According to Koriun 1964: 37, 40-41, Mesrop also invented scripts for Georgian and Caucasian Albanian, but this claim is not confirmed by non-Armenian sources.
The Georgian language is one of the oldest living languages on Earth.
According to historical tradition, the Georgian alphabet was created by the founder of the Georgian kingdom, Pharnavaz I, in the 3rd century BC. BC.
During its history, the Georgian language has changed three different alphabets: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri (since the 9th century), Mkhedruli (since the 11th century). The last two coexisted until the 17th century.
The currently used alphabet is known as mkhedruli ("letter of the equestrian estate", "civilian"), and consists of 33 letters: 28 consonants and 5 vowels (originally there were 38).
There are several Georgian languages: proper general Georgian-literary (kartuli ena), Svan (Lushnu nin), Mingrelian (Margalur nina), Laz (Lazuri nena).
The Svan language emerged from the general Georgian language about 3 thousand years ago, while Megrelian and Laz - about 2 thousand years ago.
The Georgian language includes several dialects, the differences between which are insignificant: Kartli, Kakhetian, Imeretian, Gurian, Pshavian, Rachinsky, Adjarian, Khevsurian, Tush, etc.
The oldest surviving inscription in Georgian is the Nekresskaya inscription dating from the 3rd century BC. n. e.
The first surviving monument of Georgian literature, The Martyrdom of Shushanik by Jacob Tsurtaveli, was written between 475-484.
1709 - the beginning of book printing in Georgia.
"The Knight in the Panther's Skin" - an epic poem by Shota Rustaveli, most likely created between 1189-1212.
There are about 1500 quatrains in the poem.
In 1938-1954, the Georgian script (with the introduction of additional characters) was also used for the Apsu and Ossetian languages.
The grammatical structure of the Georgian language is much more complicated than most of the Eurasian languages.
There is no division between masculine and feminine in the Georgian language.
In the Georgian alphabet, the number of letters coincides with the number of sounds.
In all three alphabets, all letters have a numerical value.
There are no uppercase (capital) letters in Georgian writing.
Kivruli, a mixed Jewish-Georgian language, is spoken by about 85,000 people.
During the years of Soviet power, the Georgian SSR was the only union republic whose constitution indicated the state status of the Georgian language.
Georgian numerals up to 20 are based on the tenfold number system, and from 20 to 100 - on the twentyfold system. For example, the number 75 sounds like "three times twenty and three times five."
Greetings in the Georgian language retain traces of the militant past of Georgia (for example, dila mshvidobis - "peaceful morning" = good morning, gamarjoba - (wish) "victory" = hello, gagimarjos - "victory to you!").
In the ancient Georgian language "dzhuga" meant "steel". That is why Iosif Dzhugashvili chose the pseudonym Stalin.
About 5 million people speak Georgian.
The recording of the song in Georgian was placed in the Voyager spacecraft as one of the achievements of human civilization.
And finally, the Georgian language is one of the most beautiful languages in the world.)))
greenarine in the comments at pigh -a raised the topic of the Georgian alphabet and its alleged invention by Mashtots. I answered, now I answer in more detail.In short, there is a chronicle "The Life of Mashtots" under the authorship of Koryun. It outlines the legendary version of the creation of the Armenian, Georgian and Albanian alphabets. The Georgian alphabet was created by Mashtots and a certain Georgian translator. It is valuable because Koryun was a student of Mesrop Mashtots and his contemporary. This part of the chronicle in Russian translation can be read here: http://www.vehi.net/istoriya/armenia/korun/koriun16-29.html. However, in reality, the goal of Mashtots was not to spread, say, the alphabet, but to spread Christianity, which was then very weak in the Caucasus - in Armenia, his goal was also public education (he opened dozens of schools) - in Iberia and Aluanka, most likely - the spread of the Armenian branch Christianity, which in general succeeded. The Georgian Church abandoned the Armenian branch of Christianity at the end of the 6th and beginning of the 7th century and switched to the Byzantine one. In order not to look biased, the Armenian church also had a Byzantine-Georgian Orthodox orientation for some time, a couple of centuries later already. This can be considered indirect evidence of the activities of Mashtots in the Caucasus (and the connections of the Aluan church with the Armenian one are known - in the 19th century, the remains of the Udi church completely merged with the Armenian one).
As for the Georgian alphabet, it has gone through three stages of evolution. It seems to me that the first alphabet did not suit him very well, and the graphics in the first one were very similar to the Armenian ones: (see columns 2 and 3 - mrglovani (asomtavruli) and khutsuri (nuskhuri). In the fourth column - the modern Georgian alphabet.
The first Georgian chronicle is "The Martyrdom of Shushanik", 507, by Yakov Tsurtaveli. That is, later than the alleged invention of the alphabet according to Koryun (420-430). The Armenian alphabet differs from the Georgian alphabet in one more way: the order of letters relative to the Greek is different: in Armenian there are constant inclusions of letters that have no analogues in Greek, and in Georgian, the Greek set comes first, and then relatively unique letters. It can be assumed that Mashtots and his Georgian associates did not want such a great similarity between the Georgian alphabet and the Armenian alphabet. And it is possible, like Thomas Gamkrelidze, that the source of Georgian was Greek.
To summarize:
- If there was any ancient Georgian alphabet, then not a single record on it in any form has survived.
- The Armenian version is more confirmed by sources, it is also considered by foreign scholars (David Deeringer, researcher of alphabets wrote about this)
- For Georgians, this topic is very sensitive, so you should not touch it. It is not clear to me when Armenians like to raise this topic, although they know the attitude of Georgians towards it
- The legend about the invention of the Georgian alphabet by Parnavaz is a later one and was presented not by contemporaries of that period, but 1500 years later
- The Georgian alphabet is the result of evolution, and if asomtavruli was invented with the help of Mashtots, then today's secular alphabet belongs more to the era of the 11th-12th centuries. and is the result of the heyday of the Georgian state
P.S. As I found out, inscriptions were found earlier than Tsurtaveli's manuscript. By the 70s. the earliest was considered an inscription from Bolnisi Zion (493/4), and later an inscription was found from a Georgian monastery in Palestine, dated 433 AD.
Georgian language (ქართული ენა kartuli ena) - official official language Georgia. Belongs to the Kartvelian group. One of the most ancient living languages on earth appeared in the 3rd century AD.
What you need to know when going to Georgia? Most Georgians over 30 know Russian. Young people usually know English. In Adjara (Batumi), the majority understands Turkish. But in small towns and villages, people communicate only in Georgian. This is where the Russian-Georgian phrasebook, which is given at the end of the article, will come in handy.
Features of the Georgian language
In modern Georgian alphabet 33 letters- 5 vowels and 28 consonants. This is the only alphabet in the world in which one letter corresponds to one sound and vice versa.
Pronounced accents not in Georgian. However, there is a conditional rule. In two-syllable words, the stress usually falls on the first syllable, in polysyllabic words, the third syllable from the end.
In Georgian no childbirth. In Georgian writing No capital letters .
The Georgian language is very beautiful. And the Georgian polyphony is recognized by UNESCO as a masterpiece of cultural heritage. In 1977 two spaceship Voyager set off to explore space. On board is a message from humanity to extraterrestrial civilizations. Among the great works Chakrulo's song:
Georgian dialects
There are several Kartvelian languages: proper general Georgian - literary (kartuli ena), Svan (Lushnu nin), Mingrelian (Margalur nina), Laz (Lazuri nena).
The Georgian language includes several dialects, the differences between which are insignificant: Kartli, Kakhetian, Imeretian, Gurian, Pshavian, Rachinsky, Adjarian, Khevsurian, Tush, etc.
Interesting facts about the Georgian language
- The modern Georgian alphabet "Mkhedruli" was created in the 10th century, and in the 60s of the 19th century Ilya Chavchavadze carried out a reform and reduced the number of letters in the alphabet to 33, removing five archaic and practically unused letters from it.
- The first surviving monument of Georgian literature, "The Martyrdom of Shushanik" by Jacob Tsurtaveli. Written between 475-484.
- 1709 - Beginning of book printing in Georgia.
- Some familiar words were significantly influenced by the warlike past of the people. For example, hamarjoba= hello came from the wish for victory. Reciprocal hagimaggios= victory to you. Good morning literally means "peaceful morning" ( dilamshvidobisa).
- Georgian numerals up to 20 are based on the decimal number system, and from 20 to 100 are based on the twenty-decimal system. For example, the number 35 translates as "twenty and fifteen."
| Number | Translation | Formation principle |
| 10 | ati | — |
| 20 | occi | — |
| 30 | otsdaati | 20 and 10 |
| 40 | ormotsi | 2 times 20 |
| 50 | ormotsdaati | 2 times 20 and 10 |
| 60 | self-tsi | 3 times 20 |
| 70 | suicide | 3 times 20 and 10 |
| 80 | otkhmotsi | 4 times 20 |
| 90 | otkhmotsdaati | 4 times 20 and 10 |
| 100 | asi | — |
- Under the USSR in Georgia, the Georgian language had the status of a state language.
- In the ancient Georgian language "dzhuga" means "steel". Therefore, Joseph Dzhugashvili got the pseudonym Stalin. In fact, this is a direct translation of the surname into Russian.
- The Guinness Book of Records includes the word " gvprckvnis(he cleans us, he peels us off). This word has 8 consonants in a row.
- There is a version that the word wine (vine, wine,) comes from Georgian Guino(ღვინო). Which, in turn, goes back to the verb " gwivili"(ღვივილი) - bloom, bring to a boil, ferment). Georgian word " dagwind” means the end of the wine fermentation process. The same can be said about a person: “dagvinda bichi” means a mature young man. This is not surprising, because the tradition of winemaking originated in Georgia in the distant VI millennium BC.
- In Danelia's film "Kin-dza-dza!" the characters speak the Chatlan-Patsak language. And it was created on the basis of Georgian. famous " ku" in Georgian means "tortoise". Gravitsap comes from the Georgian expression " ra vici aba« - "Who knows!" Pepelats generally acquires a very romantic flair, because ashes in Georgian means "butterfly". And etsikh comes from Georgian tsikhe- prison.
Russian-Georgian phrasebook with pronunciation
If you want to know how to say thank you in Georgian, see our dictionary.
| Yes | ho (colloquial), ki (neutral), diah (respectful) |
| No | macaw |
| Thank you | madloba |
| thank you very much | didi madloba |
| not at all | arapris |
| I'm sorry | tell me (if you ask for directions) |
| Sorry | bodyshi (if someone is accidentally pushed) |
| hello | hamarjoba |
| return greeting | gagimarjos |
| goodbye | nahvamdis |
| bye (friendly goodbye) | kargad |
| Do you speak Russian? | tkven laparakobt rusulad? |
| I | me |
| you | sheng |
| we | chwen |
| you | tkwen |
| they | blue |
| how are you? | Rogor Hart? |
| well. How are you? | kargad. Tkwen? |
| what is your name? | ra gquiat? |
| mister (polite) | batono |
| madam (polite) | kalbatono |
| well | kargad |
| bad | tsudad |
| mother | deda |
| father | mother |
| son | vashishvili |
| daughter | Kalishvili |
| wife | tsoli, maugle (husband) |
| husband | kmari, maugle (husband) |
| friend | megobari (friend), genatsvale (literally - I am for you, used as an address), dzmakatsi (close friend, brother), ahlobeli (friend) |
| cool! | magrad! |
| very good! | dzalian kargad! |
| so-so! | ara mishavs! |
| good, good | hags |
| my name is … | me var... |
| meet my friend | gaitsanite chemi megobari |
| with pleasure | Siamesebit |
| sign in! | shemobrdzandite! |
| sit down! | dabrdzandite! |
| I agree | tanahma var |
| certainly | ra tkma unda |
| right | scori |
| very good | zalian kargad |
| everything is fine | quelaperi rigzea |
| can i ask you? | neckzleba gthowot? |
| I beg you very much! | zalian gthowt! |
| can i come in? | neckzleba shamovide? |
| can you smoke? | neckzleba movtsio? |
| this is too much! | es ukve nametania! |
| horror! | sashinelebaa! |
| strange! | utsnauria! |
| sorry, I'm in a hurry! | ukatsravad, swordsman! |
| What would you like? | ra wrath? |
| nothing! | araperi! |
| I want to see the city | minda calakis datvaliereba |
| You are very kind | tkven dzalian tavaziani brdzandebit |
| in no case! | aravitar shemthvevashi! |
| it is forbidden! | ar neckzleba! |
| don't think | aramgonia |
| I don't want! | ar minda! |
| you are wrong! | tkven tsdebit! |
| I am very happy! | Zalian Miharia! |
| how much is it? | ra hirs? |
| what it is? | es ra aris? |
| I will buy it | me amas wikidi |
| you have… | twen haakwt…? |
| open | chiaa |
| closed | dacethylia |
| a little, a little | tsota |
| a little | tsotati |
| lot | bevry |
| all | khwela |
| bread | puri |
| drink | sasmeli, dasalebi (alcohol) |
| coffee | kava |
| tea | teas |
| the juice | tsweni |
| water | tskkhali |
| wine | Guino |
| meat | hortsy |
| salt | marili |
| pepper | pilpili |
| where…? | aris garden...? |
| how much does the ticket cost? | ra ghirs tickets? |
| a train | matarebeli (from tareba - to lead) |
| underground | metro |
| the airport | airporti |
| railway station | rkinigzis sadguri |
| bus station | autosadguri |
| departure | gasvla |
| arrival | chamosvla |
| hotel | sastamro |
| room | otahi |
| passport | passports |
| left | martskhniv |
| right | marginal |
| straight | pirdapir |
| up | zemot |
| down | kvemot |
| far | shores |
| close | ahlos |
| map | hand |
| post | |
| museum | museumi |
| bank | banks |
| militia | police |
| hospital | saavadmkhopo, first-aid posts |
| pharmacy | aptiacs |
| score | shop |
| restaurant | restaurants |
| church | eklesia |
| the street | heap |
| young woman | gogon |
| young man | akhalgazrdav |
date and time
| what time is it now? | romeli saatia? |
| day | dghe |
| a week | queer |
| month | TVE |
| year | goals |
| Monday | orshabati |
| Tuesday | samshabati |
| Wednesday | otkhshabati |
| Thursday | Khutshabati |
| Friday | paraskavi |
| Saturday | Shabbat |
| Sunday | queer |
| winter | deputies |
| Spring | gazapkhuli |
| summer | puffed up |
| autumn | shemodgoma |
Numerals
| 1 | erty |
| 2 | ori |
| 3 | themselves |
| 4 | othi |
| 5 | huti |
| 6 | ekvsi |
| 7 | shvidi |
| 8 | moat |
| 9 | tskhra |
| 10 | ati |
| 11 | tertmeti |
| 12 | slow down |
| 13 | tsameti |
| 14 | totkhmeti |
| 15 | thutmeti |
| 16 | tekvsmeti |
| 17 | tsvidmeti |
| 18 | tvrameti |
| 19 | tskhrameti |
| 20 | otsi |
| 30 | give back |
| 40 | ormotsi |
| 50 | ormotsdaati |
| 100 | ace |
GEORGIAN LETTER - original alphabet (ანბანი ) serving the Georgian language (ქართული ენა), the official script of Georgia (საქართველო). Of all the Iberian-Caucasian languages, only Georgian is an ancient written language. Information about the use of the Georgian script in Turkey, Iran (for the Imerkhev and Feydan dialects of the Georgian language) and Azerbaijan (Zakatala region) is contradictory.
According to Professor Ibragim Aliroev, the first inscriptions of the 4th century BC were made in Georgian script. and 8-12 centuries. in the Vainakh languages (during excavations in Chechnya, sherds with Georgian letters were found, and Ingush inscriptions in Georgian letters were found on the Assa River).
Unlike other European alphabets created on the basis of Greek or Latin writing, Georgian letters do not have initials, and after a period, proper names are written with a small letter (in this, the Georgian letter gravitates towards Semitic systems, revealing a noticeable orientalism that has not been outlived to this day). time). Although periodically there are projects to introduce the most ancient Georgian handwriting as capital letters asomtavruli. There were no ligatures in the Georgian statutory letter, although the ancient handwriting is characterized by ligature.
As a result of the reform, three ancient Georgian letters in the 60s. 19th century (ჲ, ჳ,շ ) were removed from the Georgian alphabet at the initiative of the educator Ilya Chavchavadze. A noticeable specificity of the sound system of the Georgian language throughout its development is the amazing phonetic conservatism of the system, which preserves the sound structure of the Georgian language of the most ancient period to the present day without noticeable phonetic transformations. This explains to a large extent the fact that the Georgian writing system fully preserves the uniqueness of the correspondences between the sound units of the language and the graphic symbols of writing both in paradigmatics and syntagmatics, which is one of the main characteristics of the alphabetic writing system in general during its creation and at the initial stages. its development.
1 - transcription;
2- modern letters of the Georgian script (mkhedruli);
3 - khutsuri (nuskhuri);
4 - asomtavruli (mtavruli), or mglovani;
5 - cursive;
6 - numerical values of letters;
7 - graphonyms;
8 - ancient letters that are out of use (they conveyed mainly the sounds of the Greek language).
The first samples of the actual Georgian writing that have come down to us date back to the 5th century. and are associated with the adoption of Christianity (inscriptions in a Georgian monastery in Palestine - c. 433, Bolnisi Zion - 493-94, Mtskheta Jvari - 6-7 centuries; the oldest manuscripts, the so-called "khanmet" belong to the 5-7 centuries. » palimpsests). This letter is very different from the "Armaz" one (the direction and shape of the letters have changed).
The question of the genetic connections of the Georgian script (ქართული დამწერლობა) has not been finally resolved. (There are hypotheses about its relationship with Iranian Pahlavi and Slavic Glagolitic). The most convincing assumption is that it happened under the influence of the Armenian and Greek scripts. Like them, the letters of the Georgian alphabet have graphonyms and numerical values of the letters, the letters in the alphabet are arranged in a similar order. However, modern Georgian writing has a number of specific features:
a.) Conformity of the letters of the Georgian script. In the process of their development, Georgian graphemes significantly and repeatedly changed their shape: compare the change in the grapheme "L"
The conspicuous difference between Georgian handwriting ( Mrglovani, Khutsuri and Mkhedruli) can be explained, firstly, by overstylization (the arbitrariness of scribes-calligraphers, who, in pursuit of style, are very far from the original model of letters); secondly, the versatile specialization of graphics. It is known that until recently there were special editions of the Georgian script: "anjanuri" (secret), "dedabruli" (babye), etc. The Georgian researcher I. Javakhishvili mentions 16 systems of Georgian cryptography. Some researchers suggest that the three main Georgian handwritings are three genetically different alphabets.
b.) The redundancy of the forms of Georgian letters. The forms of the letters of the Georgian script Mkhedruli are overly complicated (even in comparison with Mrglovani). In modern writing (especially in italics), there is a tendency to simplify letters (the so-called Z-shaped element is especially often reduced):
c.) Multidirectionality of Georgian letters. The letters of the Georgian alphabet, as a rule, bear little resemblance to each other and are poorly connected to each other when writing fluently. Modern Georgian writing has practically not developed a smooth continuous cursive. Efforts in this direction make Georgian cursive look like fancy script.
In "Kartlis Tskhovreba" (Chronicles of Georgia), the historian of the 11th century. Leonti Mroveli reports that the Georgian script was created by the first king of the Iberian kingdom (3rd-1st centuries BC) Parnavaz, or Pharnavaz (ფარნავაზ) in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. Obviously, here we are talking about the so-called. " Armaz script”, developed on the basis of the Eastern Aramaic script. It was consonant, the lines were arranged from right to left. Armaz letter was used purely for religious purposes by the priests of the cult of the god Armazi. In con. 2 - early 1 thousand BC on the territory of the settlement of Georgians arose tribal unions Diaohi, Kulkha, Saspers and the first states: Colchis in the 6th c. BC. and Kartli (Iberia) in the 4th c. BC.
According to one of the legends, the Georgian letter was invented by the Georgian Dzhalai.
In 318 St. Nina (წმინდა ნინო) found the robe of Christ in the first capital of Gruzim Mtskheta. Christianity spread here in the reign of Mirian. Another zealous Christian, King Gorgosal (Gurgaslan) in the 5th c. conquers Mingrelia, Imeretia, Abkhazia and sends preachers to Ossetia, Svanetia and Chechnya.
In 486-488 the Iberian (Georgian) church was formally subordinate to the Patriarch of Antioch, in the 6th c. came under the influence of the Armenian Monophysite church, but already in 608-609 broke with it. in the 8th c. received autocephaly, after joining Russian Empire in 1811 it was attached to the Russian Orthodox Church, but since 1917 it has been autocephalous again (this fact was recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church only in 1943). Initially in the Georgian Orthodox Church (საქართველოს მართლმადიდებელი სამოციქულო ეკლესია) was performed by Jerusalem liturgy of St. James (until the 6th century in Greek), but from the 10th-11th centuries. Byzantine liturgies of St. Basil and John Chrysostom. In 2009, acting administrator of the Sukhumi-Abkhaz diocese (ცხუმ-აფხაზეთის ეპარქია; Aҧsny diocese ) Priest Vissarion Apliaa officially notified that the diocese was renamed the Abkhazian Orthodox Church. De facto, the Abkhazian church has been considered autocephalous since 1993.
There are three main varieties of Georgian writing:
1. Mrglovani(“round”), or asomtavruli (ასომთავრული “capital letter”) is the oldest, statutory (letters of the same size, upright) letter. The “hanmet” palimpsests were made in the letter mrglovani. Functioned in the 5th-9th centuries. Some researchers suggest that the Armenian educator Mesrop Mashtots participated in the creation of this letter (this is also mentioned in ancient Armenian sources). At one time, attempts were made to adapt Mrglovani as the capital letters of modern Georgian writing.
2. Nuskhuri(ნუსხური "lower case"), or hutsuri("sacred") - a more economical, semi-statutory letter with beeches of different sizes. Reminds the Armenian handwriting "boloragir". It existed in the 9th-11th centuries. First attested in the Sinai many-domed (864). Khutsuri is currently used by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
3. Mkhedruli(მხედრული "civilian", literally "military") combines the roundness of mrglovani and the semi-statutory nature of nuskhuri. (It is interesting to note that if the Nuskhuri letters are oriented horizontally, then the Mkhedruli letters tend to stretch vertically). Separate parts of the Mkhedruli letters, as in Latin cursive, either stretch up or go down. Known since the 10th century. By the 17th century Mkhedruli acquires modern look. Mkhedruli penetrates into all (except for the cult) spheres of use and finally stabilizes. An outstanding expert on Caucasian archeology and linguist N.Ya. Marr considered Mkhedruli as the result of the development of pre-Christian writing, which later underwent changes under the influence of the Khutsuri and continued to be used in the military environment and in secular circles. In the 20s. Marr put forward the so-called. "Japhetic theory", which is reflected in the work "Japhetic Caucasus and the third ethnic element in the creation of Mediterranean culture". (Marr considered the Semitic, Caucasian and Indo-European languages as different stages"the primary language of mankind"). At present, special periodical studies (in Russian) are devoted to the issues of Georgian writing and Caucasian studies as a whole: “Iberian-Caucasian Linguistics” (since 1946), “Yearbook of Iberian-Caucasian Linguistics” (since 1974), “Issues of the Structure of the Kartvelian Languages” ( since 11959). The birth of Georgian paleography as a scientific discipline is associated with the name of D. Bakradze. The work of G. Tsereteli and R. Pataridze is devoted to the problem of the origin of Georgian writing.
The first literary work in Georgian is "The Martyrdom of Shushanik" the oldest clearly dated manuscript - "Mravaltavi", 864. One of greatest monuments world literature is Shota Rustaveli's poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin", 12th century. (probably influenced by the Georgian national epic Amirani). In 1629, the first edition in Georgian was printed in Rome ( r printing in Georgia proper in ecclesiastical and secular fonts was introduced at the beginning of the 18th century. Vakhtang VI. ), in 1819 the first periodical in Georgian was published - Sakartvelos Gazeti. Since the 19th century a unified literary language was developing, in which I. Chavchavadze, A. Tsereteli, I. Gogebashvili, Vazha Pshavela, and others wrote their works. I wrote grammars). Georgian soviet encyclopedia- the first universal encyclopedia in Georgian was published in 1977-87 in 12 vols. edited by I. Abashidze.
The Georgian language is represented by 17 dialects and the corresponding sub-ethnic groups: in Western Georgia - Adjarians, Gurians, Imeretins, Lechkhums, Rachins; in the East - Kartlians, Kakhetians, Mokhevians, Mtiuls, Pshavs, Tushins, Khevsurs; in the South - Javakhs, Meskhi; Ingiloys in Azerbaijan, Fereydans in Iran (descendants of Georgians resettled by Shah Abbas), Imerkhevs in Turkey (part of Adjarians, Meskhs and Ingiloys are Sunni Muslims). Svans, Laz and Megrelians are considered related to Georgians and speak, though close, but noticeably different languages (if in Georgian the account is kept in twenties, then in Svan the counting system is decimal). Compare: 1 ( erti in Georgianesḥu in Svan), 4 ( otḥ and wōštḥw), 10 (ati and yesd ), 100 ( asi and asir ).
Svan language
(ლუშნუ ნინ) unwritten (Georgian script and Latin are used for linguistic purposes), however, in 1864, the Svan alphabet was released in Cyrillic:
a b c d ҕ e f f ђ h ӡ h i k ӄ l m n o p ҧ q rst ꚋ у x ́ წ f w ѵ
It is subdivided into four dialects: Upper Bal and Lower Bal (in the Mestia region and the Kodori Gorge), Lashkh and Lentekhi (in the Lentekhi region).
The Svan language is distinguished by the presence of umlauts and long vowels, therefore diacritics (tremma and circumflex) are widely used when writing Svan texts:
უ ̂ - w, უ ̈ - ü უ ̈ - üü , უ - uu; շ -s շ - yy; ა ̈ - ä , ა ̈ - ää , ა - aa; ო ̈ - ö, ო ̈ - öö, ო - oo; ი - ī; ე - ē.
Professor A. Gren in 1937 compiled the "Mingrelian alphabet" based on Russian graphics for Megrelian (მარგალურ ნინა). Since the 1920s the Georgian alphabet began to be used regularly (with several additional letters), several newspapers were published (Kazakhishi Gazeti, Komuna, Samargalosh Chai, Narazenish Chai, Samargalosh Tutuni). Since 1938, the introduction of Georgian literary language. Only in the 1990s. several books appeared in Megrelian (mainly dictionaries and collections of poetry). The newspaper "Gal" is currently being published in Abkhazia(«გალი») in Abkhazian, Russian and Megrelian languages.
Laz (Chan) language (ლაზური ნენა) common in Turkey. At the end of 1920-30s. in the USSR, the Latin-based alphabet was used (the newspaper "Mchita Muruthi" was published). In Turkey, several variants of the Latin-based Laz alphabet are used. The Turkish Laz newspaper Tuta Gazetesi uses apostrophes instead of superscripts.
In 1937-54 the Georgian letter served Abkhaz language (aҧsua byzsha, aҧsshǝa , აფსუა ბ շ ზშoა) with additional letters ჲ ჶ ჳ ჵ o Ȣ շ .
gy გ ჲ, dә (db) დº, џ ძ ə,ҽ
ჩ ə ,
ҿ
ჭ ə, w ჟ ə, wә ჟº, ӡ
ә ძº, ky კ ჲ,
қь ქ ჲ,ҟ ь ყ ჲ, tә ტº, ҭ ә თº, хь ხ ჲ, ҳә ჰº, цә ცº, ҵ
ә წº, sh შ ə, shә შº, s
On December 5, 1937, the draft of the Abkhaz alphabet on the Georgian basis, drawn up by the conciliation commission, was approved, after which, in his final speech, the chairman of the meeting, G. Dzidzaria, said: “The meeting on December 4 and 5, after consideration at 3 meetings, unanimously approved the draft of the new Abkhaz book language based on Georgian graphics. This laid the foundation for the great work of this writing, its implementation and distribution, which will begin from the moment it is approved by the relevant higher authorities. The new alphabet will contribute to the rapprochement of the two fraternal peoples and the subsequent development of national in form and socialist culture in content. The work of the meeting was fruitful, because along with local workers, professors from Tbilisi actively participated in it: P. Sharia, A. Shanidze, S. Janashia, A. Chikobava, V. Topuria, to whom we are very grateful.”
It is interesting that this letter also used ancient Georgian letters, which had long gone out of use in the actual Georgian letter. (The Cyrillic alphabet had the same archaic character when applied to the Romanian language). One letter (ჶ ) is borrowed from Russian writing and stylized in the Georgian manner.
The project, approved in 1937, had one drawback, which consisted in the fact that out of the specifically labial, palatal and intense (hard) consonants existing in the Abkhaz language, one part was expressed by the letters existing in the Georgian alphabet (დ, თ, ტ, ძ, ც, წ, ჯ, ჩ, ჭ, გ, ქ, კ, ყ, ჟ, შ, ღ, ხ, ჰ), for which three diacritics (14 cases) taken from the international transcription system of labialization, palatalization and expressions of softness, and for the remaining 12 specific sounds, two-letter combinations were proposed. (გუ,ძუ,კუ, ყუ, ღუ, ხუ, გჲ, ქჲ, კჲ, ყჲ, ღჲ, ხჲ). But despite this shortcoming, according to the researcher Teimuraz Gvantseladze, in 1937 the accepted script was better than the script restored in 1954, based on Russian graphics and still in use.
Even at the beginning of the 19th century. Several liturgical books have been published Ossetian (iron æzzag, ირონS ვზაგ) using the Georgian Khutsuri script with the addition of special graphemes. The Georgian alphabet was used for the Ossetian language in the South Ossetian Autonomous Okrug in 1938-1954. It included all the letters of the Georgian alphabet, as well asS - æ, ჶ - f, ჲ - th, շ - s, ჳ - wow.
Ossetian Georgian pattern
რაზძշრდ
ირონ ადS მS ნ ბაზზადი ყSზნշგ ჶოლქლორ-თაჳრSღთS‚ ქადჯշთS,
Razdzyrt
Iron adæ mæ n bazzadi kjæ znyg folklore-tauyræ gjtæ, kadzhytæ,
EXAMPLES :
Text in modern Georgian:
ყველა ადამინი იბადება თავისუფალი და თაბასწორი თავისი
ღირსებითა და უფლებებით. მათ მინიჭებული აქვთ გონება და სინდისი
და ერთმანეთის მიმართ უმდა იქცეოდნენ ძმობის სულისკვეთებით.
Qvela adamiani ibadeba t" avisup" ali da t" anascori tavisi
ġirsebit" a da uplebebit" . Mat miničebuli ak "vt" goneba da sindisi
da ert" manet" is mimart" unda ik" c" eodnen żmobis suliskvet" ebit" .
Translation:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should deal with one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (From the Declaration of the Rights of Man).
Features of the language.
Among the seven cases, there is no accusative, but there are ergative (narrative) and transformati.