Georgian scripts

Georgian

damts'erloba "script" in Mkhedruli
Type
Languages Georgian (originally) and other Kartvelian languages
Time period

430[1] – present or

3rd BC - present
Parent systems
Modelled on Greek
  • Georgian
Direction Left-to-right
ISO 15924 Geor, 240 – Georgian (Mkhedruli)
Geok, 241 – Khutsuri (Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri)
Unicode alias
 Georgian

The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, all three are unicase, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order, and are written horizontally from left to right. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli was the civilian royal script of the Kingdom of Georgia mostly used for the royal charters. Mkhedruli is the standard script for modern Georgian and its related Kartvelian languages, whereas Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are used only in ceremonial religious texts and iconography.[2]

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, with the exception of letters denoting uniquely Georgian sounds, which are grouped at the end.[3][4] Originally consisting of 38 letters,[5] Georgian is presently written in a 33-letter alphabet, as five letters are currently obsolete in that language. The number of Georgian letters used in other Kartvelian languages varies. The Mingrelian language uses 36, 33 of which are current Georgian letters, one obsolete Georgian letter, and two additional letters specific to Mingrelian and Svan. That same obsolete letter, plus a letter borrowed from Greek (making 35 letters total), are used in writing the Laz language. 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 diacritics for its many vowels.[2][6]

Georgian scripts were granted the national status of cultural heritage in Georgia in 2015[7] and inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.[8]

Preview

The three Georgian scripts: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri, and Mkhedruli.

Origins

Georgian Bir el Qutt inscriptions, 430 AD.
Georgian Bolnisi inscriptions, 494 AD.

The origins of the Georgian script are to this date 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 version of the script attested is Asomtavruli which dates back to at least the 5th century; the other scripts were formed in the following centuries. Most scholars link the creation of the Georgian alphabet to the process of Christianisation of a core Georgian-speaking kingdom, that is, Kartli (or Iberia in Classical sources).[9] 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,[10] contemporaneously with the Armenian alphabet.[11] It was first used for translation of the Bible and other Christian literature into Georgian, by monks in Georgia and Palestine.[4] Professor Levan Chilashvili's dating of fragmented Asomtavruli inscriptions, discovered by him at the ruined town of Nekresi, in Georgia's easternmost province of Kakheti, in the 1980s, to the 1st or 2nd century has not been accepted.[12]

A Georgian tradition first attested in the medieval chronicle Lives of the Kings of Kartli (ca. 800),[4] 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.[4][13][14] Rapp considers the tradition to be an attempt by the Georgian Church to rebut the earlier tradition that the alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots, and is a Georgian application of an Iranian model in which primordial kings are credited with the creation of basic social institutions. [15] Georgian linguist Tamaz Gamkrelidze offers an alternate interpretation of the tradition, in the pre-Christian use of foreign scripts (alloglottography in the Aramaic alphabet) to write down Georgian texts.[16]

A point of contention among scholars is the role played by Armenian clerics in that process. According to a number of scholars and medieval Armenian sources, Mesrop Mashtots, generally acknowledged as the creator of the Armenian alphabet, also created the Georgian and Caucasian Albanian alphabets. This tradition originates in the works of Koryun, a fifth century historian and biographer of Mashtots,[17] and has been quoted by Donald Rayfield and James R. Russell,[13][18] but has been criticized by scholars, both Georgian[19] and Western,[4] who judge the passage in Koryun unreliable or even a later interpolation. Other scholars quote Koryun's claims without taking a stance on its validity.[20][21] Many agree, however, that Armenian clerics, if not Mashtots himself, must have played a role in the creation of the Georgian script.[4][14][22]

Another controversy regards the main influences at play in the Georgian alphabet, as scholars have debated whether it was inspired more by the Greek alphabet, or by Semitic alphabets such as Aramaic.[16] 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.[3][4] Some scholars have also suggested as a possible inspiration for particular letters certain pre-Christian Georgian cultural symbols or clan markers.[23]

Asomtavruli

Manuscript in Asomtavruli, 10th century.

Asomtavruli (Georgian: ასომთავრული) is the oldest Georgian script. The name Asomtavruli means "capital letters", from aso (ასო) "letter" and mtavari (მთავარი) "principal/head". It is also known as Mrgvlovani (Georgian: მრგვლოვანი) "rounded", from mrgvali (მრგვალი) "round", so named because of its round letter shapes. Despite its name, this "capital" script is unicameral, just like the modern Georgian script, Mkhedruli.[24]

The oldest Asomtavruli inscriptions found so far date from the 5th century[25] and are Bir el Qutt[26] and the Bolnisi inscriptions.[27]

From the 9th century, Nuskhuri script starting 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.[28] Although, some manuscripts written completely in Asomtavruli can be found until the 11th century.[29]

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, though the direction of the earliest surviving texts is from left to the right.[30]

In most Asomtavruli letters, straight lines are horizontal or vertical and meet at right angles. The only letter with acute angles is Ⴟ (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, composed of the Ⴈ (ი ini) and Ⴕ (ქ kani).[31] 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 (), Greek chi (Χ), and Latin X,[32] though these letters do not have that function in Phoenician, Greek, or Latin.


Coins of Queen Tamar of Georgia 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.[33][34]

Asomtavruli letters
Ⴀ
ani		 Ⴁ
bani		 Ⴂ
gani		 Ⴃ
doni		 Ⴄ
eni		 Ⴅ
vini		 Ⴆ
zeni		 Ⴡ
he		 Ⴇ
tani		 Ⴈ
ini		 Ⴉ
k'ani		 Ⴊ
lasi		 Ⴋ
mani		 Ⴌ
nari		 Ⴢ
hie		 Ⴍ
oni		 Ⴎ
p'ari		 Ⴏ
zhani		 Ⴐ
rae
Ⴑ
sani		 Ⴒ
t'ari		 Ⴣ
vie		 ႭჃ
Ⴓ
uni		 Ⴔ
pari		 Ⴕ
kani		 Ⴖ
ghani		 Ⴗ
q'ari		 Ⴘ
shini		 Ⴙ
chini		 Ⴚ
tsani		 Ⴛ
dzili		 Ⴜ
ts'ili		 Ⴝ
ch'ari		 Ⴞ
khani		 Ⴤ
qari		 Ⴟ
jani		 Ⴠ
hae		 Ⴥ
hoe
Note: Some fonts show "capitalized" (tall) variants of Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli letters rather than Asomtavruli.

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 era, when the styles of the Byzantine Empire influenced Kingdom of Georgia, capitals were illuminated with images of birds and other animals.[35]


Decorative Asomtavruli capital letters, მ (m), ნ (n) 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.[36][37]

Importance was attached also to the colour of the ink itself.[38]

Asomtavruli letter დ (doni) is often written with decoration effects of fish and birds.[39]

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 compete inscriptions which were written in the Asomtavruli "Curly" form only.[40]


The title of Gospel of Matthew in Asomtavruli "Curly" decorative form.

Handwriting of Asomtavruli

The following table shows the stroke order and direction of each Asomtavruli letter:[41]

Nuskhuri

Nuskhuri of Mikael Modrekili, 10th century.

Nuskhuri (Georgian: ნუსხური) is the second Georgian script. The name nuskhuri comes from nuskha (ნუსხა), meaning "inventory" or "schedule". Nuskhuri was soon augmented with Asomtavruli illuminated capitals in religious manuscripts. The combination is called Khutsuri (Georgian: ხუცური, "clerical", from khutsesi (ხუცესი "cleric"), and it was principally used in hagiography.[42]

Nuskhuri first appeared in the 9th century as a graphic variant of Asomtavruli.[43] The oldest inscription is found in the Ateni Sioni Church and dates to 835 AD.[44] The oldest surviving Nuskhuri manuscripts date to 864 AD.[45] Nuskhuri becomes dominant over Asomtavruli from the 10th century.[42]

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.[46]

→ →
Asomtavruli letters ო (oni) and ჳ (vie). A ligature of these letters produced a new letter in Nuskhuri, უ uni.
Nuskhuri letters
ⴀ
ani 		ⴁ
bani 		ⴂ
gani 		ⴃ
doni 		ⴄ
eni 		ⴅ
vini 		ⴆ
zeni 		ⴡ
he 		ⴇ
tani 		ⴈ
ini 		ⴉ
k'ani 		ⴊ
lasi 		ⴋ
mani 		ⴌ
nari 		ⴢ
hie 		ⴍ
oni 		ⴎ
p'ari 		ⴏ
zhani 		ⴐ
rae
ⴑ
sani 		ⴒ
t'ari 		ⴣ
vie 		ⴍⴣ ⴓ
uni 		ⴔ
pari 		ⴕ
kani 		ⴖ
ghani 		ⴗ
q'ari 		ⴘ
shini 		ⴙ
chini 		ⴚ
tsani 		ⴛ
dzili 		ⴜ
ts'ili 		ⴝ
ch'ari 		ⴞ
khani 		ⴤ
qari 		ⴟ
jani 		ⴠ
hae 		ⴥ
hoe
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:[47]

Use of Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri today

Asomtavruli is used intensively in iconography, murals, and exterior design, especially in stone engravings.[48] Georgian linguist Akaki Shanidze 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 didn't catch on.[49][50] Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are officially used by the Georgian Orthodox Church alongside Mkhedruli. Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia called on people to use all three Georgian scripts.[51]

Mkhedruli

Royal charter of King Bagrat IV of Georgia in Mkhedruli, 11th century.
Royal charter of Queen Tamar of Georgia in Mkhedruli, 12th century.
Royal charter of King Vakhtang VI of Kartli in Mkhedruli, 1712 AD.

Mkhedruli (Georgian: მხედრული) is the third and current Georgian script. Mkhedruli, literally meaning "cavalry" or "military", derives from mkhedari (მხედარი) meaning "horseman", "knight", "warrior"[52] and "cavalier".[53]

Like the two other scripts, Mkhedruli is purely unicameral. Mkhedruli first appears in the 10th century. The oldest Mkhedruli inscription is found in Ateni Sioni Church 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. Mkhedruli was mostly used then in the Kingdom of Georgia for the royal charters, historical documents, manuscripts and inscriptions.[54] Mkhedruli was used for non-religious purposes only and represented the "civil", "royal" and "secular" script.[55][56]

Mkhedruli became more and more dominant over the two other scripts, though Khutsuri (Nuskhuri with Asomtavruli) was used until the 19th century. Since the 19th century, with the establishment and development of the printed Georgian fonts, Mkhedruli became universal writing Georgian outside the Church.[57]

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.[58]


Example of one of the oldest Mkhedruli-written texts found in the royal charter of King Bagrat IV of Georgia, 11th century.

"Gurgen : King : of Kings : great-grandfather : of mine : Bagrat Curopalates"
Coin of Queen Tamar of Georgia in Mkhedruli, 1187 AD.

Modern Georgian alphabet

The modern Georgian alphabet consists of 33 letters:

ა
ani 		ბ
bani 		გ
gani 		დ
doni 		ე
eni 		ვ
vini 		ზ
zeni 		თ
tani 		ი
ini 		კ
k'ani 		ლ
lasi
მ
mani 		ნ
nari 		ო
oni 		პ
p'ari 		ჟ
zhani 		რ
rae 		ს
sani 		ტ
t'ari 		უ
uni 		ფ
pari 		ქ
kani
ღ
ghani 		ყ
q'ari 		შ
shini 		ჩ
chini 		ც
tsani 		ძ
dzili 		წ
ts'ili 		ჭ
ch'ari 		ხ
khani 		ჯ
jani 		ჰ
hae

Letters removed from the Georgian alphabet

The Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians, founded by Prince Ilia Chavchavadze in 1879, discarded five letters from the Georgian alphabet that had become redundant:[59]

ჱ
he		 ჲ
hie		 ჳ
vie		 ჴ
qari		 ჵ
hoe

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 /j/. 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		 ჷ
shva		 ჸ
elifi		 ჹ
turned gani		 ჺ
aini

Handwriting of Mkhedruli

The following table shows the stroke order and direction of each Mkhedruli letter:[62][63][64]

A sample of modern, handwritten Mkhedruli

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, (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.

Variation

Stylistic variation of letters რ and ლ on a street name sign for Rustaveli Avenue, showing variations in the name Rustaveli, with რუსთაველის resembling hუსთავეჺის.
Mkhedruli all caps text on a Georgian police car.

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, .

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, . 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, .

რ (rae) is frequently written with one arc, , like a Latin ⟨h⟩.

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, . 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.

Ligatures, abbreviations and calligraphy

Asomtavruli is often highly stylized and writers readily formed ligatures, intertwined letters, and placed letters within letters.[65]


A ligature of the Asomtavruli initials of King Vakhtang I of Iberia, 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, including diacritics called karagma, which resemble titla. Because writing materials such as vellum were scarce and therefore precious, abbreviating was a practical measure widespread in manuscripts and hagiography by the 11th century.[66]


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 adhesion to a complex system.[67]


A Mkhedruli ligature of და (da) "and"

Mkhedruli calligraphy of Prince Garsevan Chavchavadze and King Archil of Imereti

Type faces

Georgian scripts come in only a single type face, though word processors can apply automatic ("fake")[68] 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 dividers 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 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). In the 18th century, Patriarch Anton I of Georgia reformed the system again, with commas, single dots, and double dots used to mark "complete", "incomplete", and "final" sentences, respectively.[69] For the most part, Georgian today uses the punctuation as in international usage of the Latin script.[70]

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

Summary

The Georgian letter ⟨ვ⟩ is on the Wikipedia logo.
The Alphabetic Tower seen on panorama of Georgia's maritime city of Batumi.

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.[71]

Letters Unicode
(mkhedruli)		 Name IPA Transcriptions Numeric
value
asomtavruli nuskhuri mkhedruli National ISO 9984 BGN Laz
Ⴀ ⴀ ა U+10D0 ani /ɑ/, Svan /a, æ/ A a A a A a A a 1
Ⴁ ⴁ ბ U+10D1 bani /b/ B b B b B b B b 2
Ⴂ ⴂ გ U+10D2 gani /ɡ/ G g G g G g G g 3
Ⴃ ⴃ დ U+10D3 doni /d/ D d D d D d D d 4
Ⴄ ⴄ ე U+10D4 eni /ɛ/ E e E e E e E e 5
Ⴅ ⴅ ვ U+10D5 vini /v/ V v V v V v V v 6
Ⴆ ⴆ ზ U+10D6 zeni /z/ Z z Z z Z z Z z 7
Ⴡ ⴡ ჱ U+10F1 he /eɪ/, Svan /eː/ — Ē ē Ey ey — 8
Ⴇ ⴇ თ U+10D7 tani /t⁽ʰ⁾/ T t T' t' T' t' T t 9
Ⴈ ⴈ ი U+10D8 ini /i/ I i I i I i I i 10
Ⴉ ⴉ კ U+10D9 k'ani /kʼ/ K' k' K k K k Ǩ ǩ 20
Ⴊ ⴊ ლ U+10DA lasi /l/ L l L l L l L l 30
Ⴋ ⴋ მ U+10DB mani /m/ M m M m M m M m 40
Ⴌ ⴌ ნ U+10DC nari /n/ N n N n N n N n 50
Ⴢ ⴢ ჲ U+10F2 hie /je/, Mingrelian, Laz, & Svan /j/ — Y y J j Y y 60
Ⴍ ⴍ ო U+10DD oni /ɔ/, Svan /ɔ, œ/ O o O o O o O o 70
Ⴎ ⴎ პ U+10DE p'ari /pʼ/ P' p' P p P p Ṗ ṗ 80
Ⴏ ⴏ ჟ U+10DF zhani /ʒ/ Zh zh Ž ž Zh zh J j 90
Ⴐ ⴐ რ U+10E0 rae /r/ R r R r R r R r 100
Ⴑ ⴑ ს U+10E1 sani /s/ S s S s S s S s 200
Ⴒ ⴒ ტ U+10E2 t'ari /tʼ/ T' t' T t T t Ť ť 300
Ⴣ ⴣ ჳ U+10F3 vie /uɪ/, Svan /w/ — W w — — 400[72]
Ⴓ ⴓ უ U+10E3 uni /u/, Svan /u, y/ U u U u U u U u 400[72]
Ⴧ ⴧ ჷ U+10F7 yn, schva Mingrelian & Svan /ə/ — — — — —
Ⴔ ⴔ ფ U+10E4 pari /p⁽ʰ⁾/ P p P' p' P' p' P p 500
Ⴕ ⴕ ქ U+10E5 kani /k⁽ʰ⁾/ K k K' k' K' k' K k 600
Ⴖ ⴖ ღ U+10E6 ghani /ʁ/ Gh gh Ḡ ḡ Gh gh Ğ ğ 700
Ⴗ ⴗ ყ U+10E7 q'ari /qʼ/ Q' q' Q q Q q Q q 800
— — ჸ U+10F8 elif Mingrelian & Svan /ʔ/ — — — — —
Ⴘ ⴘ შ U+10E8 shini /ʃ/ Sh sh Š š Sh sh Ş ş 900
Ⴙ ⴙ ჩ U+10E9 chini /tʃ⁽ʰ⁾/ Ch ch Č' č' Ch' ch' Ç ç 1000
Ⴚ ⴚ ც U+10EA tsani /ts⁽ʰ⁾/ Ts ts C' c' Ts' ts' Ts ts 2000
Ⴛ ⴛ ძ U+10EB dzili /dz/ Dz dz J j Dz dz Ž ž 3000
Ⴜ ⴜ წ U+10EC ts'ili /tsʼ/ Ts' ts' C c Ts ts Ts’ ts’ 4000
Ⴝ ⴝ ჭ U+10ED ch'ari /tʃʼ/ Ch' ch' Č č Ch ch Ç̌ ç̌ 5000
Ⴞ ⴞ ხ U+10EE khani /χ/ Kh kh X x Kh kh X x 6000
Ⴤ ⴤ ჴ U+10F4 qari, hari /q⁽ʰ⁾/ — H̠ ẖ q' — 7000
Ⴟ ⴟ ჯ U+10EF jani /dʒ/ J j J̌ ǰ J j C c 8000
Ⴠ ⴠ ჰ U+10F0 hae /h/ H h H h H h H h 9000
Ⴥ ⴥ ჵ U+10F5 hoe /oː/ — Ō ō — — 10000
— — ჶ U+10F6 fi Laz /f/ — F f — F f —

Use for other non-Kartvelian languages

Ossetian text written in Mkhedruli script, from a book on Ossetian folklore published in South Ossetia in 1940. The non-Georgian letters ჶ f and ჷ ə can be seen.

Old Avar crosses with Avar inscriptions in Asomtavruli script.

Computing

The Georgian letter ⟨ღ⟩ (ghani) is often used as a love or heart symbol online.
The Georgian letter ⟨ლ⟩ (lasi) is sometimes used as hands or fists on Internet ( ex: ლ(╹◡╹ლ) )

Unicode

The first Georgian script was included in Unicode 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, and American-Irish linguist and script-encoder Michael Everson, who created the Georgian Unicode for the Macintosh systems.[82] Significant contributions were also made by Anton Dumbadze and Irakli Garibashvili[83] (not to be mistaken with the former Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili).

Georgian Mkhedruli script received an official status for being Georgia's internationalized domain name script for (.გე).[84]

Blocks

The Unicode block for Georgian is U+10A0–U+10FF. Mkhedruli (modern Georgian) occupies the U+10D0–U+10FF range and Asomtavruli occupies the U+10A0–U+10CF range. The Unicode block for Georgian Supplement is U+2D00–U+2D2F and it encodes Nuskhuri.[2]

Georgian[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+10Ax Ⴀ Ⴁ Ⴂ Ⴃ Ⴄ Ⴅ Ⴆ Ⴇ Ⴈ Ⴉ Ⴊ Ⴋ Ⴌ Ⴍ Ⴎ Ⴏ
U+10Bx Ⴐ Ⴑ Ⴒ Ⴓ Ⴔ Ⴕ Ⴖ Ⴗ Ⴘ Ⴙ Ⴚ Ⴛ Ⴜ Ⴝ Ⴞ Ⴟ
U+10Cx Ⴠ Ⴡ Ⴢ Ⴣ Ⴤ Ⴥ Ⴧ Ⴭ
U+10Dx ა ბ გ დ ე ვ ზ თ ი კ ლ მ ნ ო პ ჟ
U+10Ex რ ს ტ უ ფ ქ ღ ყ შ ჩ ც ძ წ ჭ ხ ჯ
U+10Fx ჰ ჱ ჲ ჳ ჴ ჵ ჶ ჷ ჸ ჹ ჺ ჻ ჼ ჽ ჾ ჿ
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 9.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points
Georgian Supplement[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+2D0x ⴀ ⴁ ⴂ ⴃ ⴄ ⴅ ⴆ ⴇ ⴈ ⴉ ⴊ ⴋ ⴌ ⴍ ⴎ ⴏ
U+2D1x ⴐ ⴑ ⴒ ⴓ ⴔ ⴕ ⴖ ⴗ ⴘ ⴙ ⴚ ⴛ ⴜ ⴝ ⴞ ⴟ
U+2D2x ⴠ ⴡ ⴢ ⴣ ⴤ ⴥ ⴧ ⴭ
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 9.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Non-Unicode Applications

There is no non-Unicode character encoding for Georgian, which prevents non-Unicode applications from being able to support the Georgian script.

Keyboard layouts

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

 “
„		  1
!		  2
?		  3
№		  4
§		  5
%		  6
:		  7
.		  8
;		  9
,		  0
/		  -
_		  +
=		  ←
 Backspace
 Tab key ღ ჯ უ კ ე ჱ ნ გ შ წ ზ ხ ჴ ც )
(
 Caps lock ფ ჶ ძ ვ ჳ თ ა პ რ ო ლ დ ჟ Enter key 
↵
 Shift key
 ↑		 ჭ ჩ ყ ს მ ი ჲ ტ ქ ბ ჰ ჵ  Shift key
 ↑
 Control key Win key  Alt key Space bar  AltGr key Win key Menu key  Control key  
 

Gallery

Gallery of Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli scripts.

Gallery of Asomtavruli

Gallery of Nuskhuri

Gallery of Mkhedruli

References

  1. ↑ Oldest found Georgian inscription so far. Exact date of introduction is unclear.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Unicode Standard, V. 6.3. U10A0, p. 3
  3. 1 2 Mzekala Shanidze (2000). "Greek influence in Georgian linguistics". In Sylvain Auroux; et al. History of the Language Sciences / Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaften / Histoire des sciences du langage. 1. Teilband. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 444–. ISBN 978-3-11-019400-5. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Seibt, Werner. "The Creation of the Caucasian Alphabets as Phenomenon of Cultural History".
  5. ↑ Machavariani, p. 329
  6. ↑ Standard Languages and Multilingualism in European History, Matthias Hüning, Ulrike Vogl, Olivier Moliner, John Benjamins Publishing, 2012, p.299
  7. ↑ "Georgian alphabet granted cultural heritage status". Agenda.ge. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet". Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  9. ↑ B. G. Hewitt (1995). Georgian: A Structural Reference Grammar. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 978-90-272-3802-3. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  10. ↑ Hewitt, p. 4
  11. ↑ Barbara A. West; Oceania. Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia. p. 230. ISBN 9781438119137. Archaeological work in the last decade has confirmed that a Georgian alphabet did exist very early in Georgia's history, with the first examples being dated from the fifth century C.E.
  12. ↑ Stephen H. Rapp. Studies in medieval Georgian historiography: early texts and Eurasian contexts. Peeters Publishers, 2003. ISBN 90-429-1318-5. p. 19, footnote 43: "The date of the supposed grave marker is hopelessly circumstantial ... I cannot support Chilashvili's dubious hypothesis."
  13. 1 2 Donald Rayfield The Literature of Georgia: A History (Caucasus World). RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-7007-1163-5. P. 19. "The Georgian alphabet seems unlikely to have a pre-Christian origin, for the major archaeological monument of the 1st century 4IX the bilingual Armazi gravestone commemorating Serafua, daughter of the Georgian viceroy of Mtskheta, is inscribed in Greek and Aramaic only. It has been believed, and not only in Armenia, that all the Caucasian alphabets — Armenian, Georgian and Caucaso-Albanian — were invented in the 4th century by the Armenian scholar Mesrop Mashtots.<...> The Georgian chronicles The Life of Kartli - assert that a Georgian script was invented two centuries before Christ, an assertion unsupported by archaeology. There is a possibility that the Georgians, like many minor nations of the area, wrote in a foreign language — Persian, Aramaic, or Greek — and translated back as they read."
  14. 1 2 Stephen H. Rapp Jr (2010). "Georgian Christianity". In Ken Parry. The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. John Wiley & Sons. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-4443-3361-9. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  15. ↑ S. H. Rapp, Recovering the Pre-National Caucasian Landscape, p38
  16. 1 2 Nino Kemertelidze (1999). "The Origin of Kartuli (Georgian) Writing (Alphabet)". In David Cram; Andrew R. Linn; Elke Nowak. History of Linguistics 1996: Volume 1: Traditions in Linguistics Worldwide. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 228–. ISBN 978-90-272-8382-5. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  17. ↑ Koryun's Life of Mashtots
  18. ↑ Glen Warren Bowersock, Peter Robert Lamont Brown, Oleg Grabar. Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World. Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-674-51173-5. P. 289. James R. Russell. Alphabets. "Mastoc' was a charismatic visionary who accomplished his task at a time when Armenia stood in danger of losing both its national identity, through partition, and its newly acquired Christian faith, through Sassanian pressure and reversion to paganism. By preaching in Armenian, he was able to undermine and co-opt the discourse founded in native tradition, and to create a counterweight against both Byzantine and Syriac cultural hegemony in the church. Mastoc' also created the Georgian and Caucasian-Albanian alphabets, based on the Armenian model."
  19. ↑ Georgian: ივ. ჯავახიშვილი, ქართული პალეოგრაფია, გვ. 205-208, 240-245
  20. ↑ Robert W. Thomson. Rewriting Caucasian history: the medieval Armenian adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles : the original Georgian texts and the Armenian adaptation. Clarendon Press, Oxford. p. xxii-xxiii. ISBN 0198263732.
  21. ↑ Stephen H. Rapp. Studies in medieval Georgian historiography: early texts and Eurasian contexts. Peeters Publishers, 2003. ISBN 90-429-1318-5. P. 450. "There is also the claim advanced by Koriwn in his saintly biography of Mashtoc' (Mesrop) that the Georgian script had been invented at the direction of Mashtoc'. Yet it is within the realm of possibility that this tradition, repeated by many later Armenian historians, may not have been part of the original fifth-century text at all but added after 607. Significantly, all of the extant MSS containing The Life of Mashtoc* were copied centuries after the split. Consequently, scribal manipulation reflecting post-schism (especially anti-Georgian) attitudes potentially contaminates all MSS copied after that time. It is therefore conceivable, though not yet proven, that valuable information about Georgia transmitted by pre-schism Armenian texts was excised by later, post-schism individuals."
  22. ↑ Greppin, John A.C.: Some comments on the origin of the Georgian alphabet. — Bazmavep 139, 1981, 449-456
  23. ↑ Harald Haarmann (2012). "Ethnic Conflict and standardisation in the Caucasus". In Matthias Hüning; Ulrike Vogl; Olivier Moliner. Standard Languages and Multilingualism in European History. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 299. ISBN 978-90-272-0055-6. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  24. ↑ Peter T. Daniels, The World's Writing Systems, p. 367
  25. ↑ Machavariani, p. 177
  26. ↑ ქსე, ტ. 7, თბ., 1984, გვ. 651-652
  27. ↑ შანიძე ა., ქართული საბჭოთა ენციკლოპედია, ტ. 2, გვ. 454-455, თბ., 1977 წელი
  28. ↑ კ. დანელია, ზ. სარჯველაძე, ქართული პალეოგრაფია, თბილისი, 1997, გვ. 218-219
  29. ↑ ე. მაჭავარიანი, მწიგნობრობაჲ ქართული, თბილისი, 1989
  30. ↑ პ. ინგოროყვა, „შოთა რუსთაველი“, „მნათობი“, 1966, № 3, გვ. 116
  31. ↑ Machavariani, pp. 121-122
  32. ↑ რ. პატარიძე, ქართული ასომთავრული, თბილისი, 1980, გვ. 151, 260-261
  33. ↑ ივ. ჯავახიშვილი, ქართული დამწერლობათა-მცოდნეობა ანუ პალეოგრაფია, თბილისი, 1949, 185-187
  34. ↑ ე. მაჭავარიანი, ქართული ანბანი, თბილისი, 1977, გვ. 5-6
  35. ↑ ელენე მაჭავარიანი, ენციკლოპედია „ქართული ენა“, თბილისი, 2008, გვ. 403-404
  36. ↑ ვ. სილოგავა, ენციკლოპედია „ქართული ენა“, თბილისი, 2008, გვ. 269-271
  37. ↑ ივ. ჯავახიშვილი, ქართული დამწერლობათა-მცოდნეობა ანუ პალეოგრაფია, თბილისი, 1949, 124-126
  38. ↑ Machavariani, p. 120
  39. ↑ Machavariani, p. 129
  40. ↑ ივ. ჯავახიშვილი, ქართული დამწერლობათა-მცოდნეობა ანუ პალეოგრაფია, თბილისი, 1949, 127-128
  41. ↑ Mchedlidze, p. 105
  42. 1 2 კ. დანელია, ზ. სარჯველაძე, ქართული პალეოგრაფია, თბილისი, 1997, გვ. 219
  43. ↑ B. George Hewitt, 1995, Georgian: A Structural Reference Grammar, p. 4
  44. ↑ გ. აბრამიშვილი, ატენის სიონის უცნობი წარწერები, "მაცნე" (ისტ. და არქეოლოგ. სერია), 1976, №2, გვ. 170
  45. ↑ კ. დანელია, ზ. სარჯველაძე, ქართული პალეოგრაფია, თბილისი, 1997, გვ. 218
  46. ↑ ე. მაჭავარიანი, ქართული ანბანი, თბილისი, 1977
  47. ↑ Mchedlidze, p. 107
  48. ↑ About Georgian calligraphy Lasha Kintsurashvili
  49. ↑ Gillam, Richard Unicode Demystified: A Practical Programmer's Guide to the Encoding Standard p.252
  50. ↑ Julie D. Allen Unicode standard, version 5.0 p.249
  51. ↑ (Georgian) ილია მეორე ერს ქართული ენის დაცვისკენ კიდევ ერთხელ მოუწოდებს საქინფორმ.გე
  52. ↑ Writing Systems of the World, Akira Nakanishi, p. 22
  53. ↑ Georgica: A Journal of Georgian and Caucasian Studies, Issues 4-5, William Edward David Allen, A. Gugushvili, S. Austin and Sons, Limited, 1937, p. 324
  54. ↑ ატენის სიონის უცნობი წარწერები, აბრამიშვილი, გვ. 170-1
  55. ↑ The Languages of the World, Kenneth Katzner, p. 118
  56. ↑ Chambers's encyclopaedia: a dictionary of universal knowledge, Volume 5, Chambers, David Patrick, William Geddie, W. & R. Chambers, Limited, 1901, page 165
  57. ↑ T. Putkaradze, History of Georgian language, Development of the Georgian writing system, paragraph II, 2.1.5. 2006
  58. ↑ მაჭავარიანი, თბილისი, 1977
  59. ↑ The World's Writing Systems, Peter T. Daniels, The Georgian Alphabet, p. 367
  60. ↑ Akaki Shanidze, The Basics of the Georgian language grammar, Tbilisi, 1973/1980, p. 18
  61. 1 2 3 4 5 Otar Jishkariani, Praise of the Alphabet, 1986, Tbilisi, p. 1
  62. ↑ Aronson, pp. 21-25
  63. ↑ Stefano Paolini, Nikoloz Cholokashvili, Dittionario giorgiano e italiano, Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, Rome, 1629
  64. ↑ Mchedlidze, p. 110
  65. ↑ Ingorokva, Pavle ქართული დამწერლობის ძეგლები ანტიკური ხანისა (The monuments of ancient Georgian script)
  66. ↑ Shanidze, Akaki (2003), ქართული ენა [The Georgian Language] (in Georgian), Tbilisi, ISBN 1-4020-1440-6
  67. ↑ შანიძე, 2003
  68. ↑ Fake vs True Italics
  69. ↑ Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, V. 8, p. 231, Tbilisi, 1984
  70. ↑ Unicode Demystified: A Practical Programmer's Guide to the Encoding Standard, Richard Gillam, p. 252
  71. ↑ Aronson (1990), pp. 30–31.
  72. 1 2 ჳ and უ have the same numeric value (400)
  73. ↑ The Politics of Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Georgia, Julie A. George, p. 104
  74. ↑ The Abkhazians: A Handbook, George Hewitt, p. 171
  75. ↑ Язык, история и культура вайнахов, И. Ю Алироев p.85, Чех-Инг. изд.-полигр. об-ние "Книга", 1990
  76. ↑ Чеченский язык, И. Ю. Алироев, p.24, Академия, 1999
  77. ↑ Грузинско-дагестанские языковые контакты, Маджид Шарипович Халилов p.29, Наука, 2004
  78. ↑ История аварцев, М. Г Магомедов p.150, Дагестанский гос. университет, 2005
  79. ↑ Enwall, Joakim (2010), "Turkish texts in Georgian script: Sociolinguistic and ethno-linguistic aspects", in Boeschoten, Hendrik; Rentzsch, Julian (eds.), Turcology in Mainz, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 3-447-06113-8, pp. 144–145
  80. ↑ Hendrik Boeschoten, Julian Rentzsch (2010) Turcology in Mainz, p. 137
  81. ↑ Enwall, Joakim (2010), "Turkish texts in Georgian script: Sociolinguistic and ethno-linguistic aspects", in Boeschoten, Hendrik; Rentzsch, Julian (eds.), Turcology in Mainz, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 3-447-06113-8, pp. 137–138
  82. ↑ უნიკოდში ქართულის ასახვის ისტორია (History of the Georgian Unicode) Georgian Unicode fonts by BPG-InfoTech
  83. ↑ Font Contributors Acknowledgements Unicode
  84. ↑ (Georgian) საქართველოში საინტერნეტო მისამართები მხედრული ანბანით დაიწერება Rustavi 2

Bibliography

External links

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