The Georgian scripts are the three

writing system A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable fo ...

s used to write the

Georgian language Georgian (, , ) is the most widely-spoken Kartvelian language, and serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 87.6% of its p ...

Asomtavruli The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written hor ...

, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written horizontally from

left to right A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable f ...

. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the civilian royal script of the

Kingdom of Georgia The Kingdom of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამეფო, tr), also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic ...

and mostly used for the

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

s, is now the standard script for modern Georgian and its related Kartvelian languages, whereas Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are used only by the

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

, in ceremonial religious texts and

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

. Georgian scripts are unique in their appearance and their exact origin has never been established; however, in strictly structural terms, their alphabetical order largely corresponds to the

Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as ...

, with the exception of letters denoting uniquely Georgian sounds, which are grouped at the end. Originally consisting of 38

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alpha ...

, Georgian is presently written in a 33-letter alphabet, as five letters are obsolete. The number of Georgian letters used in other Kartvelian languages varies. Mingrelian uses 36: thirty-three that are current Georgian letters, one obsolete Georgian letter, and two additional letters specific to Mingrelian and Svan. Laz uses the same 33 current Georgian letters as Mingrelian plus that same obsolete letter and a letter borrowed from Greek for a total of 35. The fourth Kartvelian language, Svan, is not commonly written, but when it is, it uses Georgian letters as utilized in Mingrelian, with an additional obsolete Georgian letter and sometimes supplemented by

diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacrit ...

s for its many vowels. The "living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet" was granted the national status of

intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. I ...

in Georgia in 2015 and inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.

Origins

The origin of the Georgian script is poorly known, and no full agreement exists among Georgian and foreign scholars as to its date of creation, who designed the script, and the main influences on that process. The first attested version of the script is ''Asomtavruli'', which dates back to the 5th century; the other scripts were formed in the following centuries. Most scholars link the creation of the Georgian script to the process of

Christianization of Iberia The Christianization of Iberia ( ka, ქართლის გაქრისტიანება, tr) refers to the spread of Christianity in the early 4th century by the sermon of Saint Nino in an ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli, known ...

(not to be confused with the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

), a core Georgian kingdom of Kartli. The alphabet was therefore most probably created between the conversion of Iberia under King Mirian III (326 or 337) and the Bir el Qutt inscriptions of 430, contemporaneously with the

Armenian alphabet The Armenian alphabet ( hy, Հայոց գրեր, ' or , ') is an alphabetic writing system used to write Armenian. It was developed around 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader. The system originally ha ...

. It was first used for translation of the Bible and other Christian literature into Georgian, by monks in Georgia and Palestine. Professor

Levan Chilashvili Levan Chilashvili () (August 17, 1930 – April 26, 2004) was a Georgian archaeologist and historian, an academician of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS), Meritorious Scholar of Georgia, Doctor of Historical Sciences, and Professor. In 1 ...

's dating of fragmented ''Asomtavruli'' inscriptions, discovered by him at the ruined town of Nekresi, in Georgia's easternmost province of

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region ( mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises ...

, in the 1980s, to the 1st or 2nd century has not been accepted. A Georgian tradition first attested in the medieval chronicle ''Lives of the Kings of Kartli'' (ca. 800), assigns a much earlier, pre-Christian origin to the Georgian alphabet, and names King Pharnavaz I (3rd century BC) as its inventor. This account is now considered legendary, and is rejected by scholarly consensus, as no archaeological confirmation has been found. Rapp considers the tradition to be an attempt by the Georgian Church to rebut the earlier tradition that the alphabet was invented by the Armenian scholar Mesrop Mashtots, and is a Georgian application of an Iranian model in which primordial kings are credited with the creation of basic social institutions. Georgian linguist

Tamaz Gamkrelidze Tamaz (Thomas) Valerianis dze Gamkrelidze ( Georgian: თამაზ ვალერიანის ძე გამყრელიძე, 23 October 1929 – 10 February 2021) was a Georgian linguist, orientalist public benefactor and Hitti ...

offers an alternative interpretation of the tradition, in the pre-Christian use of foreign scripts ( alloglottography in the

Aramaic alphabet The ancient Aramaic alphabet was adapted by Arameans from the Phoenician alphabet and became a distinct script by the 8th century BC. It was used to write the Aramaic languages spoken by ancient Aramean pre-Christian tribes throughout the Fert ...

) to write down Georgian texts. Another point of contention among scholars is the role played by Armenian clerics in that process. According to medieval Armenian sources and a number of scholars, Mesrop Mashtots, generally acknowledged as the creator of the

, also created the Georgian and

Caucasian Albanian alphabet The Caucasian Albanian script was an alphabetic writing system used by the Caucasian Albanians, one of the ancient Northeast Caucasian peoples whose territory comprised parts of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. It was used ...

s. This tradition originates in the works of Koryun, a fifth-century historian and biographer of Mashtots, and has been quoted by Donald Rayfield and James R. Russell, but has been rejected by Georgian scholarship and some Western scholars who judge the passage in Koryun unreliable or even a later interpolation. In his study on the history of the invention of the Armenian alphabet and the life of Mashtots, the Armenian linguist Hrachia Acharian strongly defended Koryun as a reliable source and rejected criticisms of his accounts on the invention of the Georgian script by Mashtots. Acharian dated the invention to 408, four years after Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet (he dated the latter event to 404). Some Western scholars quote Koryun's claims without taking a stance on its validity or concede that Armenian clerics, if not Mashtots himself, must have played a role in the creation of the Georgian script. Another controversy regards the main influences at play in the Georgian alphabet, as scholars have debated whether it was inspired more by the

, or by Semitic alphabets such as

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

. Recent historiography focuses on greater similarities with the Greek alphabet than in the other Caucasian writing systems, most notably the order and numeric value of letters. Some scholars have also suggested certain pre-Christian Georgian cultural symbols or clan markers as a possible inspiration for particular letters.

''Asomtavruli''

Asomtavruli ( ka, ასომთავრული; ) is the oldest Georgian script. The name means "capital letters", from () "letter" and () "principal/head". It is also known as Mrgvlovani ( ka, მრგვლოვანი) "rounded", from () "round", so named because of its round letter shapes. Despite its name, this "capital" script is

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

. The oldest Asomtavruli inscriptions found so far date from the 5th century and are Bir el Qutt and the Bolnisi inscriptions. From the 9th century, Nuskhuri script started becoming dominant, and the role of Asomtavruli was reduced. However, epigraphic monuments of the 10th to 18th centuries continued to be written in Asomtavruli script. Asomtavruli in this later period became more decorative. In the majority of 9th-century Georgian manuscripts which were written in Nuskhuri script, Asomtavruli was used for titles and the first letters of chapters. However, some manuscripts written completely in Asomtavruli can be found until the 11th century.

Form of Asomtavruli letters

In early Asomtavruli, the letters are of equal height. Georgian historian and philologist Pavle Ingorokva believes that the direction of Asomtavruli, like that of Greek, was initially

boustrophedon Boustrophedon is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the le ...

, though the direction of the earliest surviving texts is from left to the right. In most Asomtavruli letters, straight lines are horizontal or vertical and meet at right angles. The only letter with

acute angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the ''vertex'' of the angle. Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane that contains the rays. Angles ar ...

s is ( ჯ ''jani''). There have been various attempts to explain this exception. Georgian linguist and art historian Helen Machavariani believes ''jani'' derives from a

monogram of Christ A Christogram ( la, Monogramma Christi) is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a religious symbol within the Christian Church. One of the oldest Christograms is the ...

, composed of the ( ი ''ini'') and ( ქ ''kani''). According to Georgian scholar Ramaz Pataridze, the cross-like shape of letter ''jani'' indicates the end of the alphabet, and has the same function as the similarly shaped Phoenician letter taw ( Phoenician taw

), Greek chi (Χ), and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

X, though these letters do not have that function in Phoenician, Greek, or Latin.

Coins of Queen

Tamar of Georgia Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr, lit. "King Tamar") ( 1160 – 18 January 1213) reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dyna ...

and King George IV of Georgia minted using Asomtavruli script, 1200–1210 AD.

From the 7th century, the forms of some letters began to change. The equal height of the letters was abandoned, with letters acquiring ascenders and descenders.

Asomtavruli illumination

In Nuskhuri manuscripts, Asomtavruli are used for titles and illuminated capitals. The latter were used at the beginnings of paragraphs which started new sections of text. In the early stages of the development of Nuskhuri texts, Asomtavruli letters were not elaborate and were distinguished principally by size and sometimes by being written in cinnabar ink. Later, from the 10th century, the letters were illuminated. The style of Asomtavruli capitals can be used to identify the era of a text. For example, in the Georgian manuscripts of the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era, when the styles of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

influenced

, capitals were illuminated with images of birds and other animals.

Decorative Asomtavruli capital letters, მ (m) and თ (t), 12–13th century.

From the 11th-century "limb-flowery", "limb-arrowy" and "limb-spotty" decorative forms of Asomtavruli are developed. The first two are found in 11th- and 12th-century monuments, whereas the third one is used until the 18th century. Importance was attached also to the colour of the ink itself. Asomtavruli letter დ (''doni'') is often written with decoration effects of

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

and

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s. The "Curly" decorative form of Asomtavruli is also used where the letters are wattled or intermingled on each other, or the smaller letters are written inside other letters. It was mostly used for the headlines of the manuscripts or the books, although there are complete inscriptions which were written in the Asomtavruli "Curly" form only.

The title of

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...

in Asomtavruli "Curly" decorative form.

Handwriting of Asomtavruli

The following table shows the stroke order and direction of each Asomtavruli letter:

''Nuskhuri''

Nuskhuri ( ka, ნუსხური; ) is the second Georgian script. The name comes from (), meaning "inventory" or "schedule". Nuskhuri was soon augmented with Asomtavruli illuminated capitals in religious manuscripts. The combination is called Khutsuri ( ka, ხუცური, "clerical", from ( " cleric"), and it was principally used in

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

.კ. დანელია, ზ. სარჯველაძე, ქართული პალეოგრაფია, თბილისი, 1997, გვ. 219 Nuskhuri first appeared in the 9th century as a graphic variant of Asomtavruli. The oldest inscription is found in the

Ateni Sioni Church The Ateni Sioni Church ( ka, ატენის სიონი) is an early 7th-century Georgian Orthodox church in the village of Ateni, some south of the city of Gori, Georgia. It stands in a setting of Ateni gorge in the Tana River valley ...

and dates to 835 AD. The oldest surviving Nuskhuri manuscripts date to 864 AD. Nuskhuri becomes dominant over Asomtavruli from the 10th century.

Form of Nuskhuri letters

Nuskhuri letters vary in height, with ascenders and descenders, and are slanted to the right. Letters have an angular shape, with a noticeable tendency to simplify the shapes they had in Asomtavruli. This enabled faster writing of manuscripts.ე. მაჭავარიანი, ქართული ანბანი, თბილისი, 1977

→

→

Asomtavruli letters ო (''oni'') and ჳ (''vie''). A ligature of these letters produced a new letter in Nuskhuri, უ ''uni''.

:''Note: Without proper font support, you may see question marks, boxes or other symbols instead of Nuskhuri letters.''

Handwriting of Nuskhuri

The following table shows the stroke order and direction of each Nuskhuri letter:

Use of ''Asomtavruli'' and ''Nuskhuri'' today

Asomtavruli is used intensively in

, murals, and exterior design, especially in stone engravings. Georgian linguist

Akaki Shanidze Akaki Shanidze ( ka, აკაკი შანიძე) (Born: 26 February 1887 in Nogha, Samtredia, Georgia (country), Georgia – Died 29 March 1987 in Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia) was a Georgia (country), Georgian linguist and philolog ...

made an attempt in the 1950s to introduce Asomtavruli into the Mkhedruli script as capital letters to begin sentences, as in the Latin script, but it did not catch on. Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are officially used by the

alongside Mkhedruli. Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia called on people to use all three Georgian scripts.

''Mkhedruli''

Mkhedruli ( ka, მხედრული; ) is the third and current Georgian script. Mkhedruli, literally meaning "

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

" or "

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

", derives from () meaning " horseman", "

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

", "

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

" and "

cavalier The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). ...

". Mkhedruli is

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...

, with capital letters that are called Mkhedruli Mtavruli () or simply Mtavruli (; ). Nowadays, Mkhedruli Mtavruli is only used in

all-caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in l ...

text in titles or to emphasize a word, though in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was occasionally used, as in Latin and Cyrillic scripts, to capitalize proper nouns or the first word of a sentence. Contemporary Georgian script does not recognize capital letters and their usage has become decorative. Mkhedruli first appears in the 10th century. The oldest Mkhedruli inscription is found in

dating back to 982 AD. The second oldest Mkhedruli-written text is found in the 11th-century royal charters of King

Bagrat IV of Georgia Bagrat IV ( ka, ბაგრატ IV; 101824 November 1072), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the King of Georgia from 1027 to 1072. During his long and eventful reign, Bagrat sought to repress the great nobility and to secure Georgia's sovereign ...

. Mkhedruli was mostly used then in the

for the

s, historical documents, manuscripts and inscriptions. Mkhedruli was used for non-religious purposes only and represented the "civil", "royal" and "secular" script. Mkhedruli became more and more dominant over the two other scripts, though Khutsuri (Nuskhuri with Asomtavruli) was used until the 19th century. Mkhedruli became the universal writing Georgian system outside of the Church in the 19th century with the establishment and development of printed Georgian fonts.

Form of Mkhedruli letters

Mkhedruli inscriptions of the 10th and 11th centuries are characterized in rounding of angular shapes of Nuskhuri letters and making the complete outlines in all of its letters. Mkhedruli letters are written in the four-linear system, similar to Nuskhuri. Mkhedruli becomes more round and free in writing. It breaks the strict frame of the previous two alphabets, Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri. Mkhedruli letters begin to get coupled and more free calligraphy develops.

Excerpt of royal charter of King Bagrat IV of Georgia

Example of one of the oldest Mkhedruli-written texts found in the royal charter of King

, 11th century.
"

Gurgen Gurgen or Gourgen (Armenian: Գուրգեն, Georgian: გურგენ) is an Armenian and Georgian masculine name of Middle Persian origin (''Gurgēn''), itself ultimately deriving from Old Iranian ''Vṛkaina-''. It may refer to: Georgian m ...

: King : of Kings : great-grandfather : of mine : Bagrat Curopalates"

Coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order ...

of Queen

in Mkhedruli, 1187 AD.

Modern Georgian alphabet

The modern Georgian alphabet consists of 33 letters:

Letters removed from the Georgian alphabet

The

Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians The Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians ( ka, ქართველთა შორის წერა-კითხვის გამავრცელებელი საზოგადოება, tr; also translated as the ...

, founded by Prince

Ilia Chavchavadze Prince Ilia Chavchavadze ( ka, ილია ჭავჭავაძე; 8 November 1837 – 12 September 1907) was a Georgian public figure, journalist, publisher, writer and poet who spearheaded the revival of Georgian nationalism during th ...

in 1879, discarded five letters from the Georgian alphabet that had become redundant: *ჱ (''he'') /eɪ/, Svan /eː/, sometimes called "''ei''" or "''e-merve''" ("eighth ''e''"),Otar Jishkariani, Praise of the Alphabet, 1986, Tbilisi, p. 1 was equivalent to ეჲ ''ey'', as in ქრისტჱ ~ ქრისტეჲ ''kristʼey'' 'Christ'. *ჲ (''hie'') /je/, also called ''yota'', appeared instead of ი (''ini'') after a vowel, but came to have the same pronunciation as ი (''ini'') and was replaced by it. Thus, ქრისტჱ ~ ქრისტეჲ ''kristʼey'' "Christ" is now written ქრისტე ''kristʼe''. *ჳ (''vie'') /uɪ/, Svan /w/ came to be pronounced the same as ვი ''vi'' and was replaced by that sequence, as in სხჳსი > სხვისი ''skhvisi'' "others'". *ჴ (''qari'', ''hari'') came to be pronounced the same as ხ (''khani''), and was replaced by it. e.g. ჴელმწიფე ''qelmtsʼipe'' became ხელმწიფე ''khelmtsʼipe'' "sovereign". *ჵ (''hoe'') /oː/ was used for the interjection ''hoi!'' and is now spelled ჰოი. Also used in

Bats Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bir ...

for the or sound. All but ჵ (''hoe'') continue to be used in the Svan alphabet; ჲ (''hie'') is used in the Mingrelian and Laz alphabets as well, for the y-sound . Several others were used for Abkhaz and Ossetian in the short time they were written in Mkhedruli script.

Letters added to other alphabets

Mkhedruli has been adapted to languages besides Georgian. Some of these alphabets retained letters obsolete in Georgian, while others required additional letters: *ჶ (''fi'' " phi") is used in Laz and Svan, and formerly in Ossetian and Abkhazian.Unicode Standard, V. 6.3. U10A0, p. 3 It derives from the Greek letter Φ (''phi''). *ჷ (''shva'' "

schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...

"), also called ''yn'', is used for the

sound in Svan and Mingrelian, and formerly in Ossetian and Abkhazian. *ჸ (''elifi'' " alif") is used in for the

glottal stop The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...

in Svan and Mingrelian. It is a reversed (''q'ari''). *ჹ (''turned gani'') was once used for in evangelical literature in Dagestanian languages. *ჼ (''modifier nar'') is used in

. It nasalizes the preceding vowel. *ჺ (''aini'' " ain") is occasionally used for in

. It derives from the Arabic letter (''ʿayn'') *ჽ (''aen'') was used in the Ossetian language when it was written in the Georgian script. It was pronounced . *ჾ (''hard sign'') was used in Abkhaz for velarization of the preceding consonant. *ჿ (''labial sign'') was used in Abkhaz for labialization of the preceding consonant.

Handwriting of Mkhedruli

The following table shows the stroke order and direction of each Mkhedruli letter:

ზ, ო, and ხ (''zeni, oni, khani'') are almost always written without the small tick at the end, while the handwritten form of ჯ (''jani'') often uses a vertical line, ჯ (other form)

(sometimes with a taller ascender, or with a diagonal cross bar); even when it is written at a diagonal, the cross-bar is generally shorter than in print. *Only four letters are

x-height upright 2.0, alt=A diagram showing the line terms used in typography In typography, the x-height, or corpus size, is the distance between the baseline and the mean line of lowercase letters in a typeface. Typically, this is the height of the le ...

, with neither ascenders nor

descender In typography and handwriting, a descender is the portion of a letter that extends below the baseline of a font. For example, in the letter ''y'', the descender is the "tail", or that portion of the diagonal line which lies below the ''v' ...

s: ა, თ, ი, ო. *Thirteen have ascenders, like b or d in English: ბ, ზ, მ, ნ, პ, რ, ს, შ, ჩ, ძ, წ, ხ, ჰ *An equal number have descenders, like p or q in English: გ, დ, ე, ვ, კ, ლ, ჟ, ტ, უ, ფ, ღ, ყ, ც *Three letters have both ascenders and descenders, like þ in

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

: ქ, ჭ, and (in handwriting) ჯ. წ has both ascender and descender in print, and sometimes in handwriting.

Variation

There is individual and stylistic variation in many of the letters. For example, the top circle of ზ (''zeni'') and the top stroke of რ (''rae'') may go in the other direction than shown in the chart (that is, counter-clockwise starting at 3 o'clock, and upwards – see the external-link section for videos of people writing). Other common variants: * გ (''gani'') may be written like ვ (''vini'') with a closed loop at the bottom. * დ (''doni'') is frequently written with a simple loop at top, Doni (other form)

. * კ, ც, and ძ (''k'ani, tsani, dzili'') are generally written with straight, vertical lines at the top, so that for example ც (''tsani'') resembles a U with a dimple in the right side. * ლ (''lasi'') is frequently written with a single arc, Lasi (other form)

. Even when all three are written, they're generally not all the same size, as they are in print, but rather riding on one wide arc like two dimples in it. * Rarely, ო (''oni'') is written as a

right angle In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle of exactly 90 degrees or radians corresponding to a quarter turn. If a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles. Th ...

. * რ (''rae'') is frequently written with one arc, Rae (other form)

, like a Latin . * ტ (''t'ari'') often has a small circle with a tail hanging into the bowl, rather than two small circles as in print, or as an O with a straight vertical line intersecting the top. It may also be rotated a bit clockwise, with the small circles further to the right and not as close to the top. * წ (''ts'ili'') is generally written with a round bowl at the bottom, Ts'ili (other form)

. Another variation features a triangular bowl. * ჭ (''ch'ari'') may be written without the hook at the top, and often with a completely straight vertical line. * ჱ (''he'') may be written without the loop, like a conflation of ს and ჰ. * ჯ (''jani'') is sometimes written so that it looks like a hooked version of the Latin "X"

Similar letters

Several letters are similar and may be confused at first, especially in handwriting. *For ვ (''vini'') and კ (''k'ani''), the critical difference is whether the top is a full arc or a (more-or-less) vertical line. *For ვ (''vini'') and გ (''gani''), it is whether the bottom is an open curve or closed (a loop). The same is true of უ (''uni'') and შ (''shini''); in handwriting, the tops may look the same. Similarly ს (''sani'') and ხ (''khani''). *For კ (''k'ani'') and პ (''p'ari''), the crucial difference is whether the letter is written below or above x-height, and whether it's written top-down or bottom-up. *ძ (''dzili'') is written with a vertical top.

Ligatures, abbreviations and calligraphy

Asomtavruli is often highly stylized and writers readily formed ligatures, intertwined letters, and placed letters within letters or other such monograms.

A ligature of the Asomtavruli initials of King

Vakhtang I of Iberia Vakhtang I Gorgasali ( ka, ვახტანგ I გორგასალი, tr; or 443 – 502 or 522), of the Chosroid dynasty, was a king of Iberia, natively known as Kartli (eastern Georgia) in the second half of the 5th and first quarter o ...

, Ⴂ Ⴌ (გნ, GN)

A ligature of the Asomtavruli letters Ⴃ Ⴀ (და, da) "and"

Nuskhuri, like Asomtavruli, is also often highly stylized. Writers readily formed ligatures and abbreviations for ''

nomina sacra In Christian scribal practice, nomina sacra (singular: ''nomen sacrum'' from Latin ''sacred name'') is the abbreviation of several frequently occurring divine names or titles, especially in Greek manuscripts of the Bible. A nomen sacrum consists ...

'', including diacritics called ''karagma'', which resemble '' titla''. Because writing materials such as

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anim ...

were scarce and therefore precious, abbreviating was a practical measure widespread in

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

s and

by the 11th century.

A Nuskhuri abbreviation of რომელი (romeli) "which"

A Nuskhuri abbreviation of იესუ ქრისტე (iesu kriste) "Jesus Christ"

Mkhedruli, in the 11th to 17th centuries also came to employ digraphs to the point that they were obligatory, requiring adherence to a complex system.

A Mkhedruli ligature of და (da) "and"

Mkhedruli calligraphy of Prince

Garsevan Chavchavadze Prince Garsevan Chavchavadze ( ka, გარსევან ჭავჭავაძე) (July 20, 1757 - April 7, 1811) was a Georgian nobleman (''tavadi''), politician and diplomat primarily known as the Georgian ambassador to Imperial Russia. ...

and King Archil of Imereti

Typefaces

Georgian scripts come in only a single

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

, though word processors can apply automatic ("fake") oblique and bold formatting to Georgian text. Traditionally, Asomtavruli was used for chapter or section titles, where Latin script might use bold or italic type.

Punctuation

In Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri punctuation, various combinations of dots were used as

word divider In punctuation, a word divider is a glyph that separates written words. In languages which use the Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic alphabets, as well as other scripts of Europe and West Asia, the word divider is a blank space, or ''whitespace''. ...

s and to separate phrases, clauses, and paragraphs. In monumental inscriptions and manuscripts of 5th to 10th centuries, these were written as dashes, like −, = and =−. In the 10th century, clusters of one (·), two (:), three ( ჻) and six (჻჻) dots (later sometimes small circles) were introduced by Ephrem Mtsire to indicate increasing breaks in the text. One dot indicated a "minor stop" (presumably a simple word break), two dots marked or separated "special words", three dots for a "bigger stop" (such as the

appositive Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side so one element identifies the other in a different way. The two elements are said to be ''in apposition'', and one of the elements is c ...

name and title "the sovereign Alexander", below, or the title of the Gospel of Matthew, above), and six dots were to indicate the end of the sentence. Starting in the 11th century, marks resembling the apostrophe and comma came into use. An apostrophe was used to mark an interrogative word, and a comma appeared at the end of an interrogative sentence. From the 12th century on, these were replaced with the semicolon (the

Greek question mark The question mark (also known as interrogation point, query, or eroteme in journalism) is a punctuation mark that indicates an interrogative clause or phrase in many languages. History In the fifth century, Syriac Bible manuscripts used q ...

). In the 18th century, Patriarch

Anton I of Georgia Anton I ( ka, ანტონ I; – ), born as Teimuraz Bagrationi, was the Catholicos–Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the period 1744–1755 and again in 1764–1788. Biography Being one of the sons of Jesse of Kartli by hi ...

reformed the system again, with commas, single dots, and double dots used to mark "complete", "incomplete", and "final" sentences, respectively. For the most part, Georgian today uses the punctuation as in international usage of the

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern ...

Signature of King Alexander II of Kakheti, with the divider
ჴლმწიფე ჻ ალექსანდრე
"The sovereign Alexander"

Summary

This table lists the three scripts in parallel columns, including the letters that are now obsolete in all alphabets (shown with a blue background), obsolete in Georgian but still used in other alphabets (green background), or additional letters in languages other than Georgian (pink background). The "national" transliteration is the system used by the Georgian government, whereas "Laz" is the Latin Laz alphabet used in Turkey. The table also shows the traditional numeric values of the letters.

Use for other non-Kartvelian languages

* Ossetian language until the 1940s. *

Abkhaz language Abkhaz ( ; ), sometimes spelled Abxaz and also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazia, where around 100,00 ...

until the 1940s. * Ingush language (historically), later replaced in the 17th century by

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and by the

Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking c ...

in modern times. *

Chechen language Chechen (, ) (, , ) is a Northeast Caucasian language spoken by 2 million people, mostly in the Chechen Republic and by members of the Chechen diaspora throughout Russia and the rest of Europe, Jordan, Central Asia (mainly Kazakhstan and Kyrgy ...

(historically), later replaced in the 17th century by

and by the

in modern times. *

Avar language Avar (, , "language of the mountains" or , , "Avar language"), also known as Avaric, is a Northeast Caucasian language of the Avar–Andic subgroup that is spoken by Avars, primarily in Dagestan. In 2010, there were approximately 1 million ...

(historically), later replaced in the 17th century by

and by the

in modern times. *

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

and

Azerbaijani language Azerbaijani () or Azeri (), also referred to as Azeri Turkic or Azeri Turkish, is a Turkic language from the Oghuz sub-branch spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people, who live mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan where the North Azerbai ...

. A Turkish Gospel, dictionary, poems, medical book dating from the 18th century. *

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...

. The 18th-century Persian translation of the Arabic Gospel is kept at the National Center of Manuscripts in Tbilisi. *

Armenian language Armenian (Classical Armenian orthography, classical: , Armenian orthography reform, reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia ...

. In the Armenian community in Tbilisi, the Georgian script was occasionally used for writing Armenian in the 18th and 19th centuries, and some samples of this kind of texts are kept at the

Georgian National Center of Manuscripts The Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts ( ka, საქართველოს ხელნაწერთა ეროვნული ცენტრი; formerly the ''Institute of Manuscripts''), located in Tbilisi, Georgia, is a repositor ...

in Tbilisi. *

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living E ...

. In the collections of the National Center of Manuscripts in Tbilisi there are also a few short poems in the Russian language written in Georgian script dating from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. *

. Used by Azeris in Georgia. *Other Northeast Caucasian languages. The Georgian script was used for writing North Caucasian and Dagestani languages in connection with Georgian missionary activities in the areas starting in the 18th century.

Computing

Unicode

The first Georgian script was included in

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, ...

Standard in October 1991 with the release of version 1.0. In creating the Georgian Unicode block, important roles were played by German Jost Gippert, a linguist of

Kartvelian studies The Kartvelian studies ( ka, ქართველოლოგია) also referred as Kartvelology or Georgian studies is a field of humanities covering Kartvelian (Georgian) history, languages, religion and/or culture. In a narrower sense, the ...

, and American-Irish linguist and script-encoder Michael Everson, who created the Georgian Unicode for the

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

systems. Significant contributions were also made by Anton Dumbadze and Irakli Garibashvili (not to be mistaken with the

Prime Minister of Georgia The prime minister of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პრემიერ-მინისტრი, tr) is the head of government and chief executive of Georgia. In Georgia, the president is a ceremonial head of state and ma ...

Irakli Garibashvili Irakli Garibashvili ( ka, ირაკლი ღარიბაშვილი, also transliterated as Gharibashvili; born 28 June 1982) is a Georgian politician and a former business executive who serves as the prime minister of Georgia since 2 ...

). Georgian ''Mkhedruli'' script received an official status for being Georgia's

internationalized domain name An internationalized domain name (IDN) is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in non-latin script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Bengali, Chinese ( Mandarin, simplif ...

script for ( .გე). Mtavruli letters were added in Unicode version 11.0 in June 2018. They are capital letters with similar letterforms to Mkhedruli, but with

s shifted above the baseline, with a wider central oval, and with the top slightly higher than the ascender height. Before this addition, font creators included Mtavruli in various ways. Some fonts came in pairs, of which one had lowercase letters and the other uppercase; some Unicode fonts placed Mtavruli letterforms in the Asomtavruli range (U+10A0-U+10CF) or in the Private Use Area, and some ASCII-based ones mapped them to the ASCII capital letters.

Blocks

Georgian characters are found in three Unicode blocks. The first block (U+10A0–U+10FF) is simply called Georgian. Mkhedruli (modern Georgian) occupies the U+10D0–U+10FF range (shown in the bottom half of the first table below) and Asomtavruli occupies the U+10A0–U+10CF range (shown in the top half of the same table). The second block is the Georgian Supplement (U+2D00–U+2D2F), and it contains Nuskhuri. Mtavruli capitals are included in the Georgian Extended block (U+1C90–U+1CBF). Mtavruli is defined as the upper case, but not title case, of Mkhedruli, and Asomtavruli as the upper case and title case of Nuskhuri.

Non-Unicode encodings

Mac OS Georgian Mac OS Georgian is a character encoding for Mac OS created by Michael Everson for use in his fonts. It is not an official Mac OS character set. The encoding is a form of extended ASCII, with the Georgian characters occupying the upper half of the ...

is an unofficial

character encoding Character encoding is the process of assigning numbers to graphical characters, especially the written characters of human language, allowing them to be stored, transmitted, and transformed using digital computers. The numerical values tha ...

created by Michael Everson for Georgian on classic Mac OS. It is an

extended ASCII Extended ASCII is a repertoire of character encodings that include (most of) the original 96 ASCII character set, plus up to 128 additional characters. There is no formal definition of "extended ASCII", and even use of the term is sometimes critic ...

encoding, using the 128 code points from 0x80 through 0xFF to represent the characters of the Asomtavruli and Mkhedruli scripts plus a number of widely-used symbols not included in 7-bit ASCII.

Keyboard layouts

Below is the standard Georgian-language keyboard layout, the traditional layout of manual

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

Gallery

Gallery of Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli scripts.

Gallery of Asomtavruli

File:ხანმეტი ოთხთავი.png, Asomtavruli of the 6th and 7th centuries File:Barakoni2.jpg, Asomtavruli at Barakoni File:Doliskana Sumbat.jpg,

Doliskana inscriptions The Doliskana inscriptions ( ka, დოლისყანას წარწერები) are the Georgian language inscriptions written in the Georgian ''Asomtavruli'' script on the Doliskana Monastery, located in the historical medieval Georg ...

in Asomtavruli File:Ishkhani inscription.jpg, Asomtavruli inscription at

Ishkhani Ishkani or Ishkhan, ( hy, Իշխան, prince, ka, იშხანი, tr, Işhan) is a ruined Georgian Christian monastery in the territory of Turkey in the village of Arpacık, Artvin province. The name Ishkhani derives from the word “Իշխ� ...

File:Inscription of Nikortsminda.jpg, Asomtavruli inscription at Nikortsminda Cathedral

Gallery of Nuskhuri

File:საღმრთოჲ ჟამის წირვაჲ წმიდისა იოვანე ოქროპირისაჲ.jpg, Nuskhuri of 8th to 10th centuries File:Jruchi MSS.jpg, Nuskhuri of Jruchi Gospels, 13th century File:მცირე სჯულისკანონი.png, Nuskhuri of the 11th century File:Mokvi Bible (Page).jpg, Nuskhuri of

Mokvi , ka, მოქვი , other_name = , settlement_type = Village , image_skyline = Mokva_cathedral.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Mokvi Cathedral , image_map = , map_caption ...

File:Georgian Manuscript Iadgari of Mikael Modrekili.jpg, Nuskhuri Iadgari of Mikael Modrekili, 10th century File:Ioane sineli, klemaqsi.png, Nuskhuri by Nikrai, 12th century

Gallery of Mkhedruli

File:Bagrat VI royal decree.jpg, Mkhedruli royal charter of King

File:1072 წელი. მეფე გიორგი II-ის სიგელი შიომღვიმის მონასტრისადმი.jpg, Mkhedruli royal charter of King George II of Georgia File:დავით აღმაშენებლის ავტოგრაფი autograph of georgian king David IV aghmashenebeli.jpg, Mkhedruli royal charter of King David IV of Georgia File:გიორგი III-ის სიგელი 1170 წ..jpg, Mkhedruli royal charter of King George III of Georgia File:1202 წელი, ყმების შეწირულების სიგელი მეფე თამარისა შიო მღვიმის მონასტრისადმი.jpg, Mkhedruli royal charter of Queen

File:1222 წელი. ბრძანება ლაშა გიორგისა.jpg, Mkhedruli royal charter of King George IV of Georgia File:George V of Georgia charter.jpg, Mkhedruli royal charter of King George V of Georgia

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Gallery of Mkhedruli
Omniglot page on Mkhedruli which shows some stylistic variations mentioned above * , produced by the

Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia (Old name – Ministry of Education and Science; ka, საქართველოს განათლების, მეცნიერების, კულტურის� ...

. Gives the sound of each letter, illustrates several fonts, and shows the stroke order of each letter.
Learn Georgian Alphabet Now app
Gives the name, pronunciation of each letter, and example words. Shows the stroke order of each letter. Permits drawing practice and has a quiz to learn the letters.
Lasha Kintsurashvili
an
Levan Chaganava
submissions to the 2014 International Exhibition of Calligraphy
Reference grammar of Georgian by Howard Aronson (SEELRC, Duke University)

Georgian transliteration + Georgian virtual keyboard
* * {{Authority control

Origins

''Asomtavruli''

Form of Asomtavruli letters

Asomtavruli illumination

Handwriting of Asomtavruli

''Nuskhuri''

Form of Nuskhuri letters

Handwriting of Nuskhuri

Use of ''Asomtavruli'' and ''Nuskhuri'' today

''Mkhedruli''

Form of Mkhedruli letters

Modern Georgian alphabet

Letters removed from the Georgian alphabet

Letters added to other alphabets

Handwriting of Mkhedruli

Variation

Similar letters

Ligatures, abbreviations and calligraphy

Typefaces

Punctuation

Summary

Use for other non-Kartvelian languages

Computing

Unicode

Blocks

Non-Unicode encodings

Keyboard layouts

Gallery

Gallery of Asomtavruli

Gallery of Nuskhuri

Gallery of Mkhedruli

References

Sources

Further reading

External links