Goal: you will read a short folk tale with the perfect.
Course progress: lesson 127 / 200
LIMBA audio course · Georgian
This written course gives you the grammar, the words and the script. The LIMBA audio course trains your ear and your mouth: you listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect complement to these lessons.
Download the Georgian audio courseOrder form · your download link arrives by emailMonth 12. A bedtime story
Nino and I are babysitting Dato, the neighbours' six-year-old grandson. He refuses to sleep without a story, so Nino tells him an old-style Georgian tale about a poor boy and a devi.
Today: the perfect, the tense of fairy tales.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| მომიყევი! | momiq'evi! | tell me (a story)! |
| იყო და არა იყო რა | iq'o da ara iq'o ra | once upon a time (literally "there was and there was not") |
| ნაცარი | natsari | ash, ashes |
| დევი | devi | devi, a giant of Georgian tales |
| შეხვედრია | shekhvedria | he met him (in a tale) |
| გოლიათი | goliati | giant |
| სულელი | suleli | stupid, silly |
| გაქცეულა | gaktseula | he ran away (in a tale) |
| ჭირი იქა, ლხინი აქა | ch'iri ika, lkhini aka | the end of a tale (literally "trouble there, joy here") |
The pronunciation is written in English letters, following Georgia’s official romanization. Say every letter: a as in father, e as in pet, i as in machine, o as in port, u as in rule; r is rolled; g is always hard; kh as in Scottish loch; gh a soft gargled g, like a French r; sh as in shop; zh like the s in pleasure; ch as in church; ts as in cats; dz as in adze; j as in jam. An apostrophe marks a “popped” consonant, said with a little click in the throat and no puff of air: k’, p’, t’, ts’, ch’, q’ (q’ is made deep in the throat). Without an apostrophe, k, p, t, ts, ch have a small puff of air. Use the Pronunciation button at the top to hide or show it.
The storyteller did not see what happened, so Georgian tales are told in the perfect, the tense of hearsay:
| intransitive (nominative) | transitive (dative doer) |
|---|---|
| ყოფილაq'opila: there was | დევს უთქვამსdevs utkvams: the devi said |
| წასულაts'asula: he went | ბიჭს ამოუღიაbich's amoughia: the boy took out |
| შეშინებულაsheshinebula: he got scared | დევს უფიქრიაdevs upikria: the devi thought |
| გაქცეულაgaktseula: he ran away | დევს მიუციაdevs miutsia: the devi gave |
Once the story is under way, storytellers often slip into the aorist (მოუჭირაmouch'ira, he squeezed). Both are normal.
In the perfect, the person who receives something leaves the dative and takes -თვისtvis: > დევმა ბიჭს ოქრო მისცაdevma bich's okro mistsa. | The devi gave the boy gold. (aorist) > დევს ბიჭისთვის ოქრო მიუციაdevs bich'istvis okro miutsia. | The devi gave the boy gold. (perfect, as in a tale)
The official learner's dictionary shows the same pattern: მასწავლებელს წიგნი მოსწავლისთვის მიუციაmasts'avlebels ts'igni mosts'avlistvis miutsia (the teacher has given the book to the pupil).
| formula | use |
|---|---|
| იყო და არა იყო რა…iq'o da ara iq'o ra… | the first words of a tale |
| ჭირი იქა, ლხინი აქა!ch'iri ika, lkhini aka! | the last words: trouble goes away, joy stays with us |
The lazy boy sitting in the ashes is a favourite hero of Georgian tales: ნაცარქექიაnatsarkekia, literally "ash-raker". He looks good for nothing, but he always beats the strong, slow-witted devi with his wits.
Choose an answer for each question, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
Well done! Lesson 127 is ticked on your course map.
Say your answer out loud, write it down, then open the model answer.
Lesson finished? Now train your ear
This written course gives you the grammar, the words and the script. The LIMBA audio course trains your ear and your mouth: you listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect complement to these lessons.
Download the Georgian audio courseOrder form · your download link arrives by email