Consonants Group 3: Ejectives and Others

This lesson covers the remaining Georgian consonants — the affricates, the sonorants (nasals, liquids), and the special uvular ejective ყ. After this lesson, you will have encountered all 33 letters of the Mkhedruli alphabet.

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Affricates

An affricate is a consonant that starts as a stop and releases into a fricative — like English "ch" (t + sh) or "j" (d + zh). Georgian has a particularly rich affricate system with the same three-way distinction as the stops.

Alveolar Affricates (ts-type)

Letter	Name	IPA	Type	Sound Description
ძ	Dzili	/dz/	Voiced	Like "ds" in "beds"
ც	Tsani	/tsʰ/	Aspirated	Like "ts" in "cats" (with aspiration)
წ	Tsili	/ts'/	Ejective	Sharp, tense "ts" — no English equivalent

Practice words:

Georgian	Transliteration	Meaning
ძველი	dzveli	old, ancient
ძმა	dzma	brother
ცა	tsa	sky
ცეცხლი	tsetskhli	fire
წყალი	ts'qali	water
წიგნი	ts'igni	book

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Postalveolar Affricates (ch-type)

Letter	Name	IPA	Type	Sound Description
ჯ	Jani	/dʒ/	Voiced	Like "j" in "jam"
ჩ	Chini	/tʃʰ/	Aspirated	Like "ch" in "church" (with aspiration)
ჭ	Chari	/tʃ'/	Ejective	Sharp, tense "ch" — no English equivalent

Practice words:

Georgian	Transliteration	Meaning
ჯანმრთელობა	janmrtelobа	health (used as a toast)
ჯერ	jer	yet, still
ჩაი	chai	tea
ჩემი	chemi	my, mine
ჭადრაკი	ch'adraki	chess
ჭიქა	ch'ika	cup, glass

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The Uvular Ejective: ყ

Letter	Name	IPA	Sound Description
ყ	Qari	/q'/	A deep ejective produced far back in the throat

This is arguably the most distinctive Georgian sound. It is produced at the uvula (even further back than ქ or კ) with ejective articulation. There is no equivalent in any major European language.

How to produce ყ:
1. Close the back of your throat at the uvula
2. Simultaneously close your glottis (vocal cords)
3. Build up pressure between these two closures
4. Release sharply

Practice words:

Georgian	Transliteration	Meaning
ყველა	qvela	all, everyone
ყველი	qveli	cheese
ყავა	qava	coffee
ყურძენი	qurdzeni	grapes