Sattsaev, Elbrus B.
Izvestia SOIGSI. 2020. IIS 37 (76).

Abstract:
The Caucasus is one of the most ethnically complex regions in the world. The majority of national
groups live in the North Caucasus. The Southern Caucasus (Transcaucasia) does not differ in the
diversity of its national composition. Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Armenians, Ossetians, Abkhazians
and Talyshians are indigenous peoples of the South Caucasus and have lived on this territory for
thousands of years. The Azerbaijanian language belongs to the Turkic group of the Altai family.
Armenian language is a separate group in the Indo-European family. The Georgian language belongs
to the Kartvelian family. Ossetians and Talyshians are Iranian-speaking peoples. The Abkhazian
language belongs to the Adygo-Abkhazian language family. As a result of long-term cultural,
historical and political communication with the Iranian peoples, a large number of Iranian elements
have entered the languages of the South Caucasus. In the Georgian language, the vocabulary of
Iranian origin corresponds to all the Iranian language epochs – ancient, middle and new. It forms an
organic part of the Georgian language, forming the main core of its vocabulary. Due to the significant
proximity of the ancient Iranian languages, it is difficult to determine which of them could have been
the source of a particular loan. In recent centuries, Georgian has absorbed a significant number
of words from the new Persian and Ossetian languages. The Armenian ethnic group has been in
close contact with the Iranian peoples for thousands of years. These connections are reflected in the
Armenian language. Armenian, like Georgian, borrowed a large amount of Iranian vocabulary.
The Azerbaijanian language was formed relatively recently and was greatly influenced by the new
Persian language. Through the medium of the Persian language, Arabic vocabulary also penetrated
into the languages of the South Caucasus. The character of lexical mixing of the languages of the
South Caucasus is much more complex than purely quantitative or only digital comparisons. This
issue can be resolved through specific research in various areas of vocabulary, primarily in historical
terms.

Keywords: vocabulary, Caucasus, Caucasian languages, Iranian peoples, Persians, Scythians, Ossetians, Iranian languages, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Old Iranian period, Middle Iranian period, New Iranian period

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