Georgian (Mkhedruli) · ქართული ანბანი
33 letters, 33 sounds, no capitals, nothing silent. Georgian has been written in three scripts: Asomtavruli (5th c., 'capital letters'), Nuskhuri (9th c., church minuscule) and Mkhedruli (11th c., 'military' — the modern one); Mtavruli is Mkhedruli's all-caps display form used on signs and headlines. The alphabet is ordered like Greek (ani bani gani doni ~ alpha beta gamma delta). Letter names carry their own vowel — ani, bani, gani — and grouping them BY that vowel (ani/ari/ini/eni/oni) is a genuinely good way to memorise them.
Kartvelian scripts (unique — related to no other writing system) · written left to right · used here by Georgian
33 signs
| # | Sign | Asomtavruli | Nuskhuri | Mtavruli | Name | Roman | IPA | Group | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ა | Ⴀ | ⴀ | Ა | ani | a | a | …ani | a as in father |
| 2 | ბ | Ⴁ | ⴁ | Ბ | bani | b | b | …ani | b as in boy |
| 3 | გ | Ⴂ | ⴂ | Გ | gani | g | ɡ | …ani | g as in beggar |
| 4 | დ | Ⴃ | ⴃ | Დ | doni | d | d | …oni | d as in dad |
| 5 | ე | Ⴄ | ⴄ | Ე | eni | e | ɛ | …eni | e as in egg |
| 6 | ვ | Ⴅ | ⴅ | Ვ | vini | v | v | …ini | v as in vine; often [w] next to consonants |
| 7 | ზ | Ⴆ | ⴆ | Ზ | zeni | z | z | …eni | z as in zebra |
| 8 | თ | Ⴇ | ⴇ | Თ | tani | t | tʰ | …ani | aspirated t — t as in Thomas, with a puff |
| 9 | ი | Ⴈ | ⴈ | Ი | ini | i | i | …ini | ee as in green |
| 10 | კ | Ⴉ | ⴉ | Კ | k'ani | k' | kʼ | …ani | EJECTIVE k — glottis shut, popped |
| 11 | ლ | Ⴊ | ⴊ | Ლ | lasi | l | l | others | l as in lamp |
| 12 | მ | Ⴋ | ⴋ | Მ | mani | m | m | …ani | m as in mommy |
| 13 | ნ | Ⴌ | ⴌ | Ნ | nari | n | n | …ari | n as in nun |
| 14 | ო | Ⴍ | ⴍ | Ო | oni | o | ɔ | …oni | o as in open |
| 15 | პ | Ⴎ | ⴎ | Პ | p'ari | p' | pʼ | …ari | EJECTIVE p |
| 16 | ჟ | Ⴏ | ⴏ | Ჟ | zhani | zh | ʒ | …ani | s as in treasure |
| 17 | რ | Ⴐ | ⴐ | Რ | rae | r | r | others | rolled r, as Spanish rr |
| 18 | ს | Ⴑ | ⴑ | Ს | sani | s | s | …ani | s as in mess |
| 19 | ტ | Ⴒ | ⴒ | Ტ | t'ari | t' | tʼ | …ari | EJECTIVE t |
| 20 | უ | Ⴓ | ⴓ | Უ | uni | u | u | others | u as in rule |
| 21 | ფ | Ⴔ | ⴔ | Ფ | pari | p | pʰ | …ari | aspirated p — hard ph with emphasis on p |
| 22 | ქ | Ⴕ | ⴕ | Ქ | kani | k | kʰ | …ani | aspirated k — ch as in psychology |
| 23 | ღ | Ⴖ | ⴖ | Ღ | ghani | gh | ɣ | …ani | same as French r |
| 24 | ყ | Ⴗ | ⴗ | Ყ | q'ari | q' | qʼ | …ari | uvular ejective — the hardest one; ბაყაყი 'frog' is the test |
| 25 | შ | Ⴘ | ⴘ | Შ | shini | sh | ʃ | …ini | sh as in fishing |
| 26 | ჩ | Ⴙ | ⴙ | Ჩ | chini | ch | t͡ʃʰ | …ini | aspirated ch as in chair |
| 27 | ც | Ⴚ | ⴚ | Ც | tsani | ts | t͡sʰ | …ani | aspirated ts as in rats |
| 28 | ძ | Ⴛ | ⴛ | Ძ | dzili | dz | d͡z | others | dz as in red zebra |
| 29 | წ | Ⴜ | ⴜ | Წ | ts'ili | ts' | t͡sʼ | others | EJECTIVE ts |
| 30 | ჭ | Ⴝ | ⴝ | Ჭ | ch'ari | ch' | t͡ʃʼ | …ari | EJECTIVE ch |
| 31 | ხ | Ⴞ | ⴞ | Ხ | khani | kh | χ | …ani | uvular kh — rougher than German ach |
| 32 | ჯ | Ⴟ | ⴟ | Ჯ | jani | j | d͡ʒ | …ani | j as in joke |
| 33 | ჰ | Ⴠ | ⴠ | Ჰ | hae | h | h | others | h as in ham; almost removed from the alphabet — survives mostly in international words |
Groups: …ani (names ending in -ani) · …ari (names ending in -ari (many ejectives live here)) · …ini · …eni · …oni · others (lasi, uni, dzili, ts'ili, rae, hae…)
Most used combinations
The sequences you'll meet constantly — learn them as units.
| Sequence | Sound | What's going on | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| წყ | Two ejectives back to back — THE Georgian cluster. | წყალი ts'q'ali — water | |
| ღვ | gh + v opens some of the most Georgian words there are. | ღვინო ghvino — wine | |
| მთ | m + aspirated t. | მთა mta — mountain | |
| თბ | The capital starts with it. | თბილისი Tbilisi — 'warm place' | |
| რძ | r + dz. | რძე rdze — milk | |
| ტკბ | Three stops, no vowel in sight. | ტკბილი t'k'bili — sweet | |
| მწვ | Nasal + ejective + v. | მწვანე mts'vane — green | |
| გვფრცქვნ | The famous eight-consonant run — a real verb form, not a party trick. | გვფრცქვნი gvprtskvni — 'you peel us' |
Rules of the system
How the signs behave together.
| Sequence | Sound | What's going on | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| harmonic clusters | — | Stop+stop clusters must agree in 'series': aspirated with aspirated (თქ, ფხ), ejective with ejective (წყ, ტკ, პყ), voiced with voiced (ბგ, დგ). Mixing series inside a cluster (e.g. ejective + aspirated like *კთ) is what Georgian avoids — the real 'incompatible combination' of the language. | |
| vowel + vowel | — | Vowels don't merge into diphthongs — each keeps its syllable: ქააფშია is read a-a, გაიგო ga-i-go. There are no silent letters to manage, ever. |
Incompatible combinations
What this writing system does not allow — knowing the impossible prunes the search space.
| Sequence | Sound | What's going on | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| *ყ + ejective onset | — | ყ /qʼ/ starts clusters only with sonorants or as წყ/ტყ/ჭყ patterns; sequences like *ყკ or *ყპ inside one syllable don't occur — the uvular ejective resists doubling up with another back ejective. |