Georgian language

Time you got around to sponsoring a child

Georgian is the official language of the Republic of Georgia. It is spoken by about 4 million, or seventy percent of the total population of Georgia and by about 3 million abroad (Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, etc.). It is an Iberian-Caucasian language.

Georgian (or Kartvelian) is a member of the Iberian-Caucasian language family. A majority of scholars posit a close relationship with the other indigenous languages of the Caucasus. Some scholars have tried to link it to Basque [1]. It is the most widely spoken of these languages, and the only one with a long-standing literary tradition.

Georgians do not call themselves Georgians but Kartvelebi, their land Sakartvelo, and their language Kartuli. These names are derived from a pagan god called Kartlos, said to be the father of all Georgians. The foreign name Georgia, used throughout Western Europe, is mistakenly believed to come from the country's patron saint, St. George. Actually it is derived from the names Kurj or Gurj, by which they are known to the Arabs and modern Persians. Another theory purports that the name comes from the Greek geo (earth), because when the Greeks came to Georgia they saw the Georgians working the land. The Classical world knew the inhabitants of eastern Georgia as Iberians, thus confusing the geographers of antiquity who thought this name applied only to the inhabitants of Spain. [1]

The language contains some formidable consonant clusters, as may be seen in words like gvprtskvni ("You peel us") and mtsvrtneli ("trainer"). Most Georgian surnames end in -dze ("son"), -shvili ("child"), -ia (Mingrelian/Megrelian surnames), -ani (surnames of Svans), -uri (surnames of Khevsurs).

Alphabet

Letters: (letters in lavender cells are in disuse)

ა ბ გ დ ე ვ ზ ჱ თ ი კ ლ მ ნ
ჲ ო პ ჟ რ ს ტ ჳ უ ფ ქ ღ ყ შ
ჩ ც ძ წ ჭ ხ ჴ ჯ ჰ ჵ ჶ ჷ ჸ

Alternative Capital Letters: (Georgian makes no distinction between upper and lower cases)

Ⴀ Ⴁ Ⴂ Ⴃ Ⴄ Ⴅ Ⴆ Ⴇ Ⴈ Ⴉ Ⴊ Ⴋ Ⴌ
Ⴢ Ⴍ Ⴎ Ⴏ Ⴐ Ⴑ Ⴒ Ⴣ Ⴓ Ⴔ Ⴕ Ⴖ Ⴗ Ⴘ
Ⴙ Ⴚ Ⴛ Ⴜ Ⴝ Ⴞ Ⴤ Ⴟ Ⴠ Ⴥ

Georgian Alphabet (I-Asomtavruli, II-Nuskha-khutsuri, III-Mkhedruli)

The invention of the Georgian alphabet was incorrectly attributed to Saint Mesrob Mashtots, who invented the Armenian alphabet. However, the oldest form of Georgian alphabet Asomtavruli was invented in 412 BC by Georgian priests of the Persian god Mithra. The reformator of Asomtavruli in 284 BC was the King of Iberia Farnavaz I.

The Asomtavruli ("capital") is known also as Mrgvlovani ("rounded"), examples of which are still preserved in monumental inscriptions, such as those of the Georgian church in Bethlehem (near Jerusalem, 430) and church of Bolnisi Sioni near Tbilisi (4th-5th centuries). Older, pre-Christian Georgian (Asomtavruli) inscriptions dating from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD 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 Academician Simon Janashia (1900-1947) and Academician Levan Chilashvili [1]. The inscriptions from Armaztsikhe were investigated by famous Georgian historian Pavle Ingorokva.

The Nuskhuri ("minuscule") or Kutkhovani ("squared") script first appeared in the 9th 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 present alphabet, called Mkhedruli (მხედრული, "secular [or, military] writing"), which appeared in the 11th century, was used for non-religious purposes up until the 18th century, when it completely replaced Khutsuri. The modern alphabet has thirty-three letters (some of the original letters having become obsolete), without distinction between upper and lower case (though modern "capital" versions of the letters have been invented). Georgian linguists claim that it is a phonemic orthography.

Phonology

Consonants

	Bilabial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Stop	p/b/[p']	t/d/[t']		k/g/[k']	[q']¹	'
Fricative	v	s/z	S/Z	x/[Y]		h
Affricate		[ts]/[dz]/[ts']	c/j/[c']
Nasal	m	n
Liquid		l, r		[l>]²

¹/q'/ has neither non-ejective nor voiced counterparts
²/l>/ is a velarized /l/

Vowels

I U
E O
a

See also: Georgian in Iran

External links and references

Table copied from website.

online Georgian Grammar.
Online Georgian Games.
Omniglot pictures
Pavle Ingorokva. Georgian inscriptions of antique.- Bulletin of ENIMK, vol. X, Tbilisi, 1941, pp. 411-427 (in Georgian)
Zaza Aleksidze. Epistoleta Tsigni, Tbilisi, 1968, 150 pp (in Georgian)
Korneli Danelia, Zurab Sarjveladze. Questions of Georgian Paleography, Tbilisi, 1997, 150 pp (in Georgian, English summary)
Elene Machavariani. The graphical basis of the Georgian Alphabet, Tbilisi, 1982, 107 pp (in Georgian, French summary)
Ivane Javakhishvili. Georgian Paleography, Tbilisi, 1949, 500 pp (in Georgian)
Ramaz Pataridze. The Georgian Asomtavruli, Tbilisi, 1980, 600 pp (in Georgian)
"Great discovery" (about the expedition of Academician Levan Chilashvili).- Newspaper "Kviris Palitra", Tbilisi, April 21-27, 2003 (in Georgian)