The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written horizontally from left to right. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the civilian royal script of the Kingdom of Georgia and mostly used for the royal charters, is now the standard script for modern Georgian and its related Kartvelian languages, whereas Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are used only by the Georgian Orthodox Church, in ceremonial religious texts and iconography.
Georgian scripts
Bir el Qutt inscriptions, c. 430 AD, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem
Bolnisi inscriptions, c. 494 AD, Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi
Anbandidi Gospel in Asomtavruli, 9th century.
Georgian is the most widely spoken Kartvelian language; it also serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 87.6% of its population. Its speakers today amount to approximately 3.76 million. Georgian is written in its own unique alphabet.
Road sign in Mtavruli and Latin scripts
"Mshrali khidi" (dry bridge) bilingual construction signboard in Georgian (Mtavruli) and Italian in Tbilisi.