Georgian scripts

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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.[2]

Georgian

damts'erloba "script" in Mkhedruli

Script type Alphabet

Time period AD 430[1] – present

Direction left-to-right

Languages Georgian and other

Kartvelian languages

Related scripts

Parent systems Uncertain, alphabetical

order modelled on
Greek
Georgian

ISO 15924

ISO 15924 Geor (240), Georgian

(Mkhedruli and
Mtavruli) – Georgian
(Mkhedruli)
Geok, 241 –
Khutsuri (Asomtavruli
and Nuskhuri)

Unicode

Unicode alias Georgian

Unicode range U+10A0–U+10FF

Georgian
U+2D00–U+2D2F
Supplement
U+1C90–U+1CBF
Extended

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

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Country Georgia

Reference 01205

Region Caucasus,
Eastern Europe

Inscription history

Inscription 2016 (11 session)

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.[3][4] Originally consisting of
38 letters,[5] 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.[2][6]

The "living culture of three writing systems of the

Georgian alphabet" was granted the national
status of intangible cultural heritage in Georgia in
2015[7] and inscribed on the UNESCO
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity in 2016.[8]

Preview

Origins

Asomtavruli

Nuskhuri

Use of Asomtavruli and

Nuskhuri today

Mkhedruli

Ligatures, abbreviations and

calligraphy

Typefaces

Punctuation

Summary

Use for other non-

Kartvelian languages

Computing

Gallery

References

Sources

Further reading

External links

Last edited 9 days ago by Pavel.nps

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