Kinship Terminology in the Khevsurian Dialect

Abstract

The present article examines kinship vocabulary in the Khevsurian dialect. The recording and study of terms denoting kin relationships is closely bound up with the system of kinship and family forms that existed in the past. This, in turn, necessarily
entails an analysis of ethnolinguistic research into questions connected with the genealogy of one family clan (gvari) or another.

Observation of the material under study has shown that in the kinship structure of Khevsurian, a certain significance attached to the union of persons descended along the line of a single ancestor – the gvari (clan/lineage). The gvari divides into dziri
(root) and mama (father-line). Connected with it are the terms: sakhlis rigi („house order/line“), sadzmo rigi („brotherhood order/line“), sagvareulo rigi („clan/family order/line“), sadedo rigi („mother’s-side order/line“), and dedistsulis rigi („maternal
uncles’ order/line“). Kinship by clan (by blood) necessarily descended through the male line: son, brother, cousin (paternal), outer cousin, the whole clan.
The nearest kin are: sidze (son-in-law), rdzali (daughter-in-law law), and the parents
of the son-in-law, that is, the mdzakhlebi (in-laws). In Khevsureti, a paternal or maternal first cousin is called shinshi.
The clan bond is exceedingly firm. Marriage between members of the same clan is forbidden. Kinship by blood rests upon a common shrine, or khati (icon).

In Khevsurian, inheritance likewise passed along the male line. The entire property of a household remained with the sons. If there was no son – no heir – in a family, the property passed to the nearest relative by clan: to a brother, then a nephew, then a cousin, and even to outer cousins.
Each clan had one chosen man – the kitkhuli katsi („the man consulted“, or „the questioned man“). The kitkhuli katsi had to be intelligent, experienced, and wise. In every difficulty, he was consulted on matters concerning both the clan as a whole
and the affairs of the community and village. The kitkhuli katsi was also a judge, a mediator of communal and village affairs, and the leader of the clan.
Besides the kitkhuli katsi, the clan would also choose one intelligent man to serve as a mediator/adviser (momrigebeli). Alongside these, five further men were also chosen. The word of those chosen was law. The clan bond was enacted at the festival of Atengenoba. In Khevsureti, kinship visiting also takes place among nieces/nephews (through sisters), uncles, and in-laws (in the households of the parents of husband and wife)... The occasions for such visits are a woman’s marriage, the birth of a child, or a man taking a wife. Gifts are brought for the occasion – vodka; at New Year, a fortune-cake, a single round bread, a cheese-filled pastry, and vodka.
The question of the endings of Khevsurian clan names is of interest. Almost every Khevsurian clan name ends in the suffix -ur/-ul. Such an ending accompanies those clan names formed from an ancestor’s given name (Khimika – Khimikauri, Gogocha – Gogochuri, Ptsikhela – Ptsikhelauri, Zviada – Zviadauri, Araba – Arabuli...). In rare cases, in clan names formed from toponyms, the suffiffix -el occurs instead (Likokeli). In Khevsurian clan names, the suffix -ur denotes „son, offspring“ (Iv. Javakhishvili). The suffix -ur is likewise attested in the terms: dedaduri – „mother’s sister“; mamiduri – „father’s sister“.
The kinship vocabulary attested in Khevsurian corresponds, for the most part, to the Georgian literary language and to other dialects, while the divergent cases point to a tendency toward innovation and modification.