LingoflyTransliteration of Georgian
A correspondence table between the Georgian script and Latin letters: 33 letters, with names and sounds. The rendering is practical — it exists so you can read aloud and be understood, not to meet a scholarly standard.
Georgian character → Latin
| Character | Name | In Latin | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| ა | ani | a | A clean 'a' as in 'father' |
| მ | mani | m | Plain 'm' as in 'mother' |
| ე | eni | e | Pure 'e' as in 'bed', never a glide into 'ey' |
| დ | doni | d | Plain 'd' as in 'door' |
| ი | ini | i | Pure 'ee' as in 'see', no glide |
| რ | rae | r | A single-tap r, like the quick tt in American 'butter' |
| ს | sani | s | Plain 's' as in 'sun' |
| ვ | vini | v | 'v' as in 'voice' |
| ო | oni | o | A clean 'o' as in 'more' |
| ნ | nari | n | Plain 'n' as in 'no' |
| კ | kani (ejective) | k' | A sharp k with a catch in the throat and no puff of air |
| ქ | kani (aspirated) | k | k with a puff of air, exactly like the k in 'kite' |
| ტ | tari (ejective) | t' | A sharp t with a catch, no puff of air |
| თ | tani | t | t with a puff of air, like the t in 'top' said with emphasis |
| უ | uni | u | A clean 'oo' as in 'boot' |
| პ | pari (ejective) | p' | A sharp p with a catch, no puff of air |
| ფ | pari (aspirated) | p | p with a puff of air, like the p in 'pot' with a strong breath |
| ც | tsani | ts | ts with a puff of air, like the end of 'cats' with an extra breath |
| წ | tsili (ejective) | ts' | A sharp ts with a catch, no puff of air |
| ლ | lasi | l | A light l, closer to the l in 'leaf' than the dark l in 'full' |
| ბ | bani | b | 'b' as in 'book' |
| გ | gani | g | 'g' as in 'go', always hard, never like 'gem' |
| ხ | khani | kh | A strong throaty kh, like the ch in Scottish 'loch' |
| შ | shini | sh | 'sh' as in 'ship' |
| ჩ | chini | ch | ch with a puff of air, as in 'church' |
| ზ | zeni | z | 'z' as in 'zoo' |
| ჟ | zhani | zh | The 's' in 'measure', a voiced sh |
| ჯ | jani | j | 'j' as in 'jam' |
| ღ | ghani (throaty) | gh | A gargled g from deep in the throat, as if gargling water |
| ყ | qari | q | A sharp click from deep in the throat, farther back than any k; start from a deep, hard k |
| ძ | dzili | dz | dz fused into one sound, like the ds in 'kids' |
| ჭ | chari (ejective) | ch' | A sharp ch with a catch, no puff of air |
| ჰ | hae | h | A light breath of h, as in English 'hat' |
How practical transliteration differs from the scholarly kind
Any script has several Latin renderings, and they solve different problems. The scholarly one (ISO, GOST) is reversible: the original spelling can be restored character for character — which is why it is full of marks that are not on any keyboard and that nobody ever reads aloud correctly.
The practical one solves the reverse problem: a person reads it aloud and is understood. That is what the table above uses, and that is what our courses use.
What to watch out for
Five vowels. Exactly five sounds, all pure: no reduction, and none of them softens a neighboring consonant.
Sharp and aspirated pairs. The whole difficulty of Georgian lives here. An untrained ear hears one sound where Georgian hears two different words: კარი (kari) is 'door', ქარი (kari) is 'wind'. On the left the sharp one (with a catch in the throat), on the right the one with a puff of air.
Throat sounds. Four throat letters. English lacks three of their sounds. ღ is a gargled g, ყ comes from the very bottom of the throat. ხ is a hard kh, as in Scottish loch. ჰ is just the h of 'hat'.
The remaining consonants. Fourteen letters whose sounds you already know from English. Only the shapes need learning.
Frequently asked
How to write Georgian text in Latin letters?
Using the table above, character by character. The practical rendering records sound, not spelling, so the original text cannot always be restored from it backwards.
Why do transliterations differ across sources?
Because they solve different problems: the scholarly one is reversible and precise, the practical one is readable, the passport one is fixed by the country's rules. They are not required to agree.