The Between Two Iberias project offers a compelling reinterpretation of the name Aphaseti/Apkhazeti—known today as Abkhazia—unveiling a linguistic legacy that ties this region to the ancient riches of the Kartvelian world. At its core, the name begins with the definite article A-, a common Kartvelian prefix seen in toponyms like Apuglia/Puglia or Assyria/Syria, which marks a specific place or entity. Stripping away this article, we are left with the root Phaseti, which the project posits as the “land of phasi.”
In Georgian, the word phasi (ფასი) translates to “treasure,” a meaning that casts Phaseti as the “land of treasure”—a name both evocative and historically resonant. This interpretation finds corroboration in the ancient name of the Rioni River, known as Phasis in classical sources, which is itself the genitive form of phasi. The Rioni, flowing through the heart of ancient Colchis (modern-day Megrelia), was a lifeline of the region, its waters carrying the wealth that defined Kartvelian prosperity. By “treasure,” we may infer either the legendary Golden Fleece, sought by Jason and the Argonauts in the myths of Colchis, or the abundant gold known to have been mined in Colchis and Svaneti since antiquity. Both possibilities align with the historical reality of a land renowned for its riches, suggesting that the true name of the region should be rendered as აფასეთი (Aphaseti), rather than the modern აფხაზეთი (Apkhazeti).
This interpretation, however, may invite scrutiny, particularly regarding the modern spelling of the region as აფხაზეთი (Apkhazeti), which introduces the letter ხ (kh) where one might expect a simpler ფაზეთი (Phaseti). A natural question arises: if the ancient name was rooted in phasi (ფასი), meaning “treasure,” how did the letter ხ come to be inserted into the name over time?
The answer lies in the complex history of transliteration and linguistic borrowing, a phenomenon that has shaped many Kartvelian toponyms. The inclusion of ხ in Apkhazeti reflects a process of reverse transliteration, where foreign scripts—be they Latin, Russian, or English—have influenced the rendering of Kartvelian words. A parallel can be observed in the Georgian transliteration of foreign names, such as Phuket, the Thai island, which is written as ფხუკეტი (Phkhuketi) rather than a simpler ფუკეტი (Phuketi) or პხუკეტი (Pkhuketi). Similarly, the Philippines is rendered as ფილიპინეთი (Philiphineti), with the aspirated ფ (ph) reflecting a phonetic adaptation. This tendency to insert ხ mirrors a historical pattern seen in the Greek language, where the letter upsilon (υ), originally pronounced as [u], was borrowed into the Latin alphabet and shifted to an [i] sound over centuries. Later, the Greeks, under foreign influence, re-borrowed their own letter from Latin, but by then it had transformed to convey the [i] sound in modern Greek.
In the case of Apkhazeti, a similar process likely occurred. The ancient Phaseti (ფასეთი), rooted in phasi, may have been transliterated into foreign scripts—perhaps Greek, Latin, or later Russian—where phonetic or orthographic conventions introduced the kh sound (represented by ხ). Over time, as Kartvelian scribes re-borrowed the name into Georgian, this altered form was adopted, embedding the ხ into the modern spelling. This phenomenon is not unique to Apkhazeti but reflects a broader pattern of linguistic evolution, where Kartvelian names have been reshaped by the ebb and flow of cultural exchange across centuries.
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