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Georgian writing has three historically related scripts: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Mkhedruli became the normal script for modern secular and everyday Georgian, while the older scripts remain important in ecclesiastical and historical use.

Georgian script history

LanguageHistory

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Asomtavruli is the oldest, with inscriptions from the 5th century, among them ones found near Bethlehem from about AD 430. Nuskhuri appears by the 9th century, and scribes paired the two, writing religious texts in Nuskhuri with Asomtavruli capitals; this combination, called Khutsuri ('clerical'), is still used by the Georgian Orthodox Church. Mkhedruli is first found in a church inscription of AD 982 and became the universal script outside the Church in the 19th century, as printed Georgian type spread. Unlike Latin, Greek or Cyrillic, modern Georgian has no separate capital and small letters: an all-capital form is used only for titles or emphasis. In 2016 UNESCO added the living culture of the three scripts to its list of intangible cultural heritage.

Türkçe oku
Gürcüce tarih boyunca birbiriyle bağlantılı üç yazıyla yazıldı: Asomtavruli, Nushuri ve Mhedruli. Bugün gündelik yazının tamamı Mhedruli ile yapılır; öteki ikisi kilisede ve tarihî metinlerde yaşamayı sürdürür.

Üç yazının en eskisi Asomtavruli'dir; ilk yazıtlar 5. yüzyıldan kalmadır ve aralarında Beytüllahim yakınlarında bulunan, MS 430 civarına tarihlenen örnekler vardır. Nushuri en geç 9. yüzyılda ortaya çıktı. Kâtipler ikisini birlikte kullanmaya başladı: dinî metinlerin gövdesi Nushuri ile, baş harfler Asomtavruli ile yazıldı. “Din adamlarına ait” anlamına gelen Hutsuri adlı bu birleşimi Gürcü Ortodoks Kilisesi bugün de kullanıyor. Mhedruli'nin bilinen en eski örneği MS 982 tarihli bir kilise yazıtıdır; kilise dışındaki bütün yazının standardı hâline gelmesi ise 19. yüzyılda, Gürcü matbaa harflerinin yaygınlaşmasıyla oldu. Latin, Yunan ya da Kiril alfabelerinden farklı olarak bugünkü Gürcücede büyük-küçük harf ayrımı yoktur; büyük harf biçimi yalnızca başlıklarda ya da vurgu için kullanılır. UNESCO 2016'da üç Gürcü yazısının yaşayan kültürünü Somut Olmayan Kültürel Miras listesine aldı.

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Background reading: Georgian scripts
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