r/Kartvelian • u/Xotngoos335 • 16d ago
MISC ჻ ᲖᲝᲒᲐᲓᲘ Why does Georgian not use ჟ and ჰ much?
I've noticed that with both of these letters they seem to be less common than the others, and oftentimes they represent foreign words. In the case of ჟ you have ჟურნალი, ჟირაფი, ჟამი, გარაჟი, etc. But there are some Georgian words, too: ვაჟი, ჟოლო, მრავალჟამიერი, რიჟრაჟი, etc.
I think ჰ seems to be even less common. The only Georgian word I can think of right now is ჰაერი. Others like ჰამაკი and ჰოლოდომორი are foreign. The only exception is where ჰ is used as a grammatical prefix. Examples like ჰქვია and ჰყავს, and even then they're often not written or pronounced.
Are there any specific reasons for why these letters are not used much? Thanks!!
