Georgian Term Creation According to Archival Materials of 1919-1920

Abstract

The National Archives of Georgia (GNA, SCA, F. 1935, Desc.1, N585) preserve important and noteworthy archival materials for the historiography of Georgian terminology, which describe the issues related to terminological work in 1919-1920. The sources compiled in 1919 reflect the processing of the dictionary containing 8500 terms of almost all fields of technology by the “Technical Society of Georgia” and the difficulties of its publication. Among the documents compiled in the same period, archival materials are also noteworthy, which contain the specifics and needs of the work of the Commission for the Development of Military Terminology. From December 1919, a new body - the study committee - was created at the Ministry of Education, the main function of which was: creating new Georgian textbooks and processing terminology.

It is obvious from the research materials that in 1920, Prof. Akaki Shanidze applied to the study committee and asked for the creation of a permanent terminological commission, whose duty of what would be to verify the existing terminology, evaluate them by specialists of the relevant fields, and take care to establish new terms. Shanidze presented the work plan, structure, and main duties of the Terminological Commission. In the same year, part of some members of the commission of Georgian language and literature: Ak. Shanidze, G. Akhvlediani, S. Gorgadze and V. Beridze asked the study committee to hold a conference of people who know the language "to resolve the issues of correct pronunciation and spelling of the Georgian language". It is noteworthy the principles of selection of terms given in one of the minutes of the 1920 sub-commission for processing the terms of the history and literature which can be used as an example in the process of adopting modern terms.

Therefore, the archival materials obtained by the present author, prove that in 1919-1920 terminological work was conducted in an organized manner. Georgian professors and specialists in various fields were supported by state structures and educational institutions. The final goal of the joint work was to fully implement the issue of nationalization that began during the period of Georgia's independence: to transfer teaching to the Georgian language and to create new Georgian-language textbooks. For this reason, it is necessary to select scientific terms from the existing linguistic fund, sometimes to introduce or to render into Georgian foreign words, and sometimes to create and establish new lexical entries.