ცხინვალი
Georgian
Etymology
First attested in the 14th century.
From Middle Georgian, from Old Georgian ქრცხილვანი (krcxilvani), from ქრცხილი (krcxili, “hornbeam”) + -ოვანი (-ovani, adjectival suffix), ultimately from Proto-Kartvelian *krcxeml- (“hornbeam”).
The earliest form was probably *ქრცხილოვანი (*krcxilovani), *ქრცხილოანი (*krcxiloani). In the 15th century it developed into კრცხილვანი (ḳrcxilvani) (the ქ (k) → კ (ḳ) development is regular in Middle Georgian). Due to metathesis of the consonants and due to natural drift in the language, the first two consonants of the root (*კ (*ḳ) and *რ (*r)) were lost, while *ლ (*l) was replaced with the more convenient *ნ (*n) (and vice versa. The same development is seen in Old Georgian ჟილვანი (žilvani) → ჟინვალი (žinvali)).
In all forms of the term the root is *ქრცხილ- (*krcxil-) (or later *კრცხილ- (*ḳrcxil-)), suffixed with -ოვანი (-ovani, “having certain characteristics or qualities”), where ო (o) is lost due to phonetic contraction. Old Georgian ქრცხილა (krcxila) (modern რცხილა (rcxila, “hornbeam”)) was the name of a certain type of an endemic tree (of genus Carpinus) commonly found in this region. Thus, the literal meaning of the toponym can be viewed as "the land of hornbeams".
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /t͡sxinvali/
- Hyphenation: ცხინ‧ვა‧ლი
Proper noun
ცხინვალი • (cxinvali)
- Tskhinvali (the capital city of South Ossetia, a de-facto independent country internationally recognized as part of the country of Georgia)
Descendants
- → Armenian: Ցխինվալ (Cʿxinval)
- → English: Tskhinvali
- → Ossetian: Цхинвал (Cxinval)
- → Russian: Цхинвал (Cxinval), Цхинва́ли (Cxinváli)
References
- Bedošvili, Guram (2002) Kartul ṭoṗonimta ganmarṭebit-eṭimologiuri leksiḳoni [Dictionary of Georgian Geographical Names] (in Georgian), Tbilisi: Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, →ISBN, pages 479–482
- Fähnrich, Heinz (2010), “Von Baumnamen gebildete georgische Siedlungsnamen”, in Namenkundliche Informationen (in German), volume 97, Leipziger Universitätsverlag, page 138–139 of 133–143