If you have seen both "jokris" (ჯოკრის) and "jokeris" (ჯოკერის) on Georgian pages about the card game Joker, both are correct in use. They are two spellings of the same word, jokeri (ჯოკერი), in the genitive case, the form that means "of Joker", as in "jokeris tsesebi" (the rules of Joker) or "jokris tamashi" (the game of Joker). Jokeris keeps the word's stem in full and is more common in written texts. Jokris is the colloquial form, in which one vowel drops out, as happens in many other Georgian words. Both mean the same: either the card game or the joker card itself.
Why there are two forms
Some Georgian words lose a stem vowel when they are declined. This is called vowel syncope. For example: megobari (friend) becomes megobris (of a friend), panjara (window) becomes panjris, and zghapari (fairy tale) becomes zghapris. In these native words the shortened form is the ordinary, standard one.
In borrowed words, though, the stem often stays unchanged, especially in writing: kompiuteri (computer) becomes kompiuteris. Jokeri came into Georgian from English, so in writing it is often "jokeris". In speech, however, people decline it like a native Georgian word and say "jokris", "jokrit" (with the joker) and "jokrebi" (jokers). These forms are so widespread that people search for both, "jokris tamashi" and "jokeris tamashi" alike.
Where the vowel drops, and where it does not
Syncope does not happen in every case. The vowel is lost only when the ending begins with a vowel: the genitive -is, the instrumental -it, the adverbial -ad and the plural -ebi. When the ending begins with a consonant, the stem stays whole, even in casual speech. The word megobari shows it well: megobarma, megobars, but megobris, megobrit, megobrad, megobrebi. Jokeri behaves exactly the same way when people decline it colloquially: "jokris" and "jokrit" sound natural, while "jokerma" and "jokers" are always said with the full stem.
The forms side by side
- Nominative (the basic form): jokeri.
- Ergative (the subject of a finished action): jokerma, always with the full stem: "jokerma tsaigho" (the joker took it).
- Dative: jokers, also full: "jokers bolostvis vinakhav" (I am saving the joker for the end).
- Genitive ("of"): jokeris, colloquially jokris. For example: jokeris tsesebi (Joker rules), jokris tamashi (the Joker game).
- Instrumental ("with"): jokerit, colloquially jokrit.
- Adverbial ("as"): jokerad, colloquially jokrad.
- Plural: jokerebi, colloquially jokrebi.
- With a postposition: jokershi (in Joker), jokerze (on Joker); here the stem is usually kept in full.
The word has two meanings, and both spellings are used for each. A joker is first of all a card: there are two in the deck, and they take the place of the two black sixes. The whole game was named after that card. So "jokris tamashi" or "jokeris tamashi" can mean either the game itself or playing the joker card in a trick (for example mojokvra, playing it to take, or gataneba, playing it to give the trick away). The context always makes clear which.
The same thing in other card words
You will meet vowel syncope in other words at the Joker table too. The clearest example is the name of a suit itself: jvari (clubs) becomes jvris. Here the shortened form is the norm and nobody writes the full one: "jvris tuzi" (the ace of clubs), "jvris mepe" (the king of clubs). That is why "jokris" does not sound strange to a Georgian ear: the same pattern Georgians use every day simply carries over to a borrowed word.
Other words never raise the question, because their stems have no such vowel: qvavi (spades) becomes qvavis, aguri (diamonds) aguris, tuzi (ace) tuzis, khishti khishtis, pulka pulkis, premia premiis, and bezi gives bezze (in bezi). So the two-form question only concerns words built like jokeri or megobari.
Examples in sentences
- "Jokris tsesebi ert saghamoshi vistsavle" (I learned the Joker rules in one evening). The same sentence is just as correct with "jokeris".
- "Jokrit shevedi da guli movitkhove" (I led the joker and called for hearts). In writing, "jokerit shevedi" is more common.
- "Jokerma tsaigho bolo tsaqvanili" (The joker took the last trick). In the ergative the stem stays full even in speech.
- "Jokershi otkhi motamashea" (Joker has four players). With a postposition the stem is full.
- "Kozirad jokeri amovida, amitom kheli bezze tamashdeba" (A joker turned up as trumps, so the hand is played in bezi, with no trumps). In the nominative the written stem is always full, and bezze has nothing to drop.
- "Orive jokeri chemtan iqo" (Both jokers were with me). After a number, or orive (both), a Georgian noun stays singular, so "ori jokerebi" is not said.
Which form this site uses
On tamashebi.cc the genitive is mostly the colloquial "jokris": in article titles such as "jokris tsesebi" (Joker rules), "jokris purtseli" (the Joker score sheet) and "jokris terminebi" (Joker terms), and in the interface, for example "jokris magidis shekmna" (create a Joker table) and "iaponuri jokris lobi" (the Japanese Joker lobby). With a postposition the stem is full, as is usual in Georgian: "khishti jokershi" (khishti in Joker), "tskhrianebi jokershi" (nines in Joker). And as the name of the game, the nominative "jokeri" is used everywhere. Both forms refer to the same game, and whichever you type into a search, you will land on the same pages.
For an official text, "jokeris" is the safe choice because it keeps the full stem; in a message to a friend, "jokris" sounds completely natural and nobody will mark it as a mistake. One piece of advice: use one form within one text. "Jokris" in one paragraph and "jokeris" in the next confuses a reader more than either of them on its own. The same goes for a title: if the title says "jokris", carry the same form on in the text, and the other way round.
In Latin letters
Switching to a Georgian keyboard is not always convenient, so many people search in Latin letters. ჯ is usually written as j and კ as k, so the word becomes jokeri, and its genitive jokeris or jokris. The English joker is common too. "jokeri tamashi", "joker tamashi" and "jokris tamashi" all mean the same thing. This site's article addresses use the colloquial form as well: the rules article, for example, lives at /en/articles/jokris-tsesebi, and the game page at /joker.
The game in brief
Georgian Joker is played by four players with 36 cards, the two black sixes replaced by two jokers. In every hand the players say how many tricks they will take, and points come from bidding exactly. A match is 24 hands in four pulkas (sections), or 16 nine-card hands in tskhrianebi (the "nines" mode). There is also a two-player variant, Japanese Joker (iaponuri jokeri), with no bidding and open columns on the table. Both are played on tamashebi.cc in the browser, on phones and computers, free and with no app to download. You do not even need to register to start: you can join as a guest.
- Is writing "jokris" a mistake?
- In everyday speech it is the ordinary form and everyone understands it. In formal writing "jokeris" is more accepted, because it keeps the stem in full.
- How is it written in Latin letters?
- Mostly jokeri or joker, for example jokeri tamashi or joker tamashi. Every variant means the same game.
- Does the same apply to Japanese Joker?
- Yes. "Iaponuri" (Japanese) does not change in the genitive, and the second word declines as usual: iaponuri jokris or iaponuri jokeris. The site's interface, for example, says "iaponuri jokris magidis shekmna" (create a Japanese Joker table).
- And "jokri" — is that right too?
- At home people often say "jokri" in the nominative as well: the same shortened stem as in "jokris" and "jokrit" is heard in the nominative in speech. It is a homely, spoken form. In writing the nominative is "jokeri", and that is what the game is called on this site too.
- Why "ori jokeri" (two jokers) and not "ori jokerebi"?
- In Georgian a noun after a number stays in the singular: ori jokeri (two jokers), otkhi motamashe (four players), tskhra karti (nine cards). The plural, jokerebi or jokrebi, is used without a number: "jokrebi khelshi mkonda" (I had the jokers in my hand).
- Where can I learn to play Joker?
- Start with the rules article, then try a free table: the server itself shows which cards you may play, so you cannot make an illegal move by mistake.
Every game on tamashebi.cc is free to play. Coin tables use Domino Coin, a virtual in-game coin: it is never money, cannot be bought or cashed out, and means nothing outside the site. The site is available in Georgian, English, Russian and Turkish.
The games on Tamashebi.cc are played in a Georgian-language interface. They are free and use a virtual coin, never real money.