ციკი

Mingrelian

Alternative forms

• ნიკი (niḳi)

Etymology

Related to ციკუა (ciḳua, “to stick out (of little things); to stick small things (into something)”), which Klimov tentatively derives from Proto-Kartvelian *ciḳ- (“to stick into”).

Akin to dialectal (Imereti) Georgian ციკი (ciḳi, “point, spike; clitoris”), ნიკი (niḳi, “point, spike”), as well as obsolete მიკი (miḳi, “clitoris”) recorded by Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani. The irregularity of the initial consonant is probably explained by phonetic symbolism.

Noun

ციკი • (ciḳi) (plural ციკეფი)

1. column, pillar
   1. central supporting pillar / post / prop (of roofs, tents, etc.)
2. tip, point, spike
   1. (figuratively) clitoris

      Synonym: კლიტორი (ḳliṭori)

Further reading

• Buḳia, Manana (2016) Merab Čuxua, editor, Čerkezul-kartveluri enobrivi šexvedrebi [Circassian-Kartvelian linguistic interactions] (in Georgian), Tbilisi, →ISBN, page 60, despite Buḳia deriving Abkhaz а́-цәқәа (á-cʷkʷa, “summit, peak, top, point”), Adyghe шыгу (šəgʷu), Kabardian щыгу (śəgʷu), Ubykh šaḳ°ə from Mingrelian, the similarity is most likely accidental
• Kajaia, Otar (2005) “ციკი”, in Megrul-kartuli leksiḳoni [Mingrelian–Georgian Dictionary], online version prepared by Joost Gippert, Frankfurt am Main, published 2001–2004, page 1759
• Kipšidze, Iosif (1914) “ციკი”, in Грамматика мингрельского (иверского) языка с хрестоматией и словарем [Grammar of the Mingrelian (Iverian) Language with a Reader and a Dictionary] (Материалы по яфетическому языкознанию; 7)‎^[1] (in Russian), Saint Petersburg: Academy Press, page 370b
• Kobalia, Alio (2010) “ციკი”, in Merab Čuxua, Nona Kobalia, Nana Kobalia, editors, Megruli leksiḳoni [Mingrelian Dictionary] (Ḳolxuri seria; 7)‎^[2], online version prepared by Manana Buḳia, Tbilisi: Artanuji, →ISBN