The Hebrew ו and its Greek and Georgian equivalents — ΚΑΙ and და — in the Books of the Minor Prophets

Abstract

The article examines the Georgian conjunction „და“ as a semantically non-autonomous lexical unit whose primary function is the syntactic and discourse-level linkage of elements across all linguistic levels, including words within compounds, words within sentences, sentences themselves, and larger textual segments. Precisely because „და“ does not carry a specific meaning, it was able to undergo functional extension, by taking on the roles of various conjunctions, adverbs, and particles, without semantic contamination (shift), thus maintaining the formal and stylistic specificity of the source text.

At the same time, the pleonastic usage of „და“, particularly its position that is unnatural for Georgian syntax, frequently resulted in a Biblical language that felt unusual for Georgian readers and at times ambiguous. The article notes that both the Georgian language itself and translators often struggled to avoid vagueness or stylistic awkwardness, with the apodotic use of „და“ appearing to be especially problematic during the translation process.

As with other Hebraisms mediated through Greek, the „და“ often sounds especially artificial and obscure from a semantic point of view in contexts that are already complex, and that must have been even more difficult for the translator because of the Greek καί being used in ways unusual for Greek.

The article demonstrates that Georgian translations of the Old Testament did not only preserve these idioms but actively integrated them into the language and into original literary writinG´. Thus, a comparative philological analysis of texts translated as well as written in Gergian, reveal the extent to which the Georgian language ultimately benefited from the translators’ and writers’ creative boldness and courage.