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Georgian alphabet
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Image:Bolnisi inscription.jpg Bolnisi Sioni.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|The fifth century example of the ''Asomtavruli'' script from [[Bolnisi Sioni Church|thumb.html" title="Meaning of The fifth century example of the ''Asomtavruli'' script from [[Bolnisi Sioni">thumb|The fifth century example of the ''Asomtavruli'' script from [[Bolnisi Sioni Church|thumb">The fifth century example of the ''Asomtavruli'' script from [[Bolnisi Sioni">thumb|The fifth century example of the ''Asomtavruli'' script from [[Bolnisi Sioni Church|thumb
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 language Ossetic in the
1940s).
The modern alphabet has thirty-three letters. Originally it had more, but some letters (lavender cells in the tables below) have become obsolete.
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="8" bgcolor="#EFEFEF" style="font-size:20px; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan=14 align=center|Letters
|-
| � || ბ || გ || დ || ე || ვ || ზ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | ჱ || თ || ი || კ || ლ || მ || ნ
|-
| bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | ჲ || � || პ || ჟ || რ|| ს || ტ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | ჳ || უ || ფ || ქ || ღ || ყ || შ
|-
| ჩ || ც || ძ || წ || რ|| ხ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | ჴ || ჯ || ჰ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | ჵ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | ჶ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | ჷ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | ჸ || bgcolor="#FFFFFF" |
|}
The Georgian script makes no distinction between upper and lower case. However, certain modern writers have experimented with using ''Asomtavruli'' letters (see below) as capitals.
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="8" bgcolor="#EFEFEF" style="font-size:20px; text-align:center;"
|-
|colspan=14 align=center|''Asomtavruli'' (Capital) Letters
|-
| Ⴀ || Ⴁ || Ⴂ || Ⴃ || Ⴄ || Ⴅ || Ⴆ || Ⴡ || Ⴇ || Ⴈ || Ⴉ || Ⴊ || Ⴋ || Ⴌ
|-
| bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | Ⴢ || Ⴍ || Ⴎ || Ⴏ || Ⴐ || Ⴑ || Ⴒ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | Ⴣ || Ⴓ || Ⴔ || Ⴕ || Ⴖ || Ⴗ || Ⴘ
|-
| Ⴙ || Ⴚ || Ⴛ || Ⴜ || Ⴝ || Ⴞ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | Ⴤ || Ⴟ || Ⴠ || bgcolor="#E9E9FD" | Ⴥ || bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | || bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | || bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | || bgcolor="#FFFFFF" |
|}
History of the alphabet
Image:GeorgianAlphabet.jpg thumb|Georgian Alphabets: I-Asomtavruli, II-Nuskha-khutsuri, III-Mkhedruli
The oldest uncontroversial examples of Georgian writing are an ''asomtavruli'' inscription in a church in Bethlehem from
430 CE. Gamkrelidze 1990 (''Alphabetic Writing and the Old Georgian script'') argues that it must have followed the advent of Christianity in Georgia (''c.''
337 CE), 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
Pahlavi Sassanian Persian and
Sogdian alphabet Sogdian scripts, while the left-to-right writing direction and the order of the alphabet are
Greek alphabet Greek.
Older Armenian sources attribute the alphabet to
Saint Mesrob Saint Mesrop Mashtots, who is credited with the invention of the
Armenian alphabet, but this is not generally accepted.
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_mythology 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 3rd century AD. 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 [http://ezone.mah.se/projects/georgianV04/DEMO/INTR3/Nekresi.html]. 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 orthography phonemic.
See Also
*
ISO 9984
External links
-
Georgian Website / Portal with info on Georgian culture and language
-
Direct transliteration latin ↔ georgian
-
Learn the Georgian alphabet online
{{alphabet}}
Category:Georgian alphabet
Category:Georgian language
Category:Alphabetic writing systems
br:Lizherennegoù ar georgeg
de:Georgisches Alphabet
es:Mxedruli
eo:Kartvela alfabeto
fr:Alphabets géorgiens
gl:Alfabeto xeorxiano
os:Гуырдзиаг алфавит
ka:ქ�რთული �ნბ�ნი
lv:Gruzīnu alfabēts
ja:グルジア文å—
no:Georgisk alfabet
pt:Alfabeto georgiano
ru:ГрузинÑ?кое пиÑ?ьмо
fi:Georgian aakkoset
zh:æ ¼é²?å?‰äºšè¯å—æ¯?
Category:Georgian language
ka:კ�ტეგ�რი�:ქ�რთული �ნბ�ნი
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