ABOUT GEORGIA - Language

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

native speakers

4.3mn (1993)

letters

Georgian Language - Georgian Alphabet

• ა (a)

• ბ (b)

• გ (g)

• დ (d)

• ე (e)

• ვ (v)

• ზ (z)

• თ (t)

• ი (i)

• კ (k)

• ლ (l)

• მ (m)

• ნ (n)

• ო (o)

• პ (p)

• ჟ (zh)

• რ (r)

• ს (s)

• ტ (t)

• უ (u)

• ფ (f)

• ქ (q)

• ღ (gh)

• ყ (q)

• შ (sh)

• ჩ (ch)

• ც (ts)

• ძ (dz)

• წ (ts)

• ჭ (ch)

• ხ (x)

• ჯ (j)

• ჰ (h)

The history of the state of Georgia is over 2500 years old and Georgian is one of the oldest living languages in the world. Georgian language is the state language of Georgia.

While the Turks and Azeris speak Turkic language, and the Armenians, Ossetians and Russians speak Indo-European languages, Georgian is the most important of the Caucasian group of languages. It belongs to the Kartvelian group of Ibero-Caucasian languages and is the only language in this family that has maintained an ancient script. The most ancient Georgian script available, made by stone inlaying, was found in the Judean desert in Palestine and is dated by 433AD. The first known monument of original Georgian Literature is The Martyrdom of St. Shushanik by Iacob Tsurtaveli written in the 5th century. By this time the Bible had already been translated into Georgian. The oldest manuscript was discovered in St. Catherine`s monastery on the Mount Sinai (Egypt) and is dated by 864AD. In the 12th century which is known as the Golden Age of Georgian history, poet and philosopher of genius Shota Rustaveli wrote an unfading masterpiece "The knight in the Tiger`s skin". This poem, regarded by authorities as a precursor of the European renaissance, was translated into many languages. The first Georgian printed book, Georgian-Italian Dictionary was issued in 1629 in Rome. The first Georgian Printing House was established in Tbilisi in 1709. So as it evident, the Georgian language has an ancient history.

The Georgian language is divided into three families: the South Caucasian or Kartvelian – comprising Georgian (Kartuli), Megrelian, Laz and Svan, spoken by 3.5 million people in all – and the relatively similar northeastern and northwestern Caucasian families, spoken by about a million people each.

The Georgian Script went three stages through the process of its development: I – Old stage: Mrglovani -Asomtavruli (from IVc. BC-to IXc. AD); II – Middle stage Nuskhuri: (from IX c.-to XI c. AD) and III – New stage: Mkhedruli ( from XI c.-to present day). Mkhedruli is the form of modern Georgian writing.

The Georgian alphabet is among the 14 existing alphabets in the world. The shape of Georgian letters is absolutely unique and cannot be compared to any other alphabet. It includes 33 symbols: 5 vowels and 28 consonants, where each sound has its corresponding symbol and vice versa.

GEORGIA


Flag	Coat of arms

Capital and largest city		Tbilisi
Official languages		Georgian
Spoken languages		71% Georgian 9% Russian 7% Armenian 6% Azerbaijani 7% other
Ethnic groups (2002)		83.8% Georgian 6.5% Azerbaijani 5.7% Armenian 1.5% Russian 2.5% others
Demonym		Georgian
Government		Unitary semi-presidential republic
Legislature		Parliament
Area		69,700 km² (120th) 26,911 sq mi
Population (2014)		4,935,880 (119th)
Currency		Lari (GEL)
Time zone		GET (UTC+4)
Drives on the		right
Calling code		+995
ISO 3166 code		GE
Internet TLD		.ge