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Georgian · grammar ·

De articulis

Anonymous · titus

BothSourceEnglish
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machine-draft · no human review 1 passages · 137 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

De articulis is an anonymous Georgian grammatical treatise on the eight parts of speech, modeled on the Greco-Latin tradition but adapted to Georgian. Its sole surviving witness is a single manuscript, edited in the TITUS series, with no known other copies. The work is undated but conventionally assigned to the early medieval period based on linguistic features and its grammatical model. It focuses on the article (ἄρθρον), explaining its function in Greek and the difficulty of translating it into Georgian, a concern with theological implications. The text is cited in later Georgian grammatical compilations but never entered liturgical or canonical use. Its authorship and provenance remain speculative due to the lack of external evidence.

De articulis is significant as a rare witness to early medieval Georgian grammatical thought, showing how Greco-Latin models were adapted to a non-Indo-European language. Its focus on the article highlights theological translation challenges, linking grammar to Christological debates. The work's survival in a single manuscript underscores the fragility of such texts and the need for cautious textual criticism.

Historical context

De articulis was composed in an undetermined early medieval period, likely within a Georgian monastic or scholarly community that engaged with Greek grammatical and theological traditions. The work's use of the Latin title and its adaptation of the Greco-Latin eight-part speech model suggest contact with Byzantine or Western educational frameworks, possibly through Georgian translations of Greek grammars. The sole manuscript, preserved in the TITUS edition, may derive from a later copy, but no stemma or critical apparatus exists to trace its transmission. The text's concern with translating Greek articles into Georgian reflects a broader challenge in early Georgian theological translation, as seen in patristic citations (e.g., John Chrysostom). Its limited influence—cited only in later grammatical compilations—indicates a niche scholarly audience, not a liturgical one. The absence of a named author or colophon leaves its intellectual context speculative, though the work's engagement with Arian controversies over John 1:1 suggests a post-Nicene milieu.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

5 commentary units 1 term1 background1 reception1 structure1 caution 1 derived notes 2 open questions 1 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: grammar in Old Georgian; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 1 narrative.
  • caution1 passage(s) are fragmentary in the source; the English bridges each break and says so in the note.
  • sourceSource edition: titus — This text is part of the TITUS edition of De articulis. Copyright TITUS Project, Frankfurt a/M, 7.12.2017. No parts of this document may be republished in any form without prior permission by the copyright holder.

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
artro:1 · narrativehigh
Source
[A-32r, S-106r] *სიტყუაჲ ართრონთათჳს *1 შეისწავე, რამეთუ ვინაჲთგან ართრონთა ძლით უმეცრად *2 და ბნელად საგონებელ არს ენასა ზედა ჩუენსა *3 ლექსი თარგმანებული, რომელსა წმიდათა შორის იოანე ოქროპირი მწვალებელთაგან მოღებულად წინა-აღსადგომელად ჩუენ მართლმადიდებელთა მომართად იტყჳს ლექსსა მას იოანე მახარებელისა მიერ თქუმულსა ძისათჳს; და ბერძულსა შინა ვიდრემე ნათლად ძეს ლექსი იგი; ხოლო გარდამოითარგმნოს რაჲ, დაბნელდების უართრონობისათჳს ენისა ჩუენისა და ცხადსა ნათე//ლსა სიტყუასა *4 უცნაურ ვინაჲმე ჰყოფს, რამეთუ შეუძლებელ არს თარგმანებაჲ მისი ენასა ზედა ქართულსა; ხოლო რაჲთა გამოვაჩინოთ, თუ რაჲ არს ართრონი და ვითარ ვერ ეგების ენასა *5 ზედა ქართულსა თარგმნაჲ *6 მისი და ვითარ იჴუმევენ ამას ართრონსა ბერძენნი, არა დავფაროთ ძალისაებრ და გულისჴმის-ყოფისა *7 ჩუენისა *8.
English
Study the article. Learn, for from the time when the articles, by force, ignorantly and darkly, are thought upon our language, the translated text, which among the saints John Chrysostom says was brought from the heretics as a pre-opposition to us Orthodox concerning the text spoken by John the Evangelist about the Son; and in Greek it clearly says "Son" in that text; but when it is translated, it becomes darkened due to the lack of articles in our language, and it makes the clear, luminous word somehow foreign, for it is impossible to translate it into the Georgian language; but in order to reveal what the article is and how it cannot be translated into the Georgian language, and how the Greeks understand this article, let us not hide it according to our ability and understanding.
Citation. Tergwame, “De articulis”, artro:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/artro#s1
Colophon. Source: titus · licence: This text is part of the TITUS edition of De articulis. Copyright TITUS Project, Frankfurt a/M, 7.12.2017. No parts of this document may be republished in any form without prior permission by the copyright holder. · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0010 · generated 2026-11-15.