The Mkhedruli alphabet developed from an older Georgian alphabet known as Nuskhuri between the 11th and 13th centuries. The name Mkhedruli comes from the word mkhedari which means 'of horseman'. The Nuskhuri alphabet developed from the Asomtavruli alphabet.
At first Mkhedruli was used only for secular writing, while for religious writings a mixture of the two older alphabets was used. Eventually Nuskhuri became the main alphabet for religious texts and Asomtavruli was used only for titles and for the first letters of sentences. This system of mixing the two alphabets was known as khucesi (priest) writing.
Eventually the two older alphabets fell out of use and Mkhedruli became the sole alphabet used to write Georgian. However, in the writings of a linguist called Akaki Shanidze (1887-1987) and in works written in his honour, letters from the Asomtavruli alphabet are used to mark proper names and the beginning of sentences. Shanidze's attempt to popularise such usage met with little success.
The first printed material in the Georgian language, a Georgian-Italian dictionary, was published in 1629 in Rome. Since then the alphabet has changed very little, though a few letters were added by Anton I in the 18th century, and 5 letters were dropped in the 1860s when Ilia Chavchavadze introduced a number of reforms.
Georgian (ქართული ენა), a Kartvelian or South Caucasian language spoken by about 4.1 million people mainly in Georgia (საქართველო), and also in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, USA and Uzbekistan
Mingrelian (მარგალური ნინა), a South Caucasian language spoken in north-western Georgia by perhaps half a million people.
Laz (ლაზური ნენა), a South Caucasian language closely related to Mingrelian and spoken in Turkey and Georgia by about 33,000 people.
Svan (ლუშნუ ნინ), a South Caucasian language with about 30,000 speakers mainly in the northwest of Georgia.
Abkhaz (აფხაზური ენა), a Northwest Caucasian language, was also once written with the Mkhedruli alphabet, but is now written with the Cyrillic alphabet.
Download a Georgian alphabet chart in Word or PDF format
Information about the Georgian alphabet from Konstantin Gugeshashvili
Qvela adamiani ibadeba tavisupali da tanasts'ori tavisi ghirsebita da uplebebit. Mat minich'ebuli akvt goneba da sindisi da ertmanetis mimart unda iktseodnen dzmobis sulisk'vetebit.
A recording of this text by George Keretchashvili
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Information about Georgian | Mkhedruli alphabet | Nuskhuri alphabet | Asomtavruli alphabet | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel | Songs | Learning materials
Information about the Georgian language and alphabets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_language
http://www.aboutgeorgia.net/language/
Georgian language courses
http://www.101languages.net/georgian/
http://mylanguages.org/georgian_audio.php
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~shorena/
http://www.georgian-language.com
http://polymath.org/georgian.php
Georgian alphabet game
Learn Georgian Alphabet Now
Learn Georgian with Ling
Georgian - a reading grammar (PDF)
http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/stand_alone_georgian.pdf
Georgian phrases
http://ggdavid.tripod.com/georgia/language/gphrases.htm
http://www.aboutgeorgia.ge/language/phrases.html?page=1
http://wikitravel.org/en/Georgian_phrasebook
http://www.masteranylanguage.com/cgi/f/rView.pl?pc=MALGeorgian&tc=CommonPhrases&vm=fc
http://mylanguages.org/georgian_phrases.php
http://omnestour.ge/travel-info/useful-georgian-phrases
http://georgiaphiles.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/everyday-georgian-phrases/
Online Georgian dictionaries
http://www.translate.ge
http://www.georgianweb.com/language/dictionary/
Georgian transliteration and spell checkers
http://ge.translit.cc/
http://www.translitteration.com/transliteration/en/georgian/national/
Georgian fonts
http://www.fonts.ge
http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Georgian.html
Online Georgian news and radio
http://www.tavisupleba.org/
Georgian, Laz, Mingrelian, Svan
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