| Latin Laz Alphabet |
Georgian (Mkhedruli) |
IPA Pronunciation |
English Approximation |
A a |
ა |
/a/ |
as in “father” |
B b |
ბ |
/b/ |
as in “boy” |
C c |
ჯ |
/d͡ʒ/ |
as in “jungle” |
Ç ç |
ჩ |
/t͡ʃ/ |
as in “church” |
Ç̌ ç̌ |
ჭ |
/t͡ʃʼ/ |
— ejective, not in English |
D d |
დ |
/d/ |
as in “door” |
E e |
ე |
/ɛ/ |
as in “bed” |
F f |
ფ |
/f/ |
as in “fish” |
G g |
გ |
/ɡ/ |
as in “go” |
Ğ ğ |
ღ |
/ɣ/ |
— soft g, not in English |
H h |
ჰ |
/h/ |
as in “house” |
I i |
ი |
/i/ |
as in “see” |
J j |
ჟ |
/ʒ/ |
as in “measure” |
K k |
ქ |
/kʰ/ |
as in “king” |
Ǩ ǩ |
კ |
/kʼ/ |
— ejective k, not in English |
L l |
ლ |
/l/ |
as in “love” |
M m |
მ |
/m/ |
as in “mother” |
N n |
ნ |
/n/ |
as in “name” |
O o |
ო |
/ɔ/ |
as in “open” |
P p |
ფ |
/pʰ/ |
as in “pen” |
P̌ p̌ |
პ |
/pʼ/ |
— ejective p, not in English |
Q q |
ყ |
/qʼ/ |
— deep throat k, not in English |
R r |
რ |
/r/ |
rolled r, as in Spanish |
S s |
ს |
/s/ |
as in “sun” |
Ş ş |
შ |
/ʃ/ |
as in “ship” |
T t |
თ |
/tʰ/ |
as in “top” |
Ť ť |
ტ |
/tʼ/ |
— ejective t, not in English |
U u |
უ |
/u/ |
as in “moon” |
V v |
ვ |
/v/ |
as in “voice” |
X x |
ხ |
/x/ |
as in Scottish “loch” |
Y y |
ჲ |
/j/ |
as in “yes” |
Z z |
ზ |
/z/ |
as in “zoo” |
Ž ž |
ჟ |
/ʒ/ |
as in “vision” |
ʒ |
ძ |
/d͡z/ |
as in “adze” |
ǯ |
ჯ |
/d͡ʒ/ |
as in “judge” |
Notes:
• The Laz Latin alphabet is based on the Turkish alphabet with additional characters for sounds specific to Laz.
• Ejective consonants (marked with caron ˇ or comma below) are pronounced with a sharp burst of air from the glottis — a distinctive feature of South Caucasian (Kartvelian) languages.
• Laz has 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) — fewer than Turkish which has 8.
• The Georgian script (Mkhedruli) is used by Laz speakers in Georgia, while the Latin script is used in Turkey.
• Sources: Laz Institute (lazenstitu.com), Omniglot, Wikipedia — Laz language.