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/, [t͡sʰχinʷali]
• Hyphenation: ცხინ‧ვა‧ლი

Proper noun

ცხინვალი • (cxinvali)

1. Tskhinvali (the capital city of South Ossetia, a de-facto independent country internationally recognized as part of the country of Georgia)

Descendants

• → Armenian: Ցխինվալ (Cʻxinval)
• → English: Tskhinvali
• → Ossetian: Цхинвал (Cxinval)
• → Russian: Цхинвал (Cxinval)

References

• Bedošvili, Guram (2002) Kartul ṭoṗonimta ganmarṭebit-eṭimologiuri leksiḳoni [Dictionary of Georgian Geographical Names]‎^[1] (in Georgian), Tbilisi: Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, →ISBN, pages 479–482
• Fähnrich, Heinz (2010) “Von Baumnamen gebildete georgische Siedlungsnamen”, in Namenkundliche Informationen‎^[2] (in German), volume 97, Leipziger Universitätsverlag, page 138–139 of 133–143