What's the origin of the Georgian alphabet? It looks Asian despite Georgia's being a European country. Who knows? I looked at the Wikipedia offering, but it left me puzzled.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Geoff,

Very interesting, Geoff, got me hunting around. I had better luck at wiki article “Georgian Scripts,” and associated links. The current Georgian alphabet has changed little since 12thC. It grew out of two previous alphabets, the original of which is believed to have been created by King Pharnavaz I of Kartli around 3rdC BC, who probably modeled it on the Greek alphabet. Kartli was the central portion of what become the Georgian Empire, and was at the crossroads of Byzantine and Iranian cultures. The empire included present-day Georgia, the northern half of Azerbaijan, and a little hunk of Armenia. So Georgia’s roots better described as Eurasian. The language & its associated Kartvelian languages have not been proven to have any connection with other language families.

Good job, B35!

Did you know that Stalin was Georgian, not Russian? And a Georgian aircraft designer who immigrated to the USA bore the family name of Kartvili So I guess he was named Alexander the Georgian! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Kartveli

Great discussion. I did not know about Georgian Scripts - and I always thought Stalin was Russian.