Georgian alphabet
A summary of the Georgian writing system: its scripts, history, structure, uses for Kartvelian languages, and distinctive features in modern and historical contexts.
Overview
The Georgian alphabet is the writing system used to render the Georgian language and several related Kartvelian languages. It consists of a set of distinct letter forms and historically developed in the early medieval period. Today the common secular form, known as Mkhedruli, is the everyday script of Georgia, while older forms are preserved in religious and monumental contexts. For information about the language itself see Georgian language.
Image gallery
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Scripts and structure
Georgian writing exists in three principal scripts: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Asomtavruli served as an early monumental or uncial style; Nuskhuri became associated with ecclesiastical manuscripts; together they are sometimes referred to as the Khutsuri (ecclesiastical) system. Mkhedruli evolved later and is the modern, cursive form used for daily writing and printing. The contemporary Georgian alphabet used in Mkhedruli is phonemic and consists of 33 letters. Older inscriptions and manuscripts show additional letters that were later dropped, so historical inventories list more characters.
Origins and development
The origins of the Georgian scripts involve both local innovation and external influence. Scholars have noted parallels with Greek and with Semitic systems such as Aramaic; some researchers argue the earliest Georgian letter shapes were modeled in imitation of Greek letterforms rather than derived directly from Aramaic. Prominent linguists, including Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze, have discussed these relationships and the process of adaptation used to match a very different phonological system (see the work of Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze). The surviving corpus of inscriptions and manuscripts traces modifications in letter shape and orthography across centuries.
Uses and importance
The Georgian alphabet is used to write not only Georgian but also related Kartvelian languages such as Mingrelian, Laz and Svan in various contexts. Its stable relation between letters and sounds makes it effective for literacy and language teaching. Mkhedruli appears on signage, official documents and digital text, while Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri remain important for liturgical books, inscriptions and typographic ornamentation.
Modern adaptations and computing
Georgian scripts have been adapted to printing and digital environments. The characters are encoded in the Unicode standard, enabling their use on computers and the web. Contemporary typography includes many typefaces that stylize Mkhedruli for headlines and display use while preserving legibility in small text sizes.
Distinctive features and notable facts
- Direction: written left to right, unlike some neighboring historical scripts.
- Case: Mkhedruli is essentially unicameral; the pair Asomtavruli–Nuskhuri functioned historically in a bicameral-like system.
- Cultural role: letter shapes appear in monuments, coins and ecclesiastical art, linking script to national identity.
The Georgian alphabet remains a vivid example of a writing system adapted to local sound patterns while drawing on wider Mediterranean and Near Eastern epigraphic traditions.
Typography and character encoding
Fonts
The first printed Georgian-language books - a guide to the Georgian alphabet (Alphabetum Ibericum sive Georgianum cum Oratione) and a Georgian-Italian dictionary (Dittionario giorgiano e italiano) for Catholic missionaries - were published in Rome in 1629. Nikolos Choloqashvili, ambassador of King Teimuras I of Kartli-Kakheti to Italy, is considered the author of the typeface used here. However, the proportions of Georgian letters were not properly considered in this font. Later in 1708, Georgian King Vakhtang VI established the first printing house in Georgia in Tbilisi with different and high quality fonts. Some of the Georgian fonts of that time were probably created by Anthim the Iberian - a Georgian-Romanian church leader and founder of one of the first printing houses in Romania. In the years 1749-1802 the printing house of King Erekle II was active in Tbilisi. Most of the old Georgian printed original literature is published in this printing house. Artistically, the fonts of Erekle's printing house are much lower than those of Vakhtang's printing house.
In 1864, a new Georgian font was produced in Vienna based on the drawings of the Georgian writer Micheil Qipiani. According to the place of its creation, the font was called Wenuri (Georgian ვენური, "Viennese"). This font was so superior in quality to all other fonts of the time that it was the most common in Georgian publications for almost a century.
At the beginning of the 20th century there was a conviction that Georgian round letters should be modernized and in harmony with the industrial age. Thus, the angular Mchedruli letters appear on the books, posters and pictures of that time. From 1960 to 1998 there was a so-called type laboratory in Tbilisi, where artists, linguists and psychologists worked together to develop typefaces. Within the framework of the laboratory, the type designer Anton Dumbadze developed a series of typefaces. Many of the computer fonts that were later digitized and are still in use were designed by him. The most successful of them is the font "Kolcheti" (Georgian კოლხეთი), whose digital version is still most actively used in Georgian academic and artistic publications. Unlike print publications, Sylfaen, DejaVu and Segoe are the most common Georgian fonts on the Internet and for screens.
Modern Georgian fonts are found in almost all stylistic variations characteristic of Latin, such as normal, bold, italic, there are also serif and grotesque fonts.
Unicode
→ Main articles: Unicode block Georgian, Unicode block Georgian, supplement, and Unicode block Georgian, extended.
The Georgian script has been included in Unicode Standard since 1991 with the release of version 1.0. Today, Georgian characters are in three Unicode blocks. The German linguist and cartwright Jost Gippert and the US-Irish linguist Michael Everson, who developed Georgian Unicode for the Macintosh systems, played a role in the creation of the first Georgian Unicode block (U+10A0 to U+10FF), which is simply called Unicode Block Georgian and includes only the Assomtawruli and Mchedruli letters. Significant contributions were also made by Georgian type designer Anton Dumbadze and Irakli Garibashvili (not to be confused with Georgian politician Irakli Garibashvili).
In 2005, Nushuri letters appeared in Unicode in a separate group Unicode block Georgian, Supplement (U+2D00 to U+2D2F). At the same time, it was clarified that - at least in current usage - Assomtawruli and Nushuri represent upper- and lowercase letters of a two-chamber Chuzuri script, respectively. In June 2018, another group of Unicode Block Georgian, expanded, appeared, containing the Mtawruli script as the versal or majuscule letters of the Mchedruli script.
Author
AlegsaOnline.com Georgian alphabet Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/38359