The transcription of the Georgian is t'.
'ტ'  is pronounced almost like English [t] but without aspiration and with force and greater tension of the organs forming the obstacle to the sound.

Recordings:

ტანი
კატა
ტბა
t'ani
k'at'a
t'ba
 body
cat
lake

მარტო რატომ დამტოვე?
mart'o rat'om damt'ove?
[alone why  me.you.have.left?]
Why have you left me alone?

Click here to listen:
t_f.mp3 Speaker 1
t_m.mp3 Speaker 2

When pronouncing the consonant 'ტ' the tip of the tongue is set against the upper teeth, the top of the front part of the tongue partially touches the alveolae and is broader than when pronouncing 'დ' and 'თ'. At the place of occlusion, articulation is stronger than when pronouncing 'თ'. When pronouncing 'ტ' the throat is closed, the air stream does not come out of the lungs and it is pronounced with the help of the air, stored in the mouth.


The letter written or typed in this way is called t'ari.

It is traced out with one movement of the hand and is written between the four lines: the movement of the hand begins between the upper and lower middle lines, goes downwards from right to left to the lower line and upwards to the same level drawing an ellipse with a cut upper part and ends with small, vertically positioned full (upper) and open (lower) circles.

Back to the Georgian alphabet


© Manana Kock Kobaidze & Karina Vamling
Malmoe University,