My first instinct was to spell Tblisi the way you did, but I was intimidated into inserting the extra vowel because both the Russian and the Georgian on the postcard have three i-letters.
Why do you suppose we use a spelling that defies English phonology when it's not attested in the source language?
What, you asking me? I dunno. Somebody wrote it down that way 300 years ago, maybe?
Worth noting, though, that if you go with the Russian / Georgian and write "Tbilisi," you're splitting up a perfectly good English "bl" and allowing the real oddball, "Tb," to stand. If we were transliterating from, say, the Vulcan, it would probably be rendered "T'blisi," no?
Hold the phone! It appears that the standard English spelling is indeed Tbilisi (from an old form "T'pilisi," ho ho!). So, the question is -- did I accurately type the Latin-alphabet caption on the back of that postcard? Or is it just another garden-variety typo? Find out tonight on the L&TM5k!
The Internet seems to favour Tblisi, but your theory about our affinity for bl is interesting, but in that case I would have expected metathesis to Tiblisi. I don't know which consonant blends Vulcan phonology supports.
I just want to know if the big stain is actually on the building or on the postcard photo. Because the former would be pretty interesting to speculate about....
I am holding here in my hand the actual artifact, resplendent with its four Armenian stamps, and can report the following findings:
1) There is no Latin text on the back of the card. Patrick, who has cred as he bought the cards in situ, writes "Tblisi."
2) The stain is very probably a scar from postal sorting equipment, although I can not say this definitively.
Also, this in from a non-commenter correspondent: "I showed the picture to my husband, because he taught [in Tblisi] in 2009. In his photos Tblisi is incredibly photogenic -- they had to work to get such a boring photo." And don't forget the waiting around making sure a bus was in the scene! A lot of work went into this postcard.
Voting in the Infinite Art Tournament? Awesome. And, please be aware that purely anonymous votes are not counted. You don't need to log in or use your real name, but you must identify yourself in some fashion for your vote to count.
Tbilisi!
ReplyDeleteI never realized that Georgian was a phonetic alphabet, with vowels, before. For some reason I assumed it was like Arabic.
I am told that every postcard of Tblisi has a bus in it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that.
ReplyDeleteMy first instinct was to spell Tblisi the way you did, but I was intimidated into inserting the extra vowel because both the Russian and the Georgian on the postcard have three i-letters.
Why do you suppose we use a spelling that defies English phonology when it's not attested in the source language?
What, you asking me? I dunno. Somebody wrote it down that way 300 years ago, maybe?
ReplyDeleteWorth noting, though, that if you go with the Russian / Georgian and write "Tbilisi," you're splitting up a perfectly good English "bl" and allowing the real oddball, "Tb," to stand. If we were transliterating from, say, the Vulcan, it would probably be rendered "T'blisi," no?
Hold the phone! It appears that the standard English spelling is indeed Tbilisi (from an old form "T'pilisi," ho ho!). So, the question is -- did I accurately type the Latin-alphabet caption on the back of that postcard? Or is it just another garden-variety typo? Find out tonight on the L&TM5k!
ReplyDeleteThe Internet seems to favour Tblisi, but your theory about our affinity for bl is interesting, but in that case I would have expected metathesis to Tiblisi. I don't know which consonant blends Vulcan phonology supports.
ReplyDeleteI just want to know if the big stain is actually on the building or on the postcard photo. Because the former would be pretty interesting to speculate about....
ReplyDeleteI am holding here in my hand the actual artifact, resplendent with its four Armenian stamps, and can report the following findings:
ReplyDelete1) There is no Latin text on the back of the card. Patrick, who has cred as he bought the cards in situ, writes "Tblisi."
2) The stain is very probably a scar from postal sorting equipment, although I can not say this definitively.
Also, this in from a non-commenter correspondent: "I showed the picture to my husband, because he taught [in Tblisi] in 2009. In his photos Tblisi is incredibly photogenic -- they had to work to get such a boring photo." And don't forget the waiting around making sure a bus was in the scene! A lot of work went into this postcard.