Georgian alphabet aims for UNESCO Intangible Heritage recognition

The ancient Georgian alphabet has been granted the national status of cultural heritage in Georgia and is now one step closer to gaining recognition worldwide.

Three types of Georgian scripts were officially presented at the UNESCO Intangible Heritage nomination today, said Georgia’s Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection.

Georgia honoured its ancient alphabet and granted it cultural heritage status on March 10.

Georgians are extremely proud of their unique writing system, which comprised of 33 characters. It is the only alphabet in the world that is pronounced exactly the same way it is written. In addition all letters are unicameral meaning they make no distinction between upper and lower case.

Georgian is written in its own unique script that once described as one of the most beautifully written languages in the world.

Today there are three types of Georgian scripts; asomtavruli (capitals), nuskhuri (lower case), and Mkhedruli, which is used today in modern Georgian language (the cursive script).

The first scripts are more historic and are used together as upper and lower case in the writings of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Together this writing is called khutsuri (priests' alphabet).

In addition, the Georgian alphabet has been named among the top five most beautiful alphabets in the world by international travel website, Matador Network.

Scholars believed the Georgian alphabet was created in the 4th Century AD, or at the latest in the early 5th Century.