The Georgian alphabet is the script currently used to write the Georgian language and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus. Georgian (also Kartvelian; Kartuli in Georgian) is the official language of Georgia, a republic in the Caucasus. ... The Caucasus is a region in Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands. ...

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

The Georgian script makes no distinction between upper and lower case. However, certain modern writers have experimented with using Asomtavruli letters (see below) as capitals. Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... The Phoenician alphabet dates from around 1000 BC and is derived from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet. ... The Phoenician alphabet dates from around 1000 BC and is derived from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet. ... The Samaritan alphabet is a direct descendant of the paleo-Hebrew variety of the Phoenician alphabet, the more commonly known Hebrew alphabet having been adapted from the Aramaic alphabet under the Persian Empire. ... Aramaic was for a long time (between the later Assyrian empire and the Abbasid Caliphate) a lingua franca in the Middle East; its alphabet, though itself derived from the Phoenician alphabet, therefore superseded the Old Hebrew alphabet that had been independently descended from the Phoenician alphabet. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Pahlavi is a term that refers: (1) to a script used in Iran derived from the Aramaic script, and (2) more broadly, to Middle Persian, the Middle Iranian language written in this script. ... The Avestan alphabet was created in the 3rd century AD for writing the hymns of Zarathustra (a. ... Brahmi refers to the pre-modern members of the Brahmic family of scripts, attested from the 5th century BC. The best known inscriptions in Brahmi are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka, c. ... Devanāgarī. ... 11th century book in Syriac Serto. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language. ... Tablet inscribed with the Glagolitic alphabet The Glagolitic alphabet or Glagolitsa is the oldest known Slavonic alphabet. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first letters) is an alphabet used to write six natural Slavic languages (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... Old Italic refers to a number of related historical alphabets used on the Italian peninsula which were used for some non-Indo-European languages (Etruscan and probably North Picene), various Indo-European languages belonging to the Italic branch (Faliscan and members of the Sabellian group, including Oscan, Umbrian, and South... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world. ... The Runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes, formerly used to write Germanic languages, mainly in Scandinavia, and the British Isles. ... The South Arabian alphabet branched from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet in ca. ... The Geez language (or Giiz language) is an ancient language that developed in the Ethiopian Highlands of the Horn of Africa as the language of the peasantry. ... The Meroitic script is an alphabet of Egyptian (Hieroglyphic) origin used in Kingdom of Meroë. Some scholars, e. ... Turkic people living in Central Asia developed various alphabets in early ages. ... Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages that was probably often written in wood in early times. ... Hangul is the native alphabet used to write the Korean language, as opposed to the Hanja system borrowed from China. ... Canadian aboriginal syllabic writing (often syllabics for short) is a family of writing schemes which are used to write a number of aboriginal Canadian languages from the Algonquian, Athabaskan and Inuit language families. ...

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 Parnavaz I of Iberia. It is still mistakenly attributed by many to Saint Mesrop Mashtots, who invented the Armenian alphabet. While the alphabet shows a great deal of Persian influence, the left-to-right writing direction and the order of the letters show that ideas were also taken from the Greek alphabet. Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC - 410s BC - 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 417 BC 416 BC 415 BC 414 BC 413 BC - 412 BC - 411 BC 410 BC 409... Persian art is conscious of a great past, and monumental in many respects. ... Mitra is an important deity of Persian and Indic culture; he appears in the Vedas as one of the Adityas, a solar deity and the god of honesty, friendship, and contracts. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC - 280s BC - 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 289 BC 288 BC 287 BC 286 BC 285 BC 284 BC 283 BC 282 BC 281... King Parnavaz I (3rd century BC) was a King of the Georgian Kingdom of Iberia (modern Eastern Georgia) in 284-219 BC and founder of the Georgian dynasty of Parnavazians (284 BC-5th century AD). ... Saint Mesrob Mashdots (Armenian: Western:Մեսրոբ Մաշդոց; Eastern:Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց [Mesrop Mashtots]) (360 - February 17, 440) was an Armenian monk, theologian and linguist. ... Saint Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet in 405 AD Armenian alphabet in Matenadaran See also Armenian language Categories: Alphabetic writing systems | Armenia | Unique scripts ... The Greek language is written in the Greek alphabet, developed in classical times (ca 9th century BC) and passed down to the present. ...

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] (http://ezone.mah.se/projects/georgianV04/DEMO/INTR3/Nekresi.html). The inscriptions from Armaztsikhe were investigated by Pavle Ingorokva. This article is about the city in the West Bank. ... Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Events Saint Patrick reaches Ireland on his missionary expedition. ... Tbilisi downtown Tbilisi (Georgian თბილისი) — also known by its old Russian name Tiflis — is the capital city of the country Georgia, located on the shore of Kura (Mtkvari) river, at 41°43′ N 44°47′ E. The city covers an area of 350 km² (135 square miles) and has more... (4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events The first two Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome over dominance in western Mediterranean Rome conquers Spain Great Wall of China begun Indian traders regularly visited Arabia Scythians occupy... (2nd century - 3rd century - 4th century - other centuries) Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east. ... Mtskheta is one of oldest cities of the republic of Georgia (in Kartli province of Eastern Georgia), near Tbilisi. ... Categories: Caucasus geography stubs | Georgia (country) ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Simon Janashia (July 13, 1900 - November 5, 1947) was outstanding Georgian historian and public benefactor, one of the founders and Academician of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS), Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor. ... Levan Chilashvili (August 17, 1930-April 26, 2004) was a famous Georgian archaeologist and historian, Academician of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS), Meritorious Scholar of Georgia, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor. ... This article needs cleanup. ...

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. The orthography of a language is the set of rules of how to write correctly in the writing system of a language. ... A phonemic orthography is a writing system where there is a one-to-one relationship between graphemes in the written form and phonemes in the spoken form of a language. ...

The information regarding the extreme antiquity of the Georgian alphabet contained in this article is, to say the least, contentious. Most western scholars attribute the first extant example of Georgian script to be that of the Georgian church in Bethlehem dating from the 430 AD and not a millennium older.

External link

• Georgian Website / Portal with info on Georgian culture and language (http://www.kartuli.com)