Светлой памяти Нины Макаровны Чередеевой-


-----Солнце языкаLe Soleil du langageشمس اللغةEl Sol del lenguajeThe Sun of Language

ძველი ბერძნები ბრძნები იყვნენ

Georgian *dzveli berdznebi brdznebi iq'vnen*1- literally, 'Ancient Greeks wise were' - highlights two almost-identically-sounding words: *berdznebi* 'Greek (pl.)' and *brdznebi* 'wise (pl.)'. Ancient Greeks, who in the first millenium B. C. had settled on the shores of the Black Sea, were well-known philosophers and the Georgians, who had come into contact with them, had just called them that: '(the) wise' - *brdznebi* (plural of *brdzeni*). To differentiate a Greek from 'just any' wise person, Ancient Georgians had spontaneously added a [e] sound between the initial [b] and [r] - quite an ingenious procedure indeed, given particularly that both words have gone so far apart that this quasi-obvious connection seldom occurs even to some of the more enlightened minds! ____________________________________________________
1 Glottalised [q]. Georgians use this letter to transliterate aspirated [kh] - ქ.

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-This site ows its conception to Sarah Frantz-
-Ce site doit sa naissance à Elian Carsenat--