Discover Georgia in 12 words

Georgia Georgia - It's great that you're interested in this fascinating country in the Caucasus, on the border between Europe and Asia! But communication is bound to be really difficult, isn't it? You'll be amazed at how happy the Georgians will be when you greet them with a friendly "გამარჯობა" on your trip! In this article, you can find out how to pronounce it, what secrets the Georgian language still holds and the best way to get in touch with the local population.

The Georgian script

The Georgian alphabet stands out for its unique appearance - did you know that J.R.R. Tolkien was even inspired by the unique look and sound of Georgian when inventing the language of the Elves?

Tolkien, a philologist with a deep interest in languages, drew on his broad knowledge of different language families to create the diverse languages of Middle-earth. The Georgian language, with its unique structure and variety of sounds, had an influence on his creations. The melodic sounds of Georgian are reflected in the Elvish languages, especially Sindarin.

Georgian grammar, characterized by prefixes and suffixes, is echoed to some extent in Tolkien's constructed languages, bringing a deep authenticity to his literary world. The elegance and originality of Georgian helped to shape the multi-layered linguistic landscape of Middle-earth.

Cryptic characters?

Admittedly, there is hardly any other country where it seems so confusing to decipher a road sign or a restaurant menu. Ultimately, however, Georgian words are just the result of an alphabet with 33 characters, which we would like to show you here:

1. ა - a: Like the "a" in "car".
2. ბ - b: Like the "b" in "book".
3. გ - g: Like the "g" in "garden".
4. დ - d: Like the "d" in "roof".
5. ე - e: Like the "e" in "elephant".
6. ვ - w: Similar to the German "w" in "Wasser".
7. ზ - e. g: Like the "z" in "zebra".
8. თ - t: Like the "t" in "table".
9. ი - i: Like the "i" in "hedgehog".
10. კ - k: Like the "k" in "coffee".
11. ლ - l: Like the "l" in "lamp".
12. მ - m: Like the "m" in "mouse".
13. ნ - n: Like the "n" in "nose".
14. ო - o: Like the "o" in "oven".
15. პ - p: Like the "p" in "plant".
16. ჟ - zh: Similar to the French "j" in "Bonjour".
17. რ - r: Like the "r" in "roses".
18. ს - s: Like the "s" in "sun".
19. ტ - t': A voiceless, aspirated "t" sound.
20. უ - u: Like the "u" in "hat".
21. ფ - p': A voiceless, aspirated "p" sound.
22. ქ - k': A voiceless, aspirated "k" sound.
23. ღ - gh: Similar to the French "r" in "fleur".
24. ყ - q: A voiceless, aspirated "k" sound that is formed further back in the throat.
25. შ - sh: Like the "sh" in "school".
26. ჩ - ch: Like the "ch" in "China".
27. ც - ts: Like the "z" in "circus".
28. ძ - dz: A voiced "z" sound.
29. წ - ts': A voiceless, aspirated "ts" sound.
30. ჭ - ch': A voiceless, aspirated "ch" sound.
31. ხ - kh: Like the German "ch" in "Bach".
32. ჯ - j: Like the "dsch" in "jungle".
33. ჰ - h: Like the "h" in "house".

Just print out the list and you'll see that it's much easier than you thought to make sense of the apparent gibberish.

The most important vocabulary for your trip to Georgia

One of the most effective ways you can build a much deeper connection with Georgians during your adventure without much effort is to incorporate some basic Georgian vocabulary into your daily use.

As promised, here are the 12 words and phrases that will turn your trip into a unique experience. They will not only help you with simple daily contacts, but also with basic navigation.

• Gamarjoba (გამარჯობა) - Hello
• Madloba (მადლობა) - Thank you
• Rogor khar? (როგორ ხარ) - How are you?
• Khart (ხართ) - Yes
• Macaw (არა) - No
• Dzalian kargi (ძალიან კარგი) - Very good
• Sakartvelo (საქართველო) - Georgia
• Tbilisi (თბილისი) - capital of Georgia
• Magazia (მაღაზია) - Business
• Bazaar (ბაზარი) - Market
• Khidi (ხიდი) - bridge
• Sakhli (სახლი) - House
• Deda (დედა) - Mother
• Khali (ხალი) - Father

What are you waiting for?

Georgia Georgia is such a fascinating and unique country. We hope that we have aroused your curiosity to discover this special culture in the course of the previous lines. We would like to invite you to read more articles about Georgia in our Magazine to read through. Would you like to have more exciting travel information directly in your Insta feed? Then take a look at our Account over!