The languages of the Caucasus: Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani, which alphabet each is written in and how to get by without knowing any

The Caucasus fits more than forty languages into a territory the size of Spain, and the three official ones of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have nothing to do with each other: no family, no alphabet, not a word in common except those borrowed from Russian and Persian. That, which looks alarming on the map, is no problem on the trip: people help, Russian is understood by everyone over forty, English is spoken by everyone under thirty, and three words said well in the language of each place open more doors than a whole sentence in another. This is the guide to what is spoken where, how it is written and what is worth learning.

Georgian

Georgian belongs to the Kartvelian family, which has only four languages, all in Georgia, and no known relative outside: not Indo-European, not Turkic, nothing. It is written in mkhedruli, the third alphabet it has had, from around the 10th century, with 33 rounded letters and no capitals; the first, asomtavruli, is from the 5th century, and the three together have been UNESCO intangible heritage since 2016. It is not a tonal language, whatever you may read: what it has are ejective consonants, pronounced with a catch in the throat, and clusters of up to six consonants in a row, as in the word for "you peel us", a national tongue-twister. The basics:

• hello: gamarjoba (გამარჯობა)
• thank you: madloba (მადლობა)
• yes and no: diakh (დიახ) and ara (არა)
• sir and madam: batono and kalbatono, used to address anyone with respect
• cheers, the toast: gaumarjos (გაუმარჯოს)

Armenian

Armenian is Indo-European, like English, but forms a branch of its own and is not understood by speakers of any other living language. Its alphabet was invented by the monk Mesrop Mashtots in 405 to translate the Bible, with 36 letters then and 39 today, and Armenians celebrate it as the founding act of the nation: there is a monument with the letters in stone near Aparan and Mashtots's name is on the main avenue of Yerevan. There are two variants, the Eastern of Armenia and the Western of the diaspora, which half understand each other. The basics:

• hello: barev dzez (Բարև ձեզ), formal, or barev with friends
• thank you: shnorhakalutyun (Շնորհակալություն), or mersi, which everyone uses
• yes and no: ayo (Այո) and voch (Ոչ)
• to your health, the toast: kenatsd (Կենացդ)

Azerbaijani

Azerbaijani is Turkic, so close to the Turkish of Turkey that an Azerbaijani and a Turk understand each other almost entirely, and it has been written in the Latin alphabet since 1991, with the transition complete in 2001, after decades in Cyrillic and centuries in Arabic script. For anyone who reads English it is the easiest of the three: it is read as written, with a few added letters, such as ə, which sounds between a and e. The basics:

• hello: salam
• thank you: sağ olun, which also serves as goodbye
• yes and no: bəli and xeyr
• to your health, the toast: sağlığınıza; nuş olsun is "enjoy your meal"

When Russian helps and when English does

Russian is understood by everyone who went to school in the Soviet Union, that is, the over-forties in all three countries, and it is the language in which a Georgian and an Armenian talk to each other; in villages, marshrutkas and markets it is what works. In Georgia it is best to start with English and switch to Russian only if the other person prefers, because since 2008 Russian carries connotations not everyone accepts gladly; in Armenia and Azerbaijan there is no such problem. English is spoken by young people in the cities, hotels, guides and the restaurants of the centre, and by almost nobody outside that. With Russian you lose nothing; with English you reach the centre of the capitals.

What to carry on your phone

A translator with the three languages downloaded for use without signal, with the camera to read menus and signs, which in Georgian and Armenian cannot be guessed; a keyboard with the alphabets, to type a street name; and the names of the places you are going to, written in the local alphabet, to show the taxi driver. And the five words above, learned by heart.

Frequently asked questions