Goal: you will talk about New Year, Christmas and Easter in Georgia.
Course progress: lesson 89 / 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 emailWeek 18. New Year's Eve
My first New Year in Georgia. Bebo made gozinaki, Levan brought a chichilaki home, and at midnight Giorgi stepped out and came back in as our first guest of the year. In the morning I wrote everything down.
Today: Georgian holidays, the greetings that go with them, and more practice of the past.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ახალი წელი | akhali ts'eli | New Year |
| შობა | shoba | Christmas |
| აღდგომა | aghdgoma | Easter |
| დღესასწაული | dghesasts'auli | holiday, feast day |
| გილოცავთ! | gilotsavt! | congratulations! happy ...! (polite, plural) |
| ბედნიერება | bedniereba | happiness |
| გისურვებ | gisurveb | I wish you |
| გოზინაყი | gozinaq'i | gozinaki (walnuts in honey) |
| ჩიჩილაკი | chichilak'i | chichilaki (New Year "tree" of wood shavings) |
| მეკვლე | mek'vle | first guest of the New Year |
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.
| holiday | greeting |
|---|---|
| New Year | გილოცავთ ახალ წელს!gilotsavt akhal ts'els! |
| Christmas | გილოცავთ შობას!gilotsavt shobas! |
| Easter | ქრისტე აღდგა! — ჭეშმარიტად აღდგა!krist'e aghdga! — ch'eshmarit'ad aghdga! |
| a birthday | გილოცავ დაბადების დღეს!gilotsav dabadebis dghes! |
გილოცავgilotsav (to one friend) / გილოცავთgilotsavt (polite, plural) + the holiday in -სs: ახალ წელსakhal ts'els, შობასshobas. ახალიakhali loses its -იi before წელსts'els (lesson 56).
გისურვებgisurveb means "I wish you". What you wish is in the -სs form: ბედნიერებას გისურვებbednierebas gisurveb (I wish you happiness), ჯანმრთელობას გისურვებjanmrtelobas gisurveb (I wish you good health).
Notice the difference: ბებომbebom and ლევანმაlevanma take -მაma / -მm (they did something), but გიორგიgiorgi does not (he went and came).
The Georgian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas, შობაshoba, on 7 January. Families also keep the "Old New Year", ძველით ახალი წელიdzvelit akhali ts'eli, on 14 January.
The მეკვლეmek'vle is the first person to enter the house after midnight on New Year's night: he or she is believed to bring the luck of the whole year, so families often choose someone kind and cheerful. A ჩიჩილაკიchichilak'i is a small traditional "tree" made of shaved hazelnut or walnut wood, and გოზინაყიgozinaq'i are walnuts cooked in honey.
At Easter, Georgians dye eggs red and greet each other with ქრისტე აღდგაkrist'e aghdga! ("Christ is risen!"), answered by ჭეშმარიტად აღდგაch'eshmarit'ad aghdga! ("Truly risen!").
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 89 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