Version 2.3.1, 22 March 2022

Version history:

• 1.1, 18 December 2017

• 2.0, 5 January 2018

• 2.1, 20 April 2018

• 2.2, 21 September 2018

• 2.3, 12 December 2019

• 2.3.1, 22 March 2022

Georgian Scripts

In Brill publications, Georgian text occurs sporadically. Of the three Georgian scripts (see list below), Mkhedruli has been the most prevalent in modern times. The Georgian alphabet was formerly regarded as unicameral, i.e., lacking a distinction between lowercase and uppercase. In the past, some have introduced a bicameral style called Khutsuri which combines Asomtavruli letters as capitals and Nuskhuri letters as lowercase letters. In very recent times, the definition of a fourth ‘script’, or range of characters, traditionally called Mtavruli, effectively turns modern Georgian into a bicameral script just like Latin.

• Asomtavruli (the oldest script, the ‘ecclesiastical’ script, is currently enjoying a sort of renaissance);

• Nuskhuri (the second script);

• Mkhedruli (in modern use the most prevalent script).

A fourth, called

• Mtavruli

was encoded in the Unicode Standard version 11.0.0 in the Georgian Extended range at U+1C90-1CBF. This change has major implications for Georgian fonts, input methods, casing, and string matching. Mtavruli characters are in effect capital letters to match the existing Mkhedruli characters which will function as lowercase letters. Mtavruli characters are widely used in contexts which in the Latin script would give rise to ALL CAPS or small caps, or in titling contexts such as headlines; rarely as single sentence-initial markers, in modern times at least.

The Georgian scripts illustrated

The Georgian scripts, Figure 7-7 from The Unicode® Standard Version 11.0 – Core Specification, Volume 1, Mountain View, CA (Unicode Consortium), 2018, p. 320. See https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode11.0.0/ch07.pdf

Georgian scripts in the Unicode Standard

In the Unicode Standard they are grouped and named slightly differently, which may be confusing:

• ‘Khutsuri, capital letters’ [= Asomtavruli]: U+10A0-10CD

• Mkhedruli: U+10D0-10FF.

So both Asomtavruli [‘Khutsuri, capital letters’] and Mkhedruli are grouped together in the Georgian range.

• ‘Khutsuri, lowercase letters’ [= Nuskhuri]: U+2D00-2D2D (in Georgian Supplement).

• Mtavruli [capital letters to Mkhedruli]: U+1C90-1CBF (in Georgian Extended).

The scripts as they are may be paired (but note: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri, and Mkhedruli can also occur on their own):

• Mkhedruli and Mtavruli, with the latter functioning as caps;

• Nuskhuri and Asomtavruli, with the latter functioning as caps.

Fonts

Before version 2.0 of this document, in 2010, the font family BPG Academiuri UAm was chosen as the most appropriate in academic publications. No font choices for Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri (or Khutsuri) were made at the time. Given the lack of availability of the BPG Academiuri UAm fonts, and in view of the recent (2018) changes in the Unicode encoding of Georgian because of the addition of Mtavruli characters, Brill has switched to a pair of font families, Noto Serif Georgian and Noto Sans Georgian (both currently (2022) in version 2.1, the latter having a different design from version 1.0; some characters which were only encoded after the release of version 1.0 have also been added). Noto Sans Georgian was chosen for Asomtavruli text on April 20, 2018, because of the monumental nature of some very old Georgian texts, composed with mosaic tesserae, with which a sans serif design was thought to harmonize better than a serif design.

Font sizes

Mkhedruli and Nuskhuri: Noto Serif Georgian font sizes:

• Brill 11 pt: ~ Noto Serif Georgian 9.25 pt

• Brill 10 pt: ~ Noto Serif Georgian 8.41 pt

• Brill 9 pt: ~ Noto Serif Georgian 7.57 pt

Asomtavruli: Noto Sans Georgian font sizes:

• Brill 11 pt: ~ Noto Sans Georgian 9.25 pt

• Brill 10 pt: ~ Noto Sans Georgian 8.41 pt

• Brill 9 pt: ~ Noto Sans Georgian 7.57 pt

Note: when Asomtavruli is used to provide capital letters to Nuskhuri, the combination forming Khutsuri text, use Noto Serif Georgian for Asomtavruli.

Mtavruli texts: the current Noto Serif Georgian fonts (v. 2.1) have been updated to include the Mtavruli characters.

Font weights; marking emphasis

Noto Serif Georgian Regular; Noto Serif Georgian Bold; Noto Sans Georgian Regular; Noto Sans Georgian Bold.

Emphasis is marked by using bold type.

Windows and macOS

Windows fonts, as long as they are TrueType fonts (.ttf) or TrueType Collections (.ttc) can also be used on macOS.