Speri in the Road Map of the Caucasus Region

Abstract

Speri is a historical Georgian region located at the headwaters of the Chorokhi River, within whose boundaries Basiani//Fasiani and Baiburt are also presumed to be included. Since 1514, the land of Speri has been under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire (later the Turkish state). Over the past five centuries, the people of Speri have undergone assimilation, causing them to forget their ancestral language. It is worth noting that historical Speri (together with Tao, Klarjeti, and Shavsheti) served as a site for cultural dialogue, where Georgian, Greek, Armenian, and later Ottoman (Turkish) cultures intersected. This dialogue was often harsh and unyielding, with severe repercussions for the daily lives of the Speri population…

       Historical sources have preserved only scant information about the land of Speri. In such cases, the reconstruction of the historical past relies primarily on toponymy, the "language of the land." Toponyms reveal the life and national identity of the people inhabiting these lands. For the researcher of Speri, every source that has preserved the region’s geographical names is of great importance.

      This paper examines the toponymy of Speri as documented in the “Road Map of the Caucasus Region” (published in 1903). It presents a structural and semantic analysis of the geographical names, identifying certain structural changes that may have occurred, whether intentionally or unintentionally, during the recording or transmission of information. The researcher seeks to restore the original forms of these toponyms. It has been revealed that the majority of the toponyms are of Georgian/Kartvelian origin, with only a few non-Georgian geographical names.

     Structurally, the toponymy of Speri continues the characteristic patterns of toponym formation seen in the Chorokhi River valley, with one notable distinction: here, only suffixal formation of geographical names is encountered.  For root formation, suffixes with different frequencies are attested: -ნ, -არ/-ალ, -ურ/-ულ, -ის, -ხ(ი), -იკ, -ოთ, -უთ, -ეთ. Alongside them, non-Georgian suffixes are also present: -ჩი/-ჯი (Turkish) and ც (Armenian). Geographical names formed with the -შენ root are attested, as well as bases containing the Armenian element სორ/ძორ (cf. Georgian ხევი). The analysis of the geographical names on the road map serves as further evidence that Speri is a Georgian land.