Goal: you will name family members and say დედაჩემიdedachemi, მამაჩემიmamachemi.
Course progress: lesson 21 / 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 emailDay 11. The family photo album
After dinner, Bebo brings out a heavy photo album. Every page is a story: weddings, babies, a grandfather in uniform, Nino as a little girl with enormous ribbons.
Today: the family, and a small surprise in the way Georgians say "my mother".
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ოჯახი | ojakhi | family |
| დედაჩემი | dedachemi | my mother |
| მამაჩემი | mamachemi | my father |
| ბებიაჩემი | bebiachemi | my grandmother |
| ვაჟი | vazhi | son |
| ქალიშვილი | kalishvili | daughter |
| ცოლი | tsoli | wife |
| ქმარი | kmari | husband |
| მშობლები | mshoblebi | parents |
| ბიძა | bidza | uncle |
| პატარა | p'at'ara | small, little |
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.
You already know დედაdeda (mother), მამაmama (father), დაda (sister), ძმაdzma (brother), ბებიაbebia (grandmother), ბაბუაbabua (grandfather) and შვილიshvili (child, son or daughter of someone). For a son you can also say ვაჟიvazhi, and for a daughter ქალიშვილიkalishvili.
For the older generation, Georgians put "my" after the word and write it as one word:
| older generation | meaning |
|---|---|
| დედაჩემიdedachemi | my mother |
| მამაჩემიmamachemi | my father |
| ბებიაჩემიbebiachemi | my grandmother |
| ბაბუაჩემიbabuachemi | my grandfather |
For your own generation and the younger one, "my" comes before the word, as a separate word:
| same or younger generation | meaning |
|---|---|
| ჩემი დაchemi da | my sister |
| ჩემი ძმაchemi dzma | my brother |
| ჩემი შვილიchemi shvili | my child |
The same works with "your": დედაშენიdedasheni (your mother), but შენი ძმაsheni dzma (your brother).
Georgian family words do not say whether an uncle or aunt is on the mother's or the father's side, except for aunts: დეიდაdeida is your mother's sister and მამიდაmamida your father's sister. ბიძაbidza is any uncle.
ოჯახიojakhi, the family, is at the heart of Georgian life. It is normal for three generations to live in the same flat, as in Sam's host family.
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 21 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