The Influence of Septuagint Greek on the Means of Expression of the Objective Version in Georgian Biblical Translations

Abstract

The formation of the literary Georgian language was largely influenced by Greek. Translation from Greek, which had a different grammatical system, was always problematic for Georgian translators-editors. The aim of the given paper is to find out which of the synthetic and analytical means of expression of possessive/benefactive relations was given priority by Georgian translators: the synthetic formation, which was natural for Georgian but alien to Greek, or the analytical one. Comparison of the translations/editions of the old and Hellenophile periods of the books of three prophets - Micah, Zechariah and Baruch - has proved that old translations (X-XI cc.) attach priority to synthetic formation, while the edition of the Hellenophile period (XII-XIII cc.) prefers analytical formation, similar to Greek.