# Georgian: ghvino (ღვინო) - wine



## AndrasBP

The Georgian word for wine, ღვინო /ɣwino/ seems to be related to the form "vino", found in many European languages and deriving from Latin _vinum_.
Is "ɣwino" borrowed from an Indo-European language? If so, is it possible to determine when that happened and from which source language?

(The letter  ღ  (IPA: ɣ) is a voiced velar fricative.)


----------



## ahvalj

The most obvious candidate is proto-Armenian (_Martirosyan HK · 2010 · Etymological dictionary of the Armenian inherited lexicon: _214–215). The attested Old Armenian forms are _gini _and _gin-_ (գինի - Wiktionary). In the prehistoric times, Armenian experienced the reduction of the final syllable and the shift of the word-initial _*u̯>g,_ so the intermediate _γw-_ fits here very well (cp. Germanic *_warda_ > Romance _guarda _— warda - Wiktionary). The root vowel must have come from _*i~ī_ (since _*eı̯ _and_ *oı̯>ē_).

Another such word is Old Armenian _gi_ "juniper" : Georgian _γwia_ (ღვია - Wiktionary — Martirosyan: 211-212).


----------



## AndrasBP

Thank you for the reply.



ahvalj said:


> the shift of the word-initial _*u̯>g,_ so the intermediate _γw-_ fits here very well (cp. Germanic *_warda_ > Romance _guarda _


Brythonic Celtic seems to have the same development: Welsh and Breton *gwin *- wine.


----------



## scythian_horseman

then is it also related to English Venom ?


----------



## AndrasBP

scythian_horseman said:


> then is it also related to English Venom ?


"Venom" comes from Latin "venenum" - poison. It seems to be a different root.


----------



## francisgranada

ahvalj said:


> ... the shift of the word-initial _*u̯>g,_ so the intermediate _γw-_ fits here very well ...


 This could explain why *w*in- (not *v*in-) in Germanic, *o*in- in Greek, *v*in- in Latin  (the Latin letter "V" represented rather a semivowel, perhaps approximately pronounced like the English _w_), etc ...

Some etymological dictionaries I consulted many times ago, declared this word of "Mediterranean origin". I.e. of uncertain, possibly not IE, origin ... Others tried to find connection of this word with Lat. _*vit*is_, Sanscrit _*ven*as_, even with Lat. _*Ven*us_, etc ...  Does it make sense even from the point of view of "modern" etymology?


----------



## rushalaim

francisgranada said:


> This could explain why *w*in- (not *v*in-) in Germanic, *o*in- in Greek, *v*in- in Latin  (the Latin letter "V" represented rather a semivowel, perhaps approximately pronounced like the English _w_)


Ancient-Greek was *w*oinos. I assume, that was the origin.


----------



## fdb

There seems to be evidence that wine production originated in Georgia. There is a case for seeing the local (Georgian or pre-Georgian) name as the ultimate source of the IE and Semitic words.


----------



## rushalaim

I think, Hebrew יון [yawan] was taken from Greek _"Ionia"_, and Hebrew יין [yain] _"wine"_ was derived from וין [wain]. Perhaps, _"Ionia"_ and _"woinos"_ were related. Historians are saying Greeks had a triad: wine, olives, wheat in their colonies.


----------



## fdb

“Wine” is a prehistoric wander word occurring not only in Indo-European, but also in Semitic: Arabic wayn, Sabaic WYN /wayn/, also (with the NW-Semitic shift of w- to y-)  Hebrew yayin, and some others. Sabaic also has YYN, which must be a borrowing from NW-Semitic.


----------



## fdb

rushalaim said:


> Perhaps, _"Ionia"_ and _"woinos"_ were related.



There is no connection at all.


----------



## ahvalj

Anatolian has the following forms: Hittite _u̯iı̯an-_ "wine", Cuneiform Luwian _u̯iniı̯as_ "of wine" (relational adjective), Hieroglyphic Luwian _u̯iı̯anis_ (Nom. Sg.), _u̯inin_ (Acc. Sg.) "wine", all pointing to _*u̯ihₑon-~u̯ihₑn- _(_Kloekhorst A · 2008 · Etymological dictionary of the Hittite inherited lexicon: _1012). The Latin form _vīnum _is derivable either from an _o_-grade *_u̯oı̯hₑnom,_ like in Greek (with the same change as in _*u̯oı̯daı̯>vīdī_), or from an _e_-grade _*u̯eı̯hₑnom,_ or from a zero-grade _*u̯ihₑnom_. The Armenian words, as I had written, imply _i_ or _ī_ in the root, hence _*u̯ihₑnos~*u̯ihₑnom_ suits very well. Thus, even if the original word had been borrowed into an early form of Indo-European, it was adapted to the Indo-European ablaut, perhaps to the root Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/weh₁y- - Wiktionary, with the usual metathesis of laryngeals (cp. _bʰeu̯H-_ in most instances, but remnants of _*bʰeHu-_ in e. g. Greek _φύσις, φυτόν < *bʰHut-,_ Old East Slavic -_ba̋vitь _and Sanskrit _bhāvayati < *bʰoHu̯-_).

The Slavic *_víno_ is a (Latin? Germanic?) loan, judging from the non-acute intonation (the inherited form should have been _**vı̋no,_ Russian _**ви́но_), as is the Lithuanian _vỹnas_ (if inherited, it should have been _**výnas_). The Germanic word is  ambiguous, but probably loaned as there was no wine in the original Germanic area.

The Latin _Venus _is unrelated: it comes from Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wenh₁- - Wiktionary.


----------



## rushalaim

fdb said:


> There is no connection at all.


ערב [arab] _"Arabia"_ is the basis for עבר [abir] _"Hebrew"._ So, may יון [*y*awan] _"Ionia"_ be וין [*w*ain] _"wine"_?


----------



## AndrasBP

fdb said:


> There seems to be evidence that wine production originated in Georgia. There is a case for seeing the local (Georgian or pre-Georgian) name as the ultimate source of the IE and Semitic words.


A Georgian once told me that, but I didn't believe him. I thought it was just wishful thinking.



fdb said:


> “Wine” is a prehistoric wander word occurring not only in Indo-European, but also in Semitic:





ahvalj said:


> Anatolian has the following forms: Hittite _u̯iı̯an-_ "wine", Cuneiform Luwian _u̯iniı̯as_ "of wine" (relational adjective), Hieroglyphic Luwian _u̯iı̯anis_ (Nom. Sg.), _u̯inin_ (Acc. Sg.) "wine",


I'm not knowledgeable about IE historical phonology, but based on geographical proximity, is it possible that the Proto-Georgian word was borrowed into Anatolian languages, and then it reached Greek and Semitic?


----------



## ahvalj

AndrasBP said:


> I'm not knowledgeable about IE historical phonology, but based on geographical proximity, is it possible that the Proto-Georgian word was borrowed into Anatolian languages, and then it reached Greek and Semitic?


The literature I have seen (including the PIE studies by Gamkrelidze, himself a specialist in Kartvelian languages) advocates the opposite direction: to Kartvelian (e. g. Gamkrelidze TV, Ivanov VV · 1995 · Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans.pdf: II, 560 = page 639 of the pdf). Besides this, the cluster _ɣw_ would have been borrowed to Proto-Indo-European or any ancient Indo-European language as _gu̯, gʰu̯_ or _Hu̯,_ not as _u̯._


----------



## Vojvoda

The Serbian word for wine is *"vino"*... Observing the appearance and growth of the grape plant, grapevine or just *vine*
it can be seen that gowing high, twisting and wrapping usually around a tree... Here are a few Serbian words that I think have to do with the word "vino" and plant properties:
_vinuti_ - to rise, to go high
_vijati_ - to go around
_uvijati_ - to twist
_navijati _- *winding*
_vijak_ - screw
_navoj_ - screw thread
_loza_ - vine, screw thread
_vuna_ - wool (making thread by twisting wool)


----------



## Stoggler

Vino is simply a borrowing of the Latin word vinum.  The other words have nothing to do with that word.  Have you looked the etymologies up in a dictionary?


----------



## Vojvoda

Noun* winding*
From _wind_ +‎ _-ing_, from _wind_ (“to wrap”). 

Something wound around something else.
Curving or bending movement, twists and turns.
Adjective
*winding*

Twisting, turning or sinuous.
Spiral or helical.
From _wind_ +‎ _-ing_, from _wind_ (“movement of air”), as the wind was used to assist turning. 

Serbian:
*zavijati* - "to wrap", "wind blowing", "howling" (“movement of air”)
From _za + vijati  "to go around"_


----------



## Vojvoda

Stoggler said:


> Vino is simply a borrowing of the Latin word vinum.  The other words have nothing to do with that word.  Have you looked the etymologies up in a dictionary?


Latin language is much younger then wine and wine is younger then vine (plant).


----------



## Vojvoda

Proto-Indo-European
**wéyh₁ō*

wine
vine


*Root
*weh₁y-*


to twist, wind, weave, plait
to wrap, enclose, cover
Serbian _vuna_ - wool (making thread by twisting wool)


*uh₁y-éye-ti (“to wrap, plait”, zero-grade causative)

Indo-Iranian: *uHyáyati
Indo-Aryan: *uHyáyati
Sanskrit: व्ययति (vyáyati)


Serbian:
_vinuti_ - to rise, to go high
_vijati_ - to go around
_uvijati_ - to twist
_navijati _- *winding*
_vijak_ - screw


----------



## OBrasilo

If you looked at the etymology, you'd notice that Serbian _vuna_ comes from a word with a l, and for example, there's still a in Slovenian (_volna_), and the word is cognated to English _wool_ and Latin _lana_ (wl -> l seems to be a common change in Latin, see also _wlkwe_ -> _lupus_).


----------

