გურია

Georgian

Etymology

Origin is uncertain and no consensus exists on its etymology to this day. Some of the theories are:

  • The word is of the same origin as ე-გრ-ისი (e-gr-isi, Egrisi) and მ-ე-გრ-ელ-ი (m-e-gr-el-i, Mingrelian). The fact that Guria was a historical region of Kingdom of Egrisi may be a proof of this. Marr, Javakhishvili and Ingorokva accept this etymology and reconstruct earlier *ეგურია (*eguria) (which developed from ეგრისი (egrisi) and into გურია (guria)).
  • According to another theory, the stem can be traced back to the name of a tribe, *გვერ- (*gver-), which developed from earlier *ჰიბერ (*hiber), *ჰბერ (*hber) (whence იბერია (iberia)) and *ჰივერ (*hiver), *ჰვერ (*hver) (whence ივერია (iveria)). However, there is no historical account of such tribe in the ancient world.
  • According to a less popular theory, the toponym developed from Mingrelian გურ-ი (gur-i, heart). Scholars claim, that Gurians were renown for their boldness and bitterness since the ancient times. Since the names of these qualities include the stem *გურ- (*gur-, heart) in Mingrelian (implying that these traits ascend from the heart of a man), this could be another indicator in this respect.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡuria/, [ɡ̊uɾia]
  • Hyphenation: გუ‧რია
  • (file)

Proper noun

გურია • (guria)

  1. Guria

Inflection

.Georgian.inflection-table tr:hover
{
	background-color:#EBEBEB;
}

Descendants

  • English: Guria

References

  • Bedošvili, Guram (2002) Kartul ṭoṗonimta ganmarṭebit-eṭimologiuri leksiḳoni [Dictionary of Georgian Geographical Names] (in Georgian), Tbilisi: Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, →ISBN
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