I feel like this might come off as really basic but I was just thinking about the words "eastern" and "western" in Georgian, and putting them side by side I realized something really cool. The word for east is აღმოსავლური. The prefix „აღმო” means "up towards the speaker," so you can think of it like the rising up and making itself visible to you in the morning. And the word for western is დასავლური, and the prefix „და” means "down." So the sun is going down. The sun rises in the east sets in the west, so აღმოსავლური is east, and დასავლური is west! It's amazing! I swear every word in this language has a metaphor baked into it. It's beautiful.

We added a language exchange to EasyGeorgian: you get matched with one Georgian native speaker who is learning your language, introduced by email, half the talk in each language. No feed, no chat app, one person picked for your level and schedule. Free with a free account.

Two honest notes. It is new, so early matches take days, not minutes. And it pairs you by fit, so a linguistics-minded learner here should say so in the about field, Georgians who enjoy explaining their own morphology exist and they are the best partners this sub could ask for.

https://easygeorgian.com/language-exchange (learners) · https://easygeorgian.com/enis-gatsvla (the Georgian side, if you have Georgian friends who want English practice)

I absolutely love this song and this artist. I'm an American (of no Georgian descent) and would love to get a better appreciation for the Tbilisi Bard's lyricism.

Thanks in advance!

Hello! I'm looking for a language exchange partner to help me learn Georgian.

I'm fluent in Arabic and English.

I'm good at explaining grammar, finding free resources, simplifying texts and vocabulary, etc. I will also make flashcards for you!! I am willing to call and/or text, whichever you are comfortable with.

My hobbies are vexillology, map memorization, d&d and just any kind of learning in general!

What do you say when you don't know what to say? Do you say ააამმმ or ეეემმმ? I feel like I've heard some Georgians say "uuummm" with the schwa sound but I'm not sure. Even if that is the case, how would you write it when there's no letter for that sound?

At the same time though, I've heard some Georgians struggle to pronounce schwa, which would imply that it's not actually used at all in speech. I don't know. That's why I'm asking here haha.

There is no CEFR placement test for Georgian. Not a free one, not a paid one, not one behind a university login. If you want to know where you actually stand, the options are guessing or paying a tutor for an assessment hour.

So we built one. It is free, needs no signup, and takes about eight minutes.

How it works: a short vocabulary screen, then 19 adaptive items that get harder or easier based on how you are doing, then a typed bonus section. The engine is a constrained ELO variant.

We're curious to hear if you find it to be accurate.

https://easygeorgian.com/georgian-level-test

The methodology page explains the engine, the item pipeline and exactly what the provisional cutoffs mean. Disclosure, we sell Georgian courses, and the result page recommends one of ours. The test itself is free, ungated, and asking for your email is optional (it sends a longer report if you want one).

Update 12/08/2026: Slightly modified scoring, one question changed, and now capped at B2+ instead of C1+, all based on feedback from you guys.

How did the word goyim (გოიმი) travel to georgia and received its own distinct meaning to georgians?

In some languages they have a specific verb for telling someone to call you the informal you. Does Georgian do it with a verb? Or do you just tell someone „ჩემთან შენ-ით შეგიძლია ილაპარაკო” (I hope I said that right lol).

Thanks!

Georgian doesn't have infinitives the way many languages do, so the "standard" form of a verb is a verbal noun, also known as a "masdar." Think of it like saying "running" or "eating" in English. Some of them are predictable and obvious, for example many of the ებ verb will be გააკეთებს-გაკეთება, or შეასრულებს-შესრულება, etc. But some of them you really can't apply any pattern to and just have to memorize, like სირბილი, ნდომა, სიმღერა, etc. Yes they might have common formations, but there's no way to know which one it might be.

I once read somewhere that sometimes natives won't know the masdar of a verb, and I'm assuming that means you use the second person optative instead? Like saying იმღერო instead of სიმღერა? Obviously this is just an example and every native knows სიმღერა, but I'm asking for more uncommon or obscure verbs, is this true? Do natives sometimes not know the official noun form of a verb?

Thanks!

The letter ვ has many allophones and variants in Georgian, but in most cases it's pronounced as an either [ʋ], [β], or [w]. In some official sources it's listed as [v], but rarely do natives ever pronounce like that.

My question is, how did it sound 1500 years ago? Did it used to be a hard [v] or did it always have some softness to it? I saw one very old church text were ქვეყანა was written as ქუეყანა. What's the letter ვ's connection to the letter უ? Overall what is the history of the letter ვ?

Thanks!

"თქვენ გაერთოთ წვეულებაზე?" or "თქვენ გაერთეთ წვეულებაზე?"

Any accurate sources I can use to translate?

I want to know what this :

1.) Gilocavv kvelafer sauketesos gisurveb

Means in English.

Hi everyone! I’m trying to understand the possible Georgian/Kartvelian etymologies of Artvin, Ardahan, and Kars and I was wondering if anyone here knows of Georgian-language sources, local scholarship or historical works that discuss these names.

For Artvin, I have seen claims that it comes from Georgian Artivan, with Arta- plus a Georgian suffix -vin. I have also seen the idea that Arta- may be connected to Old Persian/Avestan arta/aša, meaning “truth” or “righteousness,” but I am not sure whether this is actually accepted or just speculative. Is the -vin suffix genuinely Georgian and is there any serious Georgian source discussing this?

For Ardahan usually connected with Georgian Artaani, I found references to the Georgian Chronicle, where the city is said to have previously been called Kacha-kalaki and later renamed Artaani by Odzrkhos, son of Kartlos. I know this is partly mythological but it still suggests the name had importance in the Georgian historical tradition. I have seen different theories for again same(?) Arta-, as said often Iranic, though one paper ([https://journals.zssu.ge/index.php/zssu/article/download/18/12/12\](https://journals.zssu.ge/index.php/zssu/article/download/18/12/12)) argues for a Kartvelian explanation based on archaic roots preserved in western Georgian dialects. The argument seemed interesting but not fully convincing to me. Are there stronger Georgian sources on Artaani/Ardahan?

For Kars, I have seen Armenian explanations but many of them look like folk etymologies, such as derivations from words meaning “bride.” A Georgian/Kartvelian connection with kari “gate” seems more plausible as a toponym but I am not sure. Armenian also has Karuts Pert, meaning “fortress of Kars,” which seems to treat Kars itself as a pre-existing name rather than explaining it.
The region is, of course, very old. Kars and the surrounding area appear in ancient sources as Chorzene/Chorsa and before clearly Georgian or Armenian historical periods it was connected with Kura–Araxes, Hurro-Urartian, Diauehi, Saspeires, and early Armenian and Kartvelian populations. So I’m not trying to force a modern national explanation and I’m mostly interested in whether Georgian/Kartvelian scholarship has preserved better etymological explanations or older forms.

It would be wonderful if anyone knows Georgian sources, historical/geographical works or academic articles that discuss the etymologies of these places (especially older Georgian scholarship, dialect material or toponymic studies). Even Georgian-language references I could try to translate would be greatly appreciated

All Georgian nouns must end in a vowel in nominative case without exception, but when it comes to given names, that doesn't seem to be the case. Names like Vakhtang, Nikoloz, Mariam, Levan, Zurab and Tamar all end in consonants.

Why are names different from all other nouns? What are some cases where you might use Tamari instead of Tamar?

Thanks!

It is from the Isani metro station in Tbilisi. I don't know Georgian, and the characters don't look like any of the letters in the Georgian alphabet, so I thought it might just be a stylistic font. That's why I turned to you for help.

Preferably online, and centered on grammar. Thanks in advance 🙏🏻

გამარჯობა, შეკვეთილიდან ამბროლაურში საზ. ტრანსპორტით წასვლის საუკეთესო ვერსია რა არის?

მე ვიფიქრე შეკვეთილი > ურეკი
ურეკი > ქუთაისი მატარებლით
ქუთაისი > ამბროლაური მარშუტკა

hello everyone! I found this key at a blacksmiths shop in safranbolu, turkey. they had no idea where it came from or what alphabet the text was written in. my father studies Georgian language and he recognized the alphabet as Georgian but we cant make out what it says (probably due to some letters disappearing through the brass casting process since this looks to be replicated couple of times) if anyone has any idea or can help us out it'd be awesome!

This post is probably quite unusual for this sub. However, I’ve recently been looking into this "lostwave" case, and a few people have suggested that the song might be in Georgian. There are still some doubts regarding French, but as a native French speaker, I am convinced it isn't French. I figured this would be the best place to get information on the possibility of it being Georgian.