Tongue tips and puffs of air

Meet rae, san, tar, phar and practise telling them apart.

Read from left to right

These lessons use Mkhedruli, the everyday Georgian script. Each letter keeps its identity wherever it appears in a word; there are no Arabic-style joining forms. Mtavruli capitals appear in headings and emphasis, but everyday Georgian does not capitalise the first letter of a sentence.

rae

Rae makes a tongue-tip r, often a tap or a short trill, rather than English r.

რ

rae

san

San makes s, as in sun. Compare ს ხ: khan has a crossing in its outline.

ს

san

tar

Tar is ejective t. It is a separate letter from aspirated tan თ.

ტ

tar

phar

Phar is p with a puff of air, not English f. Georgian has no separate native letter f.

ფ

phar