The Mkhedruli Alphabet: Georgian's 33 Letters

Mkhedruli basics

Modern Georgian uses the 33-letter Mkhedruli alphabet. Unlike English there is normally no uppercase/lowercase distinction — one letterform serves everywhere. Historical scripts (Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri) still appear in church texts and decorative titles, but everyday reading and writing is Mkhedruli.

Letter-to-sound mapping is nearly one-to-one — close to "read it as written". In exchange, you must train consonant contrasts that English doesn't have, especially ejectives.

The 33 letters

Transliteration is this site's unified learning notation — ' marks ejective consonants. Verify every sound with the ▶ button.

Only five vowels

Georgian has just five vowels — ა (a), ე (e), ი (i), ო (o), უ (u) — stable, clear vowels with no schwa. The hard part isn't vowels; it's the long consonant strings.

The three-way consonant contrast

Many Georgian consonants come in threes: aspirated (breathy, like English p/t/k at word start), ejective (made by closing and popping the throat — no English equivalent), and voiced. The contrast changes meaning:

Example: ქარი (kari, 'wind') vs კარი (k'ari, 'door') — aspirated vs ejective changes the word.

Summary

• Mkhedruli: 33 letters, normally one case
• Five vowels only: a e i o u
• Most consonants come in aspirated/ejective/voiced triads
• ' in transliteration = ejective (throat pop)
• Letter-sound is nearly 1:1 — but verify with audio
• Next: sounds & transliteration policy in detail

Mini practice