Kartvelian languages

The Kartvelian languages ( kart-VEL-ee-ən, -⁠VEEL-; Georgian: ქართველური ენები, romanized: kartveluri enebi), also known as South Caucasian or Kartvelic languages, are a language family indigenous to the South Caucasus and spoken primarily in Georgia. There are approximately 5 million Georgian language speakers worldwide. The Kartvelian family is not related to any other language family in the world, making it one of the primary language families.

The most widely spoken Kartvelian language, and the only literary language in the family, is standard Georgian. The earliest written source attesting to the existence of any Kartvelian language is an Old Georgian inscription located at the now-defunct Georgian Orthodox monastery near Bethlehem, dated to c. 430 AD. Georgian scripts are used to write all Kartvelian languages.

Status

Georgian is the official language of Georgia (spoken by 90% of the population) and serves as its main language for literary and business use. It is written with an original and distinctive alphabet, and the oldest surviving literary text dates from the 5th century AD. The old Georgian script seems to have been distinct from every other language, but their alphabetical order largely corresponds to the Greek alphabet, with the exception of letters denoting uniquely Georgian sounds, which are grouped at the end.

Mingrelian has historically been only a spoken, regional language and Mingrelian speakers have traditionally relied on the standard Georgian as their literary language. Through the late 19th century there were no known written Mingrelian grammar books or dictionaries. There have been some limited publications in Mingrelian throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, but printing publications in Mingrelian is controversial because it is seen as deviation from its historic profile as a non-literary language.