тхьэмадэ

Kabardian

Etymology

From Common Circassian *tħamada. Cognate with Adyghe тхьаматэ (tḥamatɛ). An adaptation of a foreign word, possibly Persian داماد (dâmâd, “bridegroom; son-in-law; father-in-law; sovereign's brother-in-law; wooer, lover”), the ending reshaped under the influence of Kabardian адэ (adɛ, “father”). Sometimes explained as тхьэ (tḥɛ, “god”) +‎ адэ (adɛ, “father”), but that is a folk etymology.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [tħamaːda]

Noun

тхьэмадэ • (tḥɛmadɛ)

1. foreman (of a village)
2. boss
3. master (superior person in status or rank)
4. chairman
5. father-in-law
6. (dialectal) wooer, bridegroom
7. (dated, possibly archaic) religious leader
8. (possibly dated) husband

Declension

declension of тхьэмадэ

case	singular	plural
indefinite	тхьэмадэ (tḥɛmadɛ)	тхьэмадэхэ (tḥɛmadɛxɛ)
nominative	тхьэмадэр (tḥɛmadɛr)	тхьэмадэхэр (tḥɛmadɛxɛr)
ergative	тхьэмадэм (tḥɛmadɛm)	тхьэмадэхэмэ (tḥɛmadɛxɛmɛ)
instrumental	тхьэмадэ(м)кӏэ (tḥɛmadɛ(m)kʼɛ)	тхьэмадэхэ(м)кӏэ (tḥɛmadɛxɛ(m)kʼɛ)
invertive	тхьэмадэу (tḥɛmadɛwu)	тхьэмадэхыу (tḥɛmadɛxəwu)

Descendants

(Taking Kabardian as representative of Common Circassian)

• → Abkhaz: а-ҭаҳмада (a-taḥmada), а-ҭҳамада (a-tḥamada, “old man”)
• → Abaza: тхӏамада (tḥamada)
• → Chechen: тхьамда (tḥʳamda)
• → Ingush: тхьамада (tḥʳamada)
• → Georgian: თამადა (tamada)
  • → Armenian: թամադա (tʻamada)
  • → Bats: თამად (tamad)
  • → English: tamada
  • → Ossetian: тамада (tamada)
  • → Russian: тамада́ (tamadá)
  • → Ukrainian: тамада́ (tamadá)

Further reading

• Abaev, V. I. (1975) “Contribution à l'histoire des mots”, in Mélanges linguistiques offerts à Emile Benveniste (in French), Louvain: Peeters, pages 8–10
• Abajev, V. I. (1979) Историко-этимологический словарь осетинского языка (in Russian), volume III, Moscow and Leningrad: Academy Press, page 227
• Chirikba, Viacheslav A. (1996) A Dictionary of Common Abkhaz‎^[1], Leiden, page 32
• Карданов Б. М., editor (1957), “тхьэмадэ”, in Кабардинско-русский словарь, Moscow: Gosudarstvennoje izdatelʹstvo inostrannyx i nacionalʹnyx slovarej, page 349b
• Шагиров, А. К. (1977) К. В. Ломтатидзе, editor, Этимологический словарь адыгских (черкесских) языков‎^[2] (in Russian), volume II, Moscow: Nauka, pages 82–83