LingoflyArmenian and Georgian: how they differ
Two neighbours in the South Caucasus, two unfamiliar scripts, and people who relocate often choose between Yerevan and Tbilisi only after moving. In short: learn the language of the city you live in. Neither is “easier” enough to outweigh the benefit of the language around you.
Side by side
| Armenian | Georgian | |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Indo-European family, its own branch with no close relatives | Kartvelian family — no relatives outside it |
| Script | Aybuben — the Armenian alphabet, 39 letters, created in 405 AD | Mkhedruli — 33 letters with no capitals, plus the Mtavruli heading style |
| Speakers | about 6–7 million speakers (Ethnologue) | about 3.7 million speakers (Ethnologue) |
| Official in | Armenia | Georgia |
| The hardest part | a brand-new alphabet, and stops in threes — plain, aspirated and voiced — where English tells words apart by only two | consonant clusters and a verb that agrees with several persons at once |
| What comes easily | no grammatical gender, stress almost always on the last syllable, many recognizable loanwords | no gender, no capital letters, weak stress that never trips you up |
Point by point
Kinship
No — they are not even related. Armenian is a separate branch of the Indo-European family; Georgian belongs to the Kartvelian family, which has no relatives outside itself at all.
Script
The Armenian aybuben: 39 letters, with upper and lower case. Georgian Mkhedruli: 33 letters, no capitals — but there is Mtavruli, a headline style in which half the shop signs are set.
What is harder
In Armenian, aspirated consonants that English hears as plain p, t and k. In Georgian, consonant clusters and a verb that changes for several persons at once.
What they share
No gender. Both scripts take a week or two, a few characters per session. And in both places locals react to a speaking attempt noticeably warmer than one might expect.
Which to choose
Learn the language of the city you live in. Neither is “easier” enough to outweigh the benefit of the language around you.
Frequently asked
Which is easier: Armenian or Georgian?
Comparing them by difficulty is almost pointless: each has its own hard part. Armenian: a brand-new alphabet, and stops in threes — plain, aspirated and voiced — where English tells words apart by only two. Georgian: consonant clusters and a verb that agrees with several persons at once. Learn the language of the city you live in. Neither is “easier” enough to outweigh the benefit of the language around you.
Are Armenian and Georgian similar languages?
No — they are not even related. Armenian is a separate branch of the Indo-European family; Georgian belongs to the Kartvelian family, which has no relatives outside itself at all.