Georgian Letter Char

On Georgian QWERTY, press Shift+W. As of 2026, Ergonomic, Legacy, and MES layouts assign the letter differently.

What sound does ჭ make?

It is an ejective “ch”: close your throat, then release a pop. Georgian spelling gives this sound its own letter, separate from ჩ, which is released with an extra puff of breath. In ჭიქა (“glass” or “cup”), ჭ is the first consonant.

The Georgian alphabet has several historical scripts. This letter has an Asomtavruli form, Ⴝ, and a Nuskhuri form, ⴝ; its Mkhedruli form is ჭ. The earliest dated Asomtavruli inscription discovered in Georgia is at Bolnisi Sioni, from 493/494 CE. Mkhedruli first appears in the 10th century. Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri were used mainly for monuments and church writing; Mkhedruli became the standard for secular writing.

What is the difference between ჩ and ჭ?

ჩ has a breathy release; ჭ closes the throat first. Latin spellings can blur the contrast: the Georgian national romanization writes ჭ as ch’, while ISO 9984 uses č. The apostrophe and háček (the small hook above c) mark romanization, not a different Georgian character.