Nino Jorbenadze

Doctor of Philology
Senior Research Fellow
Arn. Chikobava Institute of Linguistics, Tbilisi State University
Tbilisi, Georgia
ORCID: 0009-0005-7894-1438
ninoaka55@yahoo.com 

Iamze Gagua

Doctor of Philological Sciences
Associate Professor
Tbilisi State University

Nargiz Akhvlediani

Doctor of Philology
Chief Research Fellow
Batumi State University

Lela Chothalishvili

 

Doctor of Philology
Professor
European University


The Etymological Trajectory of the Root ნVნ and the Cult of the Great Mother Nana In the Context of World Civilizations

The cult of the Georgian Great Mother, Nana, dates back to the Eneolithic era. As V. Bardavelidze notes, important information about Nana is given in Georgian fairy tales and legends, and her cult is manifested in the ritual of caring for and treating those suffering from infectious diseases known in Georgian as “Batonebi” (measles, smallpox, etc.). The scholar connects the refrain of these famous Georgian songs: “Iav Nana, Vardov Nana, Iav Naninao” with the cult of the goddess Nana. In the ritual of “sending off” the illness, the astral nature of the Great Mother Nana, her connection with the sun is confirmed by the circular movement around the sick person. It seems that “Iavnana” has lost its original character and purpose, today it is used as a lullaby. Before that, at some point, it was sung to children during the illness. Presumably, it is from this period that the song features “ia” (meaning flower) and “vardi” - with an associative connection with the bumps characteristic of the aforementioned diseases and in order to win the hearts of the Masters of the illness, by comparing them with the flowers of this rash. Initially, the root “ia” here probably did not even denote a flower... The form “vardo” in the text, perhaps, appeared later after the reinterpretation of the root “ia” (*<aia) as the name of a flower. Here, in this case, it is already possible to connect the “iav” component of “iav-nana” with the root “Aia” (Aia-Colkheti), which requires further deep interdisciplinary research and exploration. As for the root ნvნ, its original meaning must have been “mother”, “the one who gave birth”. The root ნvნ is still found today as a name denoting "mother" in Georgian dialects. The root ნvნ is found with the meaning of "mother" in stems with identical formations throughout the Caucasus. The connection of the root ნvნ is also likely with the widespread roots N(V)N (Nana/ Nena / Nona / Ane....) denoting mostly "mother" (parent), which are attested in the speech of representatives of completely different language families around the world: Georgian: Nena, Nene, Nana, Nino, Nona, Nunu (mother, grandmother, woman's Proper name) Armenian: Նանա (Nana) (Proper name / anc. Goddess) Turkish: Anne (mother) Sanskrit: Nana, Naini (female name) Akkadian / Babylonian: Nanaea / Inanna (goddess of love and fertility) Arabic: Nānā, Nana (grandmother) Persian: Nana, Nané (grandmother, breast, mother) English: Nanny, Nana (nanny / grandmother) Spanish: Nana (nanny) Italian: Nonnina, Nonna (grandmother) French: Nana (young woman / girl) German: Nana, Nänni (nanny) Swedish: Nanna (Scandinavian goddess) Hungarian: Nana, Néni (grandmother, aunt) Indonesian: Nenek (grandmother) Swahili: Nana (grandmother) Filipino: Nana, Nanay (mother) Japanese: Na-na-chan (girl's name) Korean: Nana (female name) Transforming from a Common name to a Proper name, we have also received widespread female names in Georgian – Nana, Nene, Nino, Nona, Nunu... The trajectory of etymological transformation is presented as follows: N(V)N Mother (one who gives birth) > Mother of the family > communit > ethnical group > whole nation > Mother of all people > Mother of all beings / Great Mother / Goddess > Proper name of a woman (named in honor of a goddess)> Woman (Common name)

Keywords: Nana, Great Mother, Etymology.