The Georgian Alphabet: All 33 Letters with Pronunciation and Tips

The Georgian script is beautiful, and for most learners it’s the first wall. Every sign, every menu and every message from your Georgian friends looks like a row of elegant curls. The good news: there are only 33 letters, each one stands for exactly one sound, and most people can read slowly after one to three weeks.

The Georgian alphabet is called anbani (ანბანი), after its first two letters, an and ban, just like “alphabet” comes from alpha and beta. It’s one of only a handful of scripts in the world that are used for one single language, and Georgians are rightly proud of it. Together with its two older forms, it’s recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.

I’ve taught myself several languages over the past 20 years and written four books about language learning. I don’t speak Georgian. But I know from my own experience what makes a new script stick and what doesn’t, and that’s what this guide is built on: the 33 letters, the sounds that really trip English speakers up, and a simple plan to learn them.

The Georgian alphabet: all 33 letters with pronunciation

The table shows each letter, its name, the usual Latin transliteration, how it sounds for an English speaker and a common example word. An apostrophe (k’, p’, t’, ts’, ch’, q’) marks the “popped” ejective sounds explained further below.

Did you notice row 4 and row 12? Deda means mother and mama means father. It’s one of the first things every Georgian learner laughs about, and it’s a good reminder that Georgian doesn’t follow European patterns.

The 5 Georgian vowels

Georgian has only five vowels, and they’re always pronounced the same way, no matter where they appear in a word: ა (a), ე (e), ი (i), ო (o) and უ (u). They sound much like the vowels in Spanish or Italian. There are no long vowels, no silent letters and no vowel combinations that change their sound. If you can say “a, e, i, o, u” the Spanish way, you already have every Georgian vowel.

Ejectives and consonant clusters: the sounds that make Georgian Georgian

This is the part that sounds strange at first and the part that makes you understood once you get it. Georgian has three versions of several consonants, and the difference changes the meaning of a word.

• Aspirated sounds are the ones English already has: say “top” with your hand in front of your mouth and you’ll feel a small puff of air.
• Ejective sounds have no puff of air. You close your throat for a split second and release the sound with a short pop. A trick that works for many learners: say the sound while holding your breath.
• ყ (q’) is the odd one out: an ejective made deep in the throat, further back than k.

Then there are the consonant clusters. Georgian happily stacks consonants without vowels between them: მწვრთნელი (mts’vrtneli, coach) or the famous გვფრცქვნი (gvprtskvni, “you’re peeling us”). Don’t panic. Read them letter by letter, slowly, and the clusters become manageable. Georgians themselves don’t expect a foreigner to say them perfectly.

No capital letters: Mkhedruli and Mtavruli

Everyday Georgian has no upper and lower case. Names, places and the first word of a sentence are written with the same letters as everything else. That’s one rule less to learn.

You will still see “capital-looking” letters on signs, book covers and headlines. That’s Mtavruli, a set of taller letter forms used for all-caps text, a bit like we write a whole word in CAPITALS for emphasis. Mtavruli was added to the Unicode standard in 2018, which is why you now see it more often online. As a learner, you can safely ignore it at the beginning. Once you know Mkhedruli, you’ll recognise the Mtavruli forms quickly.

How to learn the Georgian alphabet in 1 to 3 weeks

When I learned new letters and sounds in my own languages, the biggest mistake was trying to memorise the whole table at once. What worked was small portions, daily repetition and using the letters immediately. For Georgian, that means:

1. 5 letters a day. Start with the five vowels on day one. Then add four or five consonants per day. After about a week, you’ve seen every letter.
2. Group look-alikes. Several letters differ only by a small loop, hook or tail. Whenever you mix up two letters, write them side by side and name the difference out loud. That turns a weak spot into a fixed memory.
3. Write by hand. Copy each new letter ten times while saying its sound out loud. Handwriting anchors the shapes far better than just looking at them.
4. Read real words from day three. Names you already know are perfect training: თბილისი (Tbilisi), ბათუმი (Batumi), ხაჭაპური (khachapuri), ხინკალი (khinkali).
5. Use spaced repetition. Review the letters you mix up more often and the easy ones less often. That’s the same principle I use for vocabulary, and it works just as well for scripts.
6. Read everything around you. If you’re in Georgia, read every sign, menu and metro station out loud. If you’re not, read the Georgian phrases on our Georgian phrases page and check yourself against the pronunciation.

A short history of the Georgian alphabet

Georgian has been written in three scripts over the centuries, and all three are still known today:

• Asomtavruli (ასომთავრული): the oldest form, with tall, angular letters. The earliest securely dated Georgian inscriptions in this script come from the 5th century.
• Nuskhuri (ნუსხური): a smaller, more slanted script used for church manuscripts from around the 9th century. Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri together, called Khutsuri, are still used in the Georgian Orthodox Church.
• Mkhedruli (მხედრული): the rounded script used today. Its name is often explained as “military” or “secular”, because it was first used outside the church. It gradually became the standard script for all of Georgian.

Who created the Georgian alphabet is still debated. Medieval Georgian tradition credits King Parnavaz I, while Armenian tradition credits Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet. Many scholars see the scripts as independent creations from the same era. What’s certain: Georgian writing is around 1,500 years old, and the order of the letters follows the Greek alphabet.

The alphabet originally had more letters. Five of them fell out of use and were officially dropped in the 19th century, which is how the modern Mkhedruli alphabet ended up with the 33 letters you see in the table above.

Is the Georgian alphabet related to Armenian or Cyrillic?

No. Georgian, Armenian and Cyrillic are three different scripts. Georgian and Armenian letters may look similar to Western eyes because both are rounded scripts from the same region, but the letters don’t match, and the languages aren’t related either. Cyrillic, used for Russian, comes from the Greek alphabet and is much younger than the Georgian script.

How to type the Georgian alphabet

All major systems support Georgian out of the box:

• Smartphone: Add Georgian as a keyboard language in your iPhone or Android settings. Switching between keyboards then takes one tap.
• Mac: In the keyboard settings, add a Georgian input source. The phonetic “QWERTY” variant places most letters on the Latin keys that sound similar, which is a big help for beginners.
• Windows: Add Georgian under Language and Region. Choose the phonetic layout if it’s available.

A phonetic layout is a learning tool in itself: typing gamarjoba on the Latin keys and watching გამარჯობა appear helps you connect sounds and letters.

Frequently asked questions about the Georgian alphabet

How many letters are in the Georgian alphabet?

The modern Georgian alphabet, Mkhedruli, has 33 letters: 5 vowels and 28 consonants. Each letter stands for exactly one sound.

Does Georgian have capital letters?

Not in everyday writing. Georgian has no upper and lower case. For headlines and signs, a taller set of letter forms called Mtavruli is used, similar to writing in all caps.

What is the Georgian alphabet called?

The alphabet is called anbani (ანბანი), after its first two letters an and ban. The script used today is called Mkhedruli (მხედრული).

How long does it take to learn the Georgian alphabet?

With 20 to 30 minutes a day, most learners can recognise all 33 letters after about a week and read slowly after one to three weeks. Reading fluently takes a few months of regular practice.

Is the Georgian alphabet the same as Armenian?

No. Georgian and Armenian use two different scripts with different letters, and the languages aren’t related. They only look similar at first glance because both are rounded scripts from the Caucasus.

Who created the Georgian alphabet?

It’s debated. Georgian tradition credits King Parnavaz I, Armenian tradition credits Mesrop Mashtots. The oldest securely dated Georgian inscriptions are from the 5th century.

Is the Georgian alphabet hard to learn?

It’s easier than it looks. There are only 33 letters, no capital letters and no exceptions in pronunciation. The ejective consonants take some practice, but reading itself comes quickly.

Related links

• Learn Georgian: a realistic plan from alphabet to first conversation
• Georgian phrases with pronunciation
• What language is spoken in Georgia?
• Learning vocabulary successfully
• The different ways of learning languages

Prefer another language?

• 🇩🇪 – Georgisch lernen
• 🇳🇴 – Det georgiske alfabetet