How to read and say Georgian
Letters, sounds and stress from Wikivoyage's Georgian phrasebook. Then hear the phrases and practice them, free.
▶ Practice Georgian phrasesIndeed, Georgian pronunciation is difficult for those coming across the language for the first time, but certainly nowhere near as impossible as its reputation would suggest! Try not to get bogged down by the exotic consonants and tongue-twisting consonant clusters; truly almost nothing will please Georgians more than your efforts to speak their language and they will be very patient with your attempts!
Also on the positive side, there are no capital letters in Georgian; no need to memorize two characters per letter! Moreover, Georgian is phonetically regular— letters are always pronounced exactly as written. Lastly, it is an unstressed language— each syllable receives equal weight. If you are not used to speaking an unstressed language, approximate the sound by placing stress on the first syllable of the word. But don't "stress" out about this— you will be understood!
Vowels
If you are familiar with Spanish, Georgian vowel sounds are very similar.
- ა ah
- like car
- ე eh
- like pet
- ი ee
- like knee
- ო oh
- like doh!
- უ oo
- like boot
Consonants
- ბ b
- like bat
- გ g
- like go
- დ d
- like dog
- ვ v/w
- in between v as in very and w as in weary
- ზ z
- like zoo
- თ t
- like tip
- კ k'
- see Tricky consonants
- ლ l
- like love
- მ m
- like mint
- ნ n
- like nose
- პ p'
- see Tricky consonants
- ჟ zh
- like pleasure
- რ r
- rolled as in Spanish roja
- ს s
- like sad
- ტ t'
- see Tricky consonants
- ფ p
- like poof
- ქ k
- like kick
- ღ gh
- pronounced similar to a French r as in bonjour; alternatively, like a voiced kh
- ყ q'
- see Tricky consonants
- შ sh
- like shoot
- ჩ ch
- like chimp
- ც ts
- like hot sauce
- ძ dz
- foods
- წ ts'
- see Tricky consonants
- ჭ ch'
- see Tricky consonants
- ხ kh
- pronounced like Scottish loch or German Bach
- ჯ j
- like jump
- ჰ h
- like hot
Tricky consonants
Georgian distinguishes between aspirated and non-aspirated (ejective) consonants. An aspirated consonant is accompanied by a puff of air when you say it. In Georgian, there is even more of a "puff" of air for aspirated consonants than you would hear in English.
A non-aspirated consonant in Georgian, however, actually contains no puff of air whatsoever. Georgians close the back of their throat, similar to what you do before you cough or the closed throat moment between uh and oh in "uh-oh." They then pronounce the non-aspirated consonants without any exhalation at all. Don't worry if you have trouble producing this type of sound, though, in context you will be understood! Non-aspirated consonants are marked above with an apostrophe.
| Georgian Aspirated & Non-Aspirated Consonants | |||||
| English approximation | t | p | k | ch | ts |
| Aspirated consonant | თ | ფ | ქ | ჩ | ც |
| Non-aspirated consonant | ტ | პ | კ | ჭ | წ |
Finally, the Georgian letter ყ is difficult for most Westerners to pronounce. It is similar to the Arabic "qaf" (ﻕ). To pronounce this letter, try to pronounce the English letter k, only way down at the bottom of your throat. The Georgian ყ is non-aspirated.
Common diphthongs
Diphthongs do not exist in Georgian—every vowel is given equal weight and every syllable has only one vowel.