Georgian language

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Georgian (also Kartvelian; Kartuli in Georgian) is the official language of Georgia, a republic in the Caucasus. For the origin of the name, see the Georgia article.

Georgian is the primary language of 4,150,000 people in Georgia itself (90% of the population), and of another 2.5 million people abroad (chiefly in Turkey and Russia, with smaller communities in Iran and Azerbaijan). It is also the literary language for most ethnographic groups of Georgian people, especially those who speak other South Caucasian languages (Svanss, Megrelianss, and the Laz).

The language

Linguistic classification

Georgian is the most important of the South Caucasian languages, a family that also includes Svan and Megrelian (chiefly spoken in Northwest Georgia) and Laz (chiefly spoken along the Black Sea coast of Turkey, from Trabzon to the Georgian frontier).

Dialects

Dialects of Georgian include Imeretian, Racha-Lechkhum, Gurian, Ajarian, Imerxev (in Turkey), Kartlian, Kakhetian, Ingilo, Tush, Khevsur, Mokhev, Pshav, Mtiul, Ferjeidan (in Iran), Meskhetian.

History of the language

Georgian is believed to have separated from Megrelian and Laz in the third millennium BC. Based on the degree of change, linguists (e.g. G.Klimov, T.Gamkrelidze, G.Machavariani) conjecture that the earliest split occurred in the second millennium BC or earlier, separating Svan from the other languages. Megrelian and Laz separated from Georgian roughly a thousands years later.

Georgian has a very rich literary tradition. The oldest surviving literary text in Georgian is the "Martyrdom of Saint Shushaniki, of the Queen" (C'amebaj c'midisa Shushanik'isi, dedoplisa) by Iakob Tsurtaveli, from the 5th century AD.

Linguistic features

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") (Western Georgia), -shvili ("child") (Eastern Georgia), -ia (Western Georgia), -ani (Western Georgia), -uri (Eastern Georgia), etc.

Georgian has a subject-verb-object primary sentence structure, and an ergative-like noun inflection (case) system.

Alphabet

The modern alphabet has thirty-three letters. Originally it had more, but some letters (lavender cells in the tables below) have become obsolete.

Letters
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

The Georgian script makes no distinction between upper and lower case. However, modern "capital" versions of the letters have been invented, and are occasionally used.

Alternative Capital Letters
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 Alphabets: I-Asomtavruli, II-Nuskha-khutsuri, III-Mkhedruli

History of the alphabet

The oldest form of the Georgian script, the Asomtavruli ("capital") alphabet, was invented in 412 BC by Georgian priests of the cult of Matra (Persian Mithra). The Asomtavruli alphabet was reformed in 284 BC by king Farnavaz I of Iberia. It is still mistakenly attributed by many to Saint Mesrob Mashtots, who invented the Armenian alphabet.

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, pre-Christian 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 Simon Janashia (1900-1947) and Levan Chilashvili [1]. The inscriptions from Armaztsikhe were investigated by 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 modern alphabet, called Mkhedruli (მხედრული, "secular" or "military writing"), first appeared in the 11th century. It was used for non-religious purposes up until the 18th century, when it completely replaced Khutsuri. Georgian linguists claim that the orthography is phonemic.

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/

There are many consonant clusters in Georgian, while almost every word ends with a vowel.

Vowels

I		U
E		O
	a

See also: Georgian in Iran

External links and references

Table copied from website.

online Georgian Grammar.
Online Games in Georgian Language
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)