Georgian Language

Classification and Related Languages

Georgian (ქართული, kartuli) is the official language of Georgia, a country situated in the South Caucasus. It belongs to the Kartvelian (or South Caucasian) language family, which is considered a small and independent family, unrelated to Indo-European, Turkic, Semitic, or other major groups. Within Kartvelian, Georgian forms the largest and most widely spoken branch, alongside Mingrelian, Laz, and Svan.

Levels of mutual intelligibility vary significantly. Georgian is not mutually intelligible with Mingrelian, Laz, or Svan, despite shared grammatical and lexical features. Speakers of Georgian cannot readily understand the other Kartvelian languages without study, although shared roots facilitate learning across the family. Georgian is unique in having developed a long-standing written literary tradition, which has reinforced its role as the lingua franca of the region.

Origins and Historical Development

The origins of Georgian can be traced to the early Kartvelian languages spoken in the Caucasus. Georgian is attested from the 5th century CE, making it the oldest written Kartvelian language. The creation of the Georgian script (traditionally ascribed to King Pharnavaz I in the 3rd century BCE, but more plausibly developed around the 5th century CE) allowed for the preservation of Christian texts, laws, and chronicles.

During the medieval period, Georgian became the language of administration, literature, and scholarship across the Georgian kingdoms. A flourishing literary era occurred between the 10th and 13th centuries, with the production of epic poetry, religious works, and chronicles. Despite centuries of political fragmentation and foreign domination by Persians, Ottomans, and Russians, Georgian remained resilient as a marker of national identity.

Today, Georgian has standardized literary and spoken forms, influenced in the modern period by contact with Russian and, to a lesser extent, Persian, Turkish, and Greek.

Geographic Distribution and Speakers

Georgian is spoken by approximately 3.7–4 million people (as of the early 2020s), the majority residing in Georgia itself. Significant Georgian-speaking communities also exist in Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Israel, and parts of Western Europe and North America due to emigration.

The Georgian Script

The Georgian writing system is one of the few indigenous scripts still in active use today. It is notable for its three distinct historical forms:

1. Asomtavruli (ასომთავრული) – the oldest script, appearing in the 5th century CE. Its monumental, angular letters were used primarily in religious inscriptions and manuscripts.

2. Nuskhuri (ნუსხური) – a more rounded and compact form developed in the 9th century. It was used mainly in ecclesiastical writing, often in combination with Asomtavruli in liturgical texts.

3. Mkhedruli (მხედრული) – the modern script, first attested in the 10th century. By the 13th century it became common for secular writing, and since the 19th century it has been the standard alphabet for Georgian.

The Mkhedruli alphabet consists of 33 letters, each representing a single sound. Unlike many alphabets, Georgian is phonemic: words are generally spelled as they are pronounced.

Examples in Mkhedruli:

• საქართველო (sakartvelo) – “Georgia”

• დედა (deda) – “mother”

• თავისუფლება (tavisupleba) – “freedom”

Literature and Famous Works

Georgian literature is among the oldest in the Caucasus. The earliest surviving examples are translations of Christian texts from Greek. One of the most celebrated works is “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” (Vepkhistqaosani), written by Shota Rustaveli in the 12th century. This epic poem, a masterpiece of medieval Georgian literature, celebrates chivalric ideals, friendship, and humanism.

Other notable figures include:

• Ioane Shavteli and Chakhruhadze, medieval poets.

• Ilia Chavchavadze (19th century), known as both a literary figure and national leader, often called the “Father of the Nation.”

• Galaktion Tabidze (20th century), regarded as one of Georgia’s greatest lyric poets.

Grammar

Georgian grammar is agglutinative and highly inflected, with a complex system of verbs and case marking. Nouns decline for seven cases (nominative, ergative, dative, genitive, instrumental, adverbial, and vocative). Verbs exhibit polypersonal agreement, meaning a single verb can encode subject, direct object, and indirect object simultaneously.

For example:

• ვხედავ (vkhedav) – “I see (him/her/it).”

• გხედავ (gkhedav) – “I see you.”

• გნახავ (gnakhav) – “I will see you.”

Georgian lacks grammatical gender and articles, but relies heavily on verb morphology and aspectual distinctions.

Phonology

Georgian phonology is marked by:

• A rich consonant system, including ejective consonants (such as k’, p’, t’).

• Five simple vowels (a, e, i, o, u) with little reduction.

• Complex consonant clusters, often at the beginnings of words (e.g., gvprtskvni – “you peel us”).

An example sentence illustrating its structure:

• ქართული ენა რთულია (kartuli ena rtulia) – “The Georgian language is difficult.”

• მე მიყვარს საქართველო (me miqvars sakartvelo) – “I love Georgia.”

Vocabulary

The Georgian lexicon is primarily native Kartvelian, with significant historical borrowings from Persian, Turkish, Greek, Arabic, and Russian. In modern times, English loanwords are increasingly common in technology and popular culture.

Examples:

• დედა (deda) – “mother”

• მამა (mama) – “father”

• წიგნი (ts’igni) – “book”

• სიყვარული (siyvaruli) – “love”