The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written horizontally from left to right. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the official script of the Kingdom of Georgia and mostly used for the royal charters, is now the standard script for modern Georgian and its related Kartvelian languages, whereas Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are used only by the Georgian Orthodox Church, in ceremonial religious texts and iconography.
Georgian scripts are unique in their appearance and their exact origin has never been established; however, in strictly structural terms, their alphabetical order largely corresponds to the Greek alphabet, with the exception of letters denoting uniquely Georgian sounds, which are grouped at the end. Originally consisting of 38 letters, Georgian is presently written in a 33-letter alphabet, as five letters are obsolete. The number of Georgian letters used in other Kartvelian languages varies. Mingrelian uses 36: thirty-three that are current Georgian letters, one obsolete Georgian letter, and two additional letters specific to Mingrelian and Svan. Laz uses the same 33 current Georgian letters as Mingrelian plus that same obsolete letter and a letter borrowed from Greek for a total of 35. The fourth Kartvelian language, Svan, is not commonly written, but when it is, it uses Georgian letters as utilized in Mingrelian, with an additional obsolete Georgian letter and sometimes supplemented by diacritics for its many vowels.
The "living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet" was granted the national status of intangible cultural heritage in Georgia in 2015 and inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.
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Origins
The origin of the Georgian script is poorly known, and no full agreement exists among Georgian and non-Georgian scholars as to when the script was created, who designed it, and the main influences on that process.
The first attested version of the script is Asomtavruli, which dates back to the 5th century; the other scripts were formed in the following centuries. Most scholars link the creation of the Georgian script to the process of Christianization of Iberia (not to be confused with the Iberian Peninsula), a core Georgian kingdom of Kartli. The alphabet was therefore most probably created between the conversion of Iberia under King Mirian III (326 or 337) and the Bir el Qutt inscriptions of 430. It was first used for translation of the Bible and other Christian literature into Georgian, by monks in Georgia and Palestine. Professor Levan Chilashvili's dating of fragmented Asomtavruli inscriptions, discovered by him at the ruined town of Nekresi, in Georgia's easternmost province of Kakheti, in the 1980s, to the 2nd or 1st century BC has not been accepted.
A Georgian tradition first attested in the medieval chronicle Lives of the Kings of Kartli (), assigns a much earlier, pre-Christian origin to the Georgian alphabet, and names King Pharnavaz I (3rd century BC) as its inventor. This account is now considered legendary, and is rejected by scholarly consensus, as no archaeological confirmation has been found. Scholars such as Tamaz Gamkrelidze, A. Potskhishvili and Z. Sarjveladze suggested that the account of Pharnavaz's invention of Georgian writing system should be understood as the introduction of alloglottography in foreign scripts: Gamkrelidze argues that Pharnavaz introduced writing on the basis of Aramaic script: the text was synchronically translated from Georgian and written down in Aramaic by a specialist. Potskhishvili argues that Greek graphics were used instead.
Another point of contention among scholars is the role played by Armenian clerics in that process. According to medieval Armenian sources and a number of scholars, Mesrop Mashtots, generally acknowledged as the creator of the Armenian alphabet, also allegedly created the Georgian and Caucasian Albanian alphabets. This tradition originates in the works of Koryun, a fifth-century historian and biographer of Mashtots, and has been quoted by Donald Rayfield and James R. Russell, but has been rejected by Georgian scholarship and some Western scholars who judge the passage in Koryun unreliable or even a later interpolation. In his study on the history of the invention of the Armenian alphabet and the life of Mashtots, the Armenian linguist Hrachia Acharian strongly defended Koryun as a reliable source and rejected criticisms of his accounts on the invention of the Georgian script by Mashtots. Acharian dated the invention to 408, four years after Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet (he dated the latter event to 404). Some Western scholars quote Koryun's claims without taking a stance on its validity or concede that Armenian clerics, if not Mashtots himself, must have played a role in the creation of the Georgian script. Ivane Javakhishvili, a Georgian historian and scientist, studied this work of Koryun and concluded that the version of Mesrop Mashtots' creation of the Georgian alphabet is a VI-VII century addition. The 5th-century Armenian historian Ghazar Parpetsi considers Mashtots to be the creator of only the Armenian alphabet. Tamaz Gamkrelidze argues that a thorough linguistic analysis would have been necessary to create a new writing system for the language, while Mesrop Mashtots did not know the Georgian language.
Another controversy regards the main influences at play in the Georgian alphabet, as scholars have debated whether it was inspired more by the Greek alphabet, or by Semitic alphabets such as Aramaic. Recent historiography focuses on greater similarities with the Greek alphabet than in the other Caucasian writing systems, most notably the order and numeric value of letters. Some scholars have also suggested certain pre-Christian Georgian cultural symbols or clan markers as a possible inspiration for particular letters.
Asomtavruli
Asomtavruli (, ) is the oldest Georgian script. The name means "capital letters", from () "letter" and () "principal/head". It is also known as Mrgvlovani () "rounded", from () "round", so named because of its round letter shapes. Despite its name, this "capital" script is unicameral.
The oldest Asomtavruli inscriptions found so far date from the 5th century and are Bir el Qutt and the Bolnisi inscriptions.
From the 9th century, Nuskhuri script started becoming dominant, and the role of Asomtavruli was reduced. However, epigraphic monuments of the 10th to 18th centuries continued to be written in Asomtavruli script. Asomtavruli in this later period became more decorative. In the majority of 9th-century Georgian manuscripts which were written in Nuskhuri script, Asomtavruli was used for titles and the first letters of chapters. However, some manuscripts written completely in Asomtavruli can be found until the 11th century.
Form of Asomtavruli letters In early Asomtavruli, the letters are of equal height. Georgian historian and philologist Pavle Ingorokva believes that the direction of Asomtavruli, like that of Greek, was initially boustrophedon, though the direction of the earliest surviving texts is from left to the right.
In most Asomtavruli letters, straight lines are horizontal or vertical and meet at right angles. The only letter with acute angles is Ⴟ (jani). There have been various attempts to explain this exception. Georgian linguist and art historian Helen Machavariani believes jani derives from a monogram of Christ, composed of (ini) and (kani). According to Georgian scholar Ramaz Pataridze, the cross-like shape of letter jani indicates the end of the alphabet, and has the same function as the similarly shaped Phoenician letter taw (), Greek chi (Χ), and Latin X, though these letters do not have that function in Phoenician, Greek, or Latin.
Coins of Queen Tamar of Georgia and King George IV of Georgia minted using Asomtavruli script, 1200–1210 AD.
From the 7th century, the forms of some letters began to change. The equal height of the letters was abandoned, with letters acquiring ascenders and descenders.
+Asomtavruli letters Ⴀani Ⴁbani Ⴂgani Ⴃdoni Ⴄeni Ⴅvini Ⴆzeni Ⴡhe Ⴇtani Ⴈini Ⴉkʼani Ⴊlasi Ⴋmani Ⴌnari Ⴢhie Ⴍoni Ⴎpʼari Ⴏzhani Ⴐrae Ⴑsani Ⴒtʼari Ⴣvie Ⴓ/ႭჃuni Ⴔpari Ⴕkani Ⴖghani Ⴗqʼari Ⴘshini Ⴙchini Ⴚtsani Ⴛdzili Ⴜts'ili Ⴝch'ari Ⴞkhani Ⴤqari Ⴟjani Ⴠhae Ⴥhoe
Asomtavruli illumination In Nuskhuri manuscripts, Asomtavruli are used for titles and illuminated capitals. The latter were used at the beginnings of paragraphs which started new sections of text. In the early stages of the development of Nuskhuri texts, Asomtavruli letters were not elaborate and were distinguished principally by size and sometimes by being written in cinnabar ink. Later, from the 10th century, the letters were illuminated. The style of Asomtavruli capitals can be used to identify the era of a text. For example, in the Georgian manuscripts of the Byzantine era, when the styles of the Byzantine Empire influenced Kingdom of Georgia, capitals were illuminated with images of birds and other animals.
Decorative Asomtavruli capital letters, Ⴋ (m) and Ⴇ (t), 12–13th century.
From the 11th-century "limb-flowery", "limb-arrowy" and "limb-spotty" decorative forms of Asomtavruli are developed. The first two are found in 11th- and 12th-century monuments, whereas the third one is used until the 18th century.
Importance was attached also to the colour of the ink itself.
Asomtavruli letter Ⴃ (doni) is often written with decoration effects of fish and birds.
The "Curly" decorative form of Asomtavruli is also used where the letters are wattled or intermingled on each other, or the smaller letters are written inside other letters. It was mostly used for the headlines of the manuscripts or the books, although there are complete inscriptions which were written in the Asomtavruli "Curly" form only.
The title of Gospel of Matthew in Asomtavruli "Curly" decorative form.
Handwriting of Asomtavruli The following table shows the stroke direction of each Asomtavruli letter:
Nuskhuri
Nuskhuri (, ) is the second Georgian script. The name comes from (), meaning "inventory" or "schedule". Nuskhuri was soon augmented with Asomtavruli illuminated capitals in religious manuscripts. The combination is called Khutsuri (, ; "clerical", from ( "cleric"), and it was principally used in hagiography.
Nuskhuri first appeared in the 9th century as a graphic variant of Asomtavruli. The oldest inscription is found in the Ateni Sioni Church and dates to 835 AD. The oldest surviving Nuskhuri manuscripts date to 864 AD. Nuskhuri becomes dominant over Asomtavruli from the 10th century.
Form of Nuskhuri letters Nuskhuri letters vary in height, with ascenders and descenders, and are slanted to the right. Letters have an angular shape, with a noticeable tendency to simplify the shapes they had in Asomtavruli. This enabled faster writing of manuscripts.
→ → Asomtavruli letters ⴍ (oni) and ⴣ (vie). A ligature of these letters produced a new letter in Nuskhuri, ⴓ uni.
A colophon of King David IV in Nuskhuri. +Nuskhuri letters ani bani gani doni eni vini zeni he tani ini kʼani lasi mani nari hie oni pʼari zhani rae sani tʼari vie uni pari kani ghani qʼari shini chini tsani dzili tsʼili chʼari khani qari jani hae hoe
Note: Without proper font support, you may see question marks, boxes or other symbols instead of Nuskhuri letters.
Handwriting of Nuskhuri The following table shows the stroke direction of each Nuskhuri letter:
Use of Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri today