greeting Gagimarjos! And to you (response) genatsvale darling (roughly); used as a term of endearment kalaki city kartuli Georgian (thing) kartveli Georgian (person) k'argi good (adj) k'argad good/well (adv) "k'argad (iqavi)!" "be well!" common leavetaking mshvidoba peace dila mshvidobisa! a peaceful morning to you (good morning)! me minda I want me var I am mze sun ra what rat'om why rogor how "rogor(a) khar?" "how are you?" sad where Sakartvelo Georgia sakhli house siqvaruli love supra feast, celebratory dinner t'k'bili sweet (adj) t'k'bilad sweetly (adv) tsudi bad (adj) tsudad bad/badly (adv)	abadeli, abadelia nonsense word bani bass (voice) changi lap-harp ch'iboni Georgian bagpipes, made from a whole sheepskin, and possessed of an incredibly piercing tone. chonguri four-stringed unfretted lute, long slender neck, one of the strings a drone string; strummed or plucked, it makes accompaniment to many songs ch'uniri three-stringed bowed instrument, similar to the spike fiddle of Turkish and Persian classical music; the bridge is flat and the body resembles a skin drum open on one side. The ch'unir is native to Svaneti. dabali low khma voice k'lasik'uri classical khalkhuri folk (adj) k'rimanch'uli yodel (voice) maghali high meore second (voice) musik'amusic panduri fretted three-stringed lute, somewhat smaller than the chonguri, played mostly as a rhythm instrument p'irveli first (voice) salamuri wooden recorder or flute simghera song tsek'va dance (noun) uk'rav you play (an instrument); infinitive form dak'vra wodela, wodelia nonsense word	bebia grandmother da sister deda mother dedmama parents (mshoblebi is more common) dzma brother kmari husband mama father megobari (or amkhanagi, less commonly) friend mezobeli neighbour natesavi relative ojakhi family p'ap'a grandfather sheqvarebuli boyfriend or girlfriend shvili child shvilishvili grandchild sheiqvarebuli boyfriend or girlfriend
Personal pronouns	Food and Drink	Suffixes
me I chemi my shen you (singular) sheni yours is he/she/it (nominative) mas s/he (dative) misi his/hers/theirs chven us chveni ours tkven you (plural) tkveni yours isini them (nominative) mat they (dative) mati theirs	chai tea ghvino wine k'vertskhi egg khach'ap'uri bread baked with cheese inside it, traditional Georgian dish with some regional variants khortsi meat lobiani bean bread, eaten instead of khach'ap'uri on fast days in the Georgian orthodox calendar, when no animal products may be consumed p'uri bread qava coffee qveli cheese rdze milk shakari sugar ts'qali water	-ebi plural -eli of a place, used with people (denotes nationality) -uri of a place or thing, used with inanimate objects (denotes origin) -tan with -shvili child of (common end to a last name or gvari)