Georgian Language Cognates

I’ve found that while for the most part, the Georgian language is something completely different from anything I’ve ever studied before, there are a lot of random cognates with English, and even more so, with Spanish. Here is a list of the words I’ve learned so far (Romanized) that are cognates with other languages that I know.

Georgian            Spanish            English

Biblioteka            Biblioteca             Library

Moda                   Moda                        Fashion

Istoria                  Historia            History

Matematikas       Matematicas            Mathematics

Kimika                Quimica            Chemistry

Fabrika               Fabrica                        Factory

Inglisuri              Ingles                        English

Ghvino               Vino                        Wine

Computori          Computadora            Computer

Chai                    Té                        Tea  (ok, this is not a cognate, but we call Indian tea “chai” 

                                                                  In English.)

Torti                   Torta                        Cake

Televisori           Televisor            Television

Biologia             Biología            Biology

Aut’obusi           Autobús            Bus

Klasi                   Clase                        Class

Skola                  Escuela            School

Kaphe                 café                        café                       

Bari                     Bar                        Bar

Politsia                 Policia                        Police

T’ualet’i              Inodoro                 Toilet

Parki                    Parque                        Park

Muzeumi            Museo                        Museum

Rest’orani            Restaurante            Restaurant

Ophisi                  Oficina                        Office

Banki                   Banco                        Bank

Es                         ésta                        This

Kat’a                    Gato                        Cat

Mobiluri               movil                        mobile/cell phone

Kontsert’I            concerto            Concert

Konphrentsia        Conferencia            Conference

Eqskursia              Exurción             Excursion

Pikniki                  picnic                         picnic

T’aqsi                    Taxi                        Taxi

Ena                        Lengua                        Language/Tongue

And of course, every language has its false cognates; here are some that I especially like

Deda- Mother

Mama- Father

Bitchi- boy

Chika- cup

Kino- cinema (this comes from Russian I think)

I wish I could say that all these cognates help me speak Georgian, but unfortunately Georgian verbs are like some kind of alien language to me, long strings of consonants that don’t belong together and which are conjugated in a manner that still mystifies me despite having been explained several times now. To give you some idea of what I’m up against, I’ll conjugate the verb “to like” in the present tense for you.

Momts’ons                        Mogvts’ons

Mogts’ons                        Mogts’ont

Mots’ons                        Mots’ont

Anyway, I’ll continue to study, though now I have only a little more than 1 months left of my stay, so I don’t know how much I can improve in one month.