Editing Georgian scripts (section)

{{Short description|Three related alphabets used to write Georgian}}
{{Good article}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox writing system
| sample      = Damts'erloba.svg
| caption     = ''damts'erloba'' ("script" in [[#Mkhedruli|Mkhedruli]])
| type        = [[Alphabet]]
| name        = Georgian
| languages   = [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Mingrelian language|Mingrelian]], [[Svan language|Svan]], [[Bats language|Bats]] and [[Laz language|Laz]]
| time        = {{nowrap|AD 430{{efn|Oldest found Georgian inscription so far.{{as of when?|date=June 2024}} Exact date of introduction is unclear.}}}} – present
| fam1        = Uncertain, alphabetical order modelled on [[Greek alphabet|Greek]]
| iso15924    = Geor
| iso15924 note = – Georgian (Mkhedruli) <br/> <code>Geok, 241</code> – Khutsuri (Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri)
| unicode     = {{plainlist|
* [[Georgian (Unicode block)|U+10A0–U+10FF Georgian]]
* [[Georgian Supplement|U+2D00–U+2D2F Supplement]]
* [[Georgian Extended|U+1C90–U+1CBF Extended]]
}}
}}
{{Infobox intangible heritage
| ICH         = Living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet
| Countries   = [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
| ID          = 01205
| Region      = ENA
| Year        = 2016
| Session     = 11
| List        = Representative 
}}

The '''Georgian scripts''' are the three [[writing system]]s used to write the [[Georgian language]]: '''[[#Asomtavruli|Asomtavruli]]''', '''[[#Nuskhuri|Nuskhuri]]''' and '''[[#Mkhedruli|Mkhedruli]]'''. Although the systems differ in appearance, their [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]]s share the same names and alphabetical order and are written horizontally from [[Writing system#Directionality|left to right]]. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the official script of the [[Kingdom of Georgia]] and mostly used for the [[royal charter]]s, 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#Christian iconography|iconography]].<ref name="addit"/> It is one of the three [[Alphabets of the South Caucasus|historical alphabets of the South Caucasus.]]

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.{{sfn|Shanidze|2000|p=444}}<ref name=Lig1 /> Originally consisting of 38 [[Letter (alphabet)|letters]],{{sfn|Machavariani|2011| p= 329}} 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 language|Mingrelian]] uses 36: thirty-three that are current Georgian letters, one obsolete Georgian letter, and two additional letters specific to Mingrelian and [[Svan language|Svan]]. [[Laz language|Laz]] uses the same 33 current Georgian letters as Mingrelian plus that same obsolete letter and a letter borrowed from [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] for a total of 35. The fourth Kartvelian language, Svan, is not commonly written, but [[Svan alphabet|when it is]], it uses Georgian letters as utilized in Mingrelian, with an additional obsolete Georgian letter and sometimes supplemented by [[diacritic]]s for its many vowels.<ref name="addit"/>{{sfn|Hüning|Vogl|Moliner|2012|p=299}}

The "living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet" was granted the national status of [[Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia|intangible cultural heritage]] in Georgia in 2015<ref name="agenda.ge" /> and inscribed on the [[UNESCO]] [[UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists|Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]] in 2016.<ref name="unesco.org" />
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