ბალახი

Georgian

Alternative forms

  • ბალახ (balax) Ingilo

Etymology

Of the same origin as Old Armenian բալախ (balax, Salicornia), Armenian բալախ (balax, Salicornia; (in dialects) the name of various grasses). The direction of borrowing is uncertain. Klimov / Xalilov derive the Georgian from Armenian, whereas Ačaṙean takes the derivation in the opposite direction.

The same word is found in other languages of the region, including Turkish, Azeri and Kurdish, in most cases borrowed from Armenian (see in բալախ (balax)), but in case of Svan ბალა̈ხ (baläx, plant), Tsakhur балах (balaχ, a kind of leafless grass growing on northern slopes of mountains) and probably Azerbaijani balax borrowed directly from Georgian.

For a possible semantic loan from Russian for the “marijuana” sense compare трава́ (travá). The same semantic loan is observed in Armenian խոտ (xot).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /balaxi/, [b̥aɫaχi]
  • Hyphenation: ბა‧ლა‧ხი

Noun

ბალახი • (balaxi) (plural ბალახები)

  1. grass
  2. (slang) marijuana; hashish
    Synonyms: მარიხუანა (marixuana), ჰაშიში (hašiši)

Inflection

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{
	background-color:#EBEBEB;
}

Derived terms

  • ბალახიანი (balaxiani)
  • ბალახეული (balaxeuli)
  • ბალახოვანი (balaxovani)
  • ბალახფიჩვა (balaxpičva)
  • ბალახბულახი (balaxbulaxi)
  • ბალახისფერი (balaxisperi)
  • ბალახკვერცხა (balaxḳvercxa)
  • ბალახ-კოვზა (balax-ḳovza)
  • ბალახ-წაბლა (balax-c̣abla)
  • ბალახ-ვარდა (balax-varda)

Descendants

  • Azerbaijani: balax
  • Old Armenian: բալախ (balax) (possibly) (see there for further descendants)
  • Svan: ბალა̈ხ (baläx, plant)
  • Tsakhur: балах (balaχ, a kind of leafless grass growing on northern slopes of mountains)

References

  • Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971) “բալախ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume I, Yerevan: University Press, pages 387–388
  • Klimov, G. A., Xalilov, M. Š. (2003) Словарь кавказских языков. Сопоставление основной лексики [Dictionary of Caucasian Languages. A comparison of the Basic Vocabulary] (in Russian), Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, →ISBN, pages 218, 221
  • Orbeliani, Sulxan-Saba (1685–1716) “ბალახი”, in S. Iordanišvili, editor, Siṭq̇vis ḳona kartuli, romel ars leksiḳoni [Collection of Georgian words, that is a dictionary], Tbilisi: Georgian SSR print, published 1949, page 44
  • Čubinov, David (1887) “ბალახი”, in Грузинско-русский словарь [Georgian–Russian Dictionary], Saint Petersburg: Academy Press, column 94
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