ჯაზი

Georgian

Etymology

From English jazz.

Noun

ჯაზი • (ǯazi)

1. jazz

Laz

Alternative forms

• ჯადი (cadi) — Lome

Etymology

From Persian جادو (jâdu), via Ottoman Turkish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɑzi/
• Hyphenation: ჯა‧ზი

Noun

ჯაზი • (cazi) (Latin spelling cazi)

1. female ghoul, witch

   ჯაზი ნაეშახთარე

   cazi naeşaxtare

   Come out of your grave as a witch (curse)

Usage notes

Probably before the word ჯაზი (cazi) came into use, the Greek μάγισσα (mágissa) was used with the same meaning. The word μάγισσα (mágissa) lives on even today (in the Artasheni dialect) in the name of დიდამანგისა (didamangisa), a kind of bogeyman made up to prevent children from entering the garden. ჯაზი (cazi) is a mostly old woman who, for some unknown reason, has gained supernatural powers. However, old men can also be ჯაზი (cazi). ჯაზი (cazi) can disguise themselves as various animals. To enter the room where the baby was, they would often disguise themselves as spiders or caterpillars (the caterpillar is called ბერეგემშქიდალე (beregemşkidale, literally “child suffocater”) in Laz), and enter the room by passing through holes and gaps in the wood, hanging from attics or chimneys. Entering the room, the ჯაზი (cazi) would return to its original state, and according to some accounts, she would sprinkle a pinch of ash in the mother's eyes, which she brought with a small object called ხუტუპალი (xuťup̌ali), thus causing the mother to fall into a deep sleep. While the mother was asleep, she would rip out the child's liver or heart with a curved iron rod called კუკარი, კოკალენძი, კანკულეძი (ǩuǩari, ǩoǩalenżi, ǩanǩuleżi). Babies attacked by ჯაზი (cazi) were found dead in the morning with a bloody foam around their mouths. The ჯაზი (cazi) would gather in caves at night and cook them on an open fire and eat the babies livers or hearts. If the animal she disguised as a spider, cat, dog, or any other was harmed, she would suffer the same damage, and if the animal she was disguised as was killed, she would also die.

See also

• კაპკაპი (ǩap̌ǩap̌i, “male ghoul, some kind of witch”)

Further reading

• Kojima, Gôichi (2012–) “cazi”, in Temel Lazca-Türkçe Sözlük Taslağı‎^[1] (in Turkish)
• Marr, N. (1910) “ჯაზი”, in Грамматика чанского (лазского) языка с хрестоматией и словарем [Grammar of the Chan (Laz) Language with a Reader and a Dictionary] (Материалы по яфетическому языкознанию; 2) (in Russian), Saint Petersburg: Academy Press, page 235a
• Tandilava, Ali (2013) “ჯაზი”, in Merab Čuxua, Natela Kutelia, Lile Tandilava, Lali Ezugbaia, editors, Lazuri leksiḳoni [Laz Dictionary]‎^[2], online version prepared by Levan Vašaḳiʒe, Tbilisi glossed as ჯადო (ǯado), ეშმაკი (ešmaḳi)
• Antelava, Nugzar (2017) Merab Čuxua, editor, Ḳavḳasiis xalxta mitebi da riṭualebi [Myths and rituals of the Caucasian peoples]‎^[3] (in Georgian), Tbilisi: Universali, page 901b