Where does “ქართი” come from?
ქართი (Mingrelian) comes from Old Georgian ქართლი, from Proto-Kartvelian kart-, from Finnish kärsi, from Proto-Finnic karci — char, that has been burned and charred.
Ancestry of “ქართი”, step by step
ქართი traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old Georgian ქართლი
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Georgian | ქართლი | Kartli |
| 2 | Proto-Kartvelian | kart- | eastern Georgia, Georgians |
| 3 | Finnish | kärsi | Third-person singular indicative past form of... |
| 4 | Proto-Finnic | karci | char, that has been burned and charred |
via Svan ქა̈რთ
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Svan | ქა̈რთ | eastern Georgia |