Qurduli Leqsikoni ((new)) (2025)

(Georgian: ყურდული ლექსიკონი) translates directly from Georgian as "Deaf Dictionary." However, in academic and practical contexts, it refers specifically to the first systematic, printed, or formally compiled lexicon of Georgian Sign Language (GSL) — known in Georgian as ყრუთა ჟესტების ენა (Deaf people's gesture language) or simply ყურული (Qurduli).

: The jargon uses the grammatical structure of the Georgian language but replaces standard vocabulary with specialized terms. Qurduli Leqsikoni

For the linguist, it is a goldmine of metaphor and morphological play. For the historian, it is a social register of crime and punishment in the Caucasus. For the Georgian people, it is a part of the cultural underground—a reminder that even the most standard language has a shadow twin. For the historian, it is a social register

To understand the magnitude of the Qurduli Leqsikoni, one must first understand the people who spoke the language. The Qurduli dialect is historically associated with the inhabitants of the Borjomi Gorge, specifically in the territories around the modern-day town of Borjomi and the surrounding mountainous areas. The Qurduli dialect is historically associated with the

| Dictionary | Approx. entries | Modality | Notable feature | |------------|----------------|----------|------------------| | Qurduli Leqsikoni (GSL) | 2,500 | Video + drawings | Georgian glosses; dialect notes | | Russian Sign Language Dictionary (RSL) | 5,000+ | Video | Soviet-era influence on GSL | | ASL Dictionary (Gallaudet) | 10,000+ | Video | Full linguistic analysis | | Turkish Sign Language Dictionary (TİD) | 2,000 | Video + 3D avatar | Similar size to GSL dictionary |