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Georgian scripts

Georgian
damts'erloba ("script" in Mkhedruli)
Script type
Time period
AD 430[a] – present
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesGeorgian and other Kartvelian languages
Related scripts
Parent systems
Uncertain, alphabetical order modelled on Greek
  • Georgian
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Geor (240), ​Georgian (Mkhedruli and Mtavruli) – Georgian (Mkhedruli)
Geok, 241 – Khutsuri (Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri)
Unicode
Unicode alias
Georgian
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet
CountryGeorgia
Reference01205
Region
Inscription history
Inscription2016 (11 session)

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 horizontally from left to right. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the civilian royal script of the Kingdom of Georgia and mostly used for the royal charters, 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, in ceremonial religious texts and iconography.[1]

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.[2][3] Originally consisting of 38 letters,[4] 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 diacritics for its many vowels.[1][5]

The "living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet" was granted the national status of intangible cultural heritage in Georgia in 2015[6] and inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.[7]


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  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference addit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Shanidze 2000, p. 444.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lig1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Machavariani 2011, p. 329.
  5. ^ Hüning, Vogl & Moliner 2012, p. 299.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference agenda.ge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference unesco.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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