Goal: you will say groups of consonants without adding vowels.
Course progress: lesson 7 / 200
LIMBA audio course · Georgian
This written course gives you the grammar, the words and the script. The LIMBA audio course trains your ear and your mouth: you listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect complement to these lessons.
Download the Georgian audio courseOrder form · your download link arrives by emailDay 4. A photo of the mountains
I show Nino a photo from my phone: a huge white mountain above a little church. She laughs when I try to read its Georgian name.
Today there are no new letters. Instead, we learn to put many consonants in a row, which is what makes Georgian sound like Georgian.
| Georgian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| მთა | mta | mountain |
| მწვანე | mts'vane | green |
| მაღალი | maghali | high, tall |
| ტყე | t'q'e | forest |
| დღე | dghe | day |
| თვე | tve | month |
| ცხრა | tskhra | nine |
| რძე | rdze | milk |
| ტკბილი | t'k'bili | sweet |
| ძნელი | dzneli | difficult |
| სიტყვა | sit'q'va | word |
| თქვი! | tkvi! | say! (to one friend) |
The pronunciation is written in English letters, following Georgia’s official romanization. Say every letter: a as in father, e as in pet, i as in machine, o as in port, u as in rule; r is rolled; g is always hard; kh as in Scottish loch; gh a soft gargled g, like a French r; sh as in shop; zh like the s in pleasure; ch as in church; ts as in cats; dz as in adze; j as in jam. An apostrophe marks a “popped” consonant, said with a little click in the throat and no puff of air: k’, p’, t’, ts’, ch’, q’ (q’ is made deep in the throat). Without an apostrophe, k, p, t, ts, ch have a small puff of air. Use the Pronunciation button at the top to hide or show it.
Many Georgian words start with two, three or even more consonants: მთაmta (mta), თვეtve (tve), ცხრაtskhra (tskhra), მწვანეmts'vane (mts'vane). The secret is simple: do not add a vowel between them. მთაmta is one syllable, not "ma-ta".
Some pairs of consonants are so common that they almost melt into one sound. In these pairs both consonants belong to the same family: both breathy, both popped, or both voiced. Say them as one smooth movement.
| family | pair | example |
|---|---|---|
| popped + popped | წყ, ტყ, ტკts'q', t'q', t'k' | წყალიts'q'ali water, ტყეt'q'e forest, ტკბილიt'k'bili sweet |
| breathy + breathy | თქ, ცხtk, tskh | თქვენtkven you, ცხრაtskhra nine |
| voiced + voiced | დღdgh | დღეdghe day |
The word გვფრცქვნიgvprtskvni, "you peel us", is famous among linguists: eight consonants before its only vowel. You will never need it in a café, but if you can read it aloud, no Georgian word will frighten you again.
Georgian stress is light, and linguists still discuss where exactly it falls. A recent study finds it on the first syllable of the word. In practice: start each word a little more strongly, and pronounce every vowel clearly.
მყინვარწვერიmq'invarts'veri, Mount Kazbek, means "glacier peak": მყინვარიmq'invari is a glacier and წვერიts'veri a peak (it also means "beard"). It is a dormant volcano of the Greater Caucasus, above the town of Stepantsminda.
Native speakers sometimes let a tiny, very short vowel slip into a long cluster. Do not worry about it: if you say the consonants clearly one after the other, you will be understood.
Choose an answer for each question, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
Well done! Lesson 7 is ticked on your course map.
Say your answer out loud, write it down, then open the model answer.
Lesson finished? Now train your ear
This written course gives you the grammar, the words and the script. The LIMBA audio course trains your ear and your mouth: you listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect complement to these lessons.
Download the Georgian audio courseOrder form · your download link arrives by email