Georgian alphabet

The Georgian alphabet is the script currently used to write the Georgian language and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus.

History of the alphabet

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 Sassanian Persian and Sogdian scripts, while the left-to-right writing direction and the order of the alphabet are Greek.

Related Topics:
430 - 337 - Sassanian Persian - Sogdian - Greek

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Older Armenian sources attribute the alphabet to Saint Mesrop Mashtots, who is credited with the invention of the Armenian alphabet, but this is not generally accepted.

Related Topics:
Saint Mesrop Mashtots - Armenian alphabet

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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 Mithra), and reformed in 284 BC by king Parnavaz I of Iberia.

Related Topics:
412 BC - Persian - Mithra - 284 BC - Parnavaz I of Iberia

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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 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.

Related Topics:
Bethlehem - Jerusalem - 430 - Bolnisi Sioni - Tbilisi - 3rd century BC - 3rd century AD - Armaztsikhe - Mtskheta - Nekresi - Kakheti - 1940 - 1995 - 2003 - Simon Janashia - Levan Chilashvili - Pavle Ingorokva

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The Nuskhuri ("minuscule") or Kutkhovani ("squared") script first appeared in the 9th century. Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri, collectively known as Khutsuri (??????, or "church script"), were used together to write religious manuscripts, with the Asomtavruli serving as capital letters.

Related Topics:
Asomtavruli - Nuskhuri

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The modern alphabet, called Mkhedruli (????????, "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.

Related Topics:
Orthography - Phonemic

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