ძველი თბილისი
“ძველი თბილისი” (dzveli tbilisi) — Old Tbilisi in Georgian. Noun, level A1, topic — the city and its places. The shared courtyard is called italiuri ezo — the 'Italian yard'. In a live sentence: “ძველ თბილისში ვსეირნობთ” — We are walking around Old Tbilisi. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ძ, ვ, ე, ლ, ი, თ, ბ, ი, ლ, ი, ს, ი. One of 84 words in the set “the city and its places” in the Georgian course.
In short
| Written in Georgian | ძველი თბილისი |
| Read in Latin letters | dzveli tbilisi |
| Translation | Old Tbilisi |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- ძველი თბილისიdzveli tbilisiOld Tbilisi
What it is
The quarters by the sulfur baths and along the Kura river: houses with carved wooden balconies overhanging the street, inner courtyards with a shared gallery and staircase. Half of them stand on props, and that is part of the look.
This word does not reduce to a translation: the thing it names is not part of everyday life here, so a “translation” would end up a description in brackets. The easiest way to learn it is together with its surroundings — where you meet it and what it is for.
Why it looks that way
The shared courtyard is called italiuri ezo — the 'Italian yard'
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- ძველ თბილისში ვსეირნობთdzvel tbilisshi vseirnobtWe are walking around Old Tbilisi
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- ქალაქიkalakicityHence mokalake, citizen — literally 'townsman' — and mokalakeoba, citizenship
- ქუჩაkuchastreetIn addresses the word itself drops out: Rustavelis 12 means Rustaveli Street, 12
- ბანკიbankibankA borrowing with the obligatory -i. A bank account inside it is banko angarishi
- აფთიაქიaptiakipharmacyA borrowing from Greek. The medicine it sells is a native word, tsamali
- ბრბოbrbocrowdBrbo is an uncontrolled crowd, a word with a shade of wariness. Simply many people is bevri khalxi
- შუქნიშანიshuknishanitraffic lightAssembled from shuki, light, and nishani, sign: a 'light-sign'. The word is Georgian through and through — no borrowing here
- ველოსიპედიvelosipedibicycleFive syllables, the stress light and even. 'By bicycle' is velosipedit — the -it ending answers 'with what'
- ავტობუსის გაჩერებაavtobusis gacherebabus stopgachereba comes from cherdeba, to stop: both the stop as a place and the stopping itself as an action
- სამგზავრო ბარათიsamgzavro baratitransit cardmgzavri is a passenger; the sa-…-o frame makes it 'passenger's'. In Tbilisi this card is called metromani
- მარშრუტიmarshrutiroutethe rshr cluster in the middle has no vowel between its parts: mar-shru-ti
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “Old Tbilisi” in Georgian?
The shared courtyard is called italiuri ezo — the 'Italian yard'
- How do you say “bicycle” in Georgian?
Five syllables, the stress light and even. 'By bicycle' is velosipedit — the -it ending answers 'with what'
- How do you say “bank” in Georgian?
A borrowing with the obligatory -i. A bank account inside it is banko angarishi
- How do you say “route” in Georgian?
From the same nest comes marshrutka, the shared minibus — a word familiar to any visitor
- How do you say “traffic light” in Georgian?
Assembled from shuki, light, and nishani, sign: a 'light-sign'. The word is Georgian through and through — no borrowing here
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “Old Tbilisi” in Georgian?
«ძველი თბილისი», read “dzveli tbilisi”. In a live sentence: “ძველ თბილისში ვსეირნობთ” — We are walking around Old Tbilisi. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters ძ, ვ, ე, ლ, ი, თ, ბ, ი, ლ, ი, ს, ი.
How is “ძველი თბილისი” written in Latin letters?
dzveli tbilisi. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The shared courtyard is called italiuri ezo — the 'Italian yard'. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.