BER-ROOT SURNAMES IN ADJARA

Abstract

The study of surnames is closely related to the historical, linguistic and ethnographic data of the Georgian nation.

The aim of the research of this article is to reveal common surnames with root roots in Adjara, to study the production of surnames from personal names by means of affixes, their structure, semantics and etymology. The research is based on ancient and modern Georgian lang­uage texts, dictionaries, dialectal data, historical-ethnographic documents and diachronic analysis of scientific literature.

The observation of the analytical materials showed us that beri is a lexical unit of the old Georgian language, from it numerous common and proper names were obtained in Adjara through production means and composite word combinations, the semantic variety of ber- element and the production model of place, castle, personal names and surnames are interesting.

Ber-element in public names is often expressive of age, old age, old age in today's sense, in geographical names confirmed in historical documents, in most cases, ber expresses the semantics of monk-nun, ecclesiastical person (Berta, Beriati...), however, in the names of arable places (Berimitsebi, Berikana, monk cucumber ...) of old age, it should be expressive of softness.

The semantic and phonetic variation of Ber-element surnames proves that Ber was originally used in a general sense. From a common name without affixation or by means of affixes, a common name tur­ned into a personal name or a personal name moved from one lexical-sem­antic and functional group to a surname (Beridze, Bersenadze, Berseladze (Berseli), Beruli, Berishvili, Kakhaberidze, Gulaberidze, Dol­ab­eridze, Jokhtaberidze, Janberidze, Ghogh­ober­idze...). Showing the mas­culine ge­n­der of one's own name, son, son, determines the semantics of the verb-root confirmed in surnames. This kind of tendency is a common Georgian language phenomenon and can be observed even today in the dialects of the Georgian language.

The conclusions obtained as a result of the research are important for diachronic analysis of Georgian lexicology, onomastics and, in gen­eral, key issues related to surnames.