Georgian alphabet
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| Georgian alphabet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type: | Alphabet | |
| Languages: | Kartvelian languages | |
| Time period: | ||
| ISO 15924 code: | Geor | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
| Georgian alphabet | |
|---|---|
| Ⴀ ა an | Ⴑ ს san |
| Ⴁ ბ ban | Ⴒ ტ tar |
| Ⴂ გ gan | Ⴓ უ un |
| Ⴃ დ don | Ⴔ ფ phar |
| Ⴄ ე en | Ⴕ ქ khar |
| Ⴅ ვ vin | Ⴖ ღ ghan |
| Ⴆ ზ zen | Ⴗ ყ qar |
| Ⴇ თ tan | Ⴘ შ shin |
| Ⴈ ი in | Ⴙ ჩ chin |
| Ⴉ კ kan | Ⴚ ც can |
| Ⴊ ლ las | Ⴛ ძ jil |
| Ⴋ მ man | Ⴜ წ cil |
| Ⴌ ნ nar | Ⴝ ჭ char |
| Ⴍ ო on | Ⴞ ხ khan |
| Ⴎ პ par | Ⴟ ჯ jan |
| Ⴏ ჟ zhar | Ⴡ ჰ he |
| Ⴐ რ rae | |
| Obsolete letters | |
| Ⴢ ჲ hie | Ⴤ ჴ har |
| Ⴥ ჵ hoe | Ⴣ ჳ we |
| ჶ fi | |
The Georgian alphabet is the script currently used to write the Georgian language and other Kartvelian languages (such as Mingrelian), and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus (such as Ossetic and Abkhaz in the 1940s). [1]
The modern alphabet has thirty-three letters. Originally it had more, but some letters have become obsolete. The Georgian script makes no distinction between upper and lower case, however, certain modern writers have experimented with using Asomtavruli letters as capitals (see table to right).
[edit] History of the alphabet
The oldest uncontroversial examples of Georgian writing are an asomtavruli inscription in a church in Bethlehem from 430 AD. Gamkrelidze 1990 (Alphabetic Writing and the Old Georgian script) argues that it must have followed the advent of Christianity in Georgia (c. 327 AD), and that the forms of the letters are freely invented in imitation of the Greek model. However, many of the letter forms are similar to contemporary Sassanian Persian and Sogdian scripts, while the left-to-right writing direction and the order of the alphabet are Greek.
Georgian historical tradition attributes the invention of the Georgian alphabet to Parnavaz I of Iberia in the 3rd century BC.
There are other interpretations. One of the more contentious is that the asomtavruli alphabet was invented in 412 BC by Georgian priests of the cult of Matra (Persian Mithra), and reformed in 284 BC by king Parnavaz I of Iberia.
The Asomtavruli alphabet is known also as Mrgvlovani ("rounded"). Examples of it are still preserved in monumental inscriptions, such as those of the Georgian church in Bethlehem (near Jerusalem, 430) and the church of Bolnisi Sioni near Tbilisi (4th-5th centuries). Older Asomtavruli inscriptions have been claimed to date from pre-Christian times, the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century. These were found in Armaztsikhe (near Mtskheta) and Nekresi (in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia), in 1940 and 1995–2003 by the scientific expeditions of Simon Janashia (1900-1947) and Levan Chilashvili [2]. The inscriptions from Armaztsikhe were investigated by Pavle Ingorokva. The Nuskhuri ("minuscule") or Kutkhovani ("squared") script first appeared in the ninth century. Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri, collectively known as Khutsuri (ხუცური, or "church script"), were used together to write religious manuscripts, with the Asomtavruli serving as capital letters.
The modern alphabet, called Mkhedruli (მხედრული, "secular" or "military writing"), first appeared in the eleventh century. It was used for non-religious purposes up until the eighteenth century, when it completely replaced Khutsuri. Georgian linguists claim that the orthography is phonemic.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Georgian Website / Portal with info on Georgian culture and language
- Direct transliteration latin ↔ georgian
- Learn the Georgian alphabet online
- Georgian fonts, compliant with Unicode 4.0, also available for MAC OS 9 or X
| History of the Alphabet |
|---|
|
Middle Bronze Age 19–15th c. BC
|
| Meroitic 3rd c. BC |
| Hangul 1443 |
| Zhuyin 1913 |
| Complete genealogy |
