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Born and raised in Zemo Alvani, Nino is one of the youngest living speakers of the severely endangered Bats language (also referred to as Ts’ova-Tush). She plays the garmoni1 and sings songs in Bats.
To hear more songs in the Bats language, visit the profiles of Meri Jikhoshvili, Pat'ima Bartishvili and Ts'ovata Ensemble.
Please visit UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger to learn more about the Bats language. Read more about the Ts’ova Tush and other minority groups in the Caucasus at Batsav, an informative site created by A.J.T. Bainbridge.
1A button accordion that originated in Russia and plays an important role in the musical tradition of the Tush in Georgia, as well as in other regions throughout the Caucasus. Read more about the garmoni here.
Nino sings this song in the severally endangered Bats language. To hear the words spoken, click on the track below entitled ''Spoken Text - Zurit'a,'' to hear Meri Jikhoshvili read the poem.
Please visit UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger to learn more about the Bats language. To learn more about the Ts’ova-Tush, and other minority groups in the Caucasus, read on at Batsav, an informative website created by A.J.T. Bainbridge.
To hear another version of this song, visit the page of Pat'ima Bartishvili.
Zurit’a
Text: Gigi Tsik’arishvili
(scroll down for English translation)
Ehat tsui telher matsmeme
Vea zurit’a ikhora
/Nandad qonundar ve k’ats’k’a
Gornak’mak’ letkha lap’ts’ara/
Han tso dak’ova ts’ap’ri bidz
Sher kudev iohkot’ ts’emiuna
/Iughiak’ush meitghari nan
Ch’irt’lilo zhabu ep’ts’uina/
K’ur harchench jikh galavnego
Ghvinaghar p’et’ui nazht’ara
/Pkhur naqv gudalhen duilobi
Veshk’urghar andri mokh bara/
Le mokh tsokhats’eg le ambui
Levedr tsotepkhog guirgaghar
/Un dadits’iniah zurit’a
Madelmobaral hal detkha/
Translation:
Zuro's Hill
Nothing was better than when
We used to go to Zuro’s Hill
Parents were young and we were little
We used to jump and play on the hills…
Who doesn’t remember Uncle Ts’apri
Who used to wipe his face clean with his hat
And loud-mouth Mother Meit
Who used to milk cows in the dandelions
Fog winding around at Jikh’s fence
P’et’o Ghvinaant’s house
The horsemen on the road
Andri Vets’aguridze’s song
No longer can song or conversation be heard
No longer do the Gorgianis sing
Why are you without an owner, Zuro’s Hill?
I wonder if it is possible to cry any more.
This song is about a man and woman, former lovers who now have their own families, meeting on the side of the road. The woman is accompanied by her mother-in-law, and the text describes how the old lovers look at one another after so much time has passed.
The song is sung in the severally endangered Bats language. To hear the words spoken, click on the track below entitled ''Spoken Text - Ho Iagar,'' to hear Meri Jikhoshvili read the poem.
Please visit UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger to learn more about the Bats language. To learn more about the Ts’ova-Tush, and other minority groups in the Caucasus, read on at Batsav, an informative website created by A.J.T. Bainbridge.
Ho Iagar
Text: Simon Garsevanidze
(scroll down for English translation)
Ho iagar deni kh'ena da
Gogakh chu vekhes ho iegche
/Dak’ bhark’in qinol dahitsla
Ts’ig hal ts’inarla hoiegche/
Hogo haindets marbader
Sogo saindets vakhara
/Uin dahkhertsla alhalsog
Vashbakh bhardekhche naqaha/
Leukhlevdora obhark’iv
Pekh marnan latrits hogoa
/Vadeshog he nat’qer iegche
Bhark’i t’at’iali sogoha/
Geitsho me qanol makiee
Denol k’adzik’ iag vegoha
/Ints mo alholve vashbigo
Vu qahialirven denola/
He nipskhol kh'enge khaiso
kh'iblnora okh'uig alaten
/Sher metkhe dokhk’a magibal
Vets’ar vitsviench iahonen/
Translation:
Seeing You
Seeing you is something completely other...
I am weak in the knees when I see you
The age of my heart and eyes are forgotten
My blood becomes young when I look at you
You have your own husband and child
I have my own life, too
Why did it happen
That we met one another on the road?
And what were you saying with those eyes?
Your mother-in-law stood by your side
Believe me when I say I saw tears --
My eyes became wet, too
You see that old age has come
Just a little life is left for us
Still, now let’s tell one another
Why life has become bitter
I understood your truth later
You will be blamed, you said
One who forgets his love
Can’t see the sky through the clouds
Nino sings this song in the severally endangered Bats language. To hear the words spoken, click on the track below entitled ''Spoken Text - Zurit'a,'' to hear Meri Jikhoshvili read the poem.
Please visit UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger to learn more about the Bats language. To learn more about the Ts’ova-Tush, and other minority groups in the Caucasus, read on at Batsav, an informative website created by A.J.T. Bainbridge.
To hear another version of this song, visit the page of Pat'ima Bartishvili.
Zurit’a
Text: Gigi Tsik’arishvili
(scroll down for English translation)
Ehat tsui telher matsmeme
Vea zurit’a ikhora
/Nandad qonundar ve k’ats’k’a
Gornak’mak’ letkha lap’ts’ara/
Han tso dak’ova ts’ap’ri bidz
Sher kudev iohkot’ ts’emiuna
/Iughiak’ush meitghari nan
Ch’irt’lilo zhabu ep’ts’uina/
K’ur harchench jikh galavnego
Ghvinaghar p’et’ui nazht’ara
/Pkhur naqv gudalhen duilobi
Veshk’urghar andri mokh bara/
Le mokh tsokhats’eg le ambui
Levedr tsotepkhog guirgaghar
/Un dadits’iniah zurit’a
Madelmobaral hal detkha/
Translation:
Zuro's Hill
Nothing was better than when
We used to go to Zuro’s Hill
Parents were young and we were little
We used to jump and play on the hills…
Who doesn’t remember Uncle Ts’apri
Who used to wipe his face clean with his hat
And loud-mouth Mother Meit
Who used to milk cows in the dandelions
Fog winding around at Jikh’s fence
P’et’o Ghvinaant’s house
The horsemen on the road
Andri Vets’aguridze’s song
No longer can song or conversation be heard
No longer do the Gorgianis sing
Why are you without an owner, Zuro’s Hill?
I wonder if it is possible to cry any more.
This song is about a man and woman, former lovers who now have their own families, meeting on the side of the road. The woman is accompanied by her mother-in-law, and the text describes how the old lovers look at one another after so much time has passed.
The song is sung in the severally endangered Bats language. To hear the words spoken, click on the track below entitled ''Spoken Text - Ho Iagar,'' to hear Meri Jikhoshvili read the poem.
Please visit UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger to learn more about the Bats language. To learn more about the Ts’ova-Tush, and other minority groups in the Caucasus, read on at Batsav, an informative website created by A.J.T. Bainbridge.
Ho Iagar
Text: Simon Garsevanidze
(scroll down for English translation)
Ho iagar deni kh'ena da
Gogakh chu vekhes ho iegche
/Dak’ bhark’in qinol dahitsla
Ts’ig hal ts’inarla hoiegche/
Hogo haindets marbader
Sogo saindets vakhara
/Uin dahkhertsla alhalsog
Vashbakh bhardekhche naqaha/
Leukhlevdora obhark’iv
Pekh marnan latrits hogoa
/Vadeshog he nat’qer iegche
Bhark’i t’at’iali sogoha/
Geitsho me qanol makiee
Denol k’adzik’ iag vegoha
/Ints mo alholve vashbigo
Vu qahialirven denola/
He nipskhol kh'enge khaiso
kh'iblnora okh'uig alaten
/Sher metkhe dokhk’a magibal
Vets’ar vitsviench iahonen/
Translation:
Seeing You
Seeing you is something completely other...
I am weak in the knees when I see you
The age of my heart and eyes are forgotten
My blood becomes young when I look at you
You have your own husband and child
I have my own life, too
Why did it happen
That we met one another on the road?
And what were you saying with those eyes?
Your mother-in-law stood by your side
Believe me when I say I saw tears --
My eyes became wet, too
You see that old age has come
Just a little life is left for us
Still, now let’s tell one another
Why life has become bitter
I understood your truth later
You will be blamed, you said
One who forgets his love
Can’t see the sky through the clouds