Nuskhuri

Nuskhuri is a medieval Georgian script, the minuscule counterpart of Asomtavruli. It forms the "lowercase" component of the traditional ecclesiastical Khutsuri writing system, which also includes the capital Asomtavruli forms used in religious manuscripts.

Origin and use: Developed in the 9th century in Georgia, Nuskhuri was designed for efficient, legible manuscript writing. In church manuscripts, Nuskhuri was paired with Asomtavruli to produce Khutsuri, the standard script for liturgical books such as psalters, lectionaries, and gospels. The two scripts were sometimes used side by side within a single manuscript, with Nuskhuri used for the main text and Asomtavruli for proper names or headings.

Decline and continuation: As Mkhedruli, the modern Georgian script, emerged in the 11th to 15th centuries and gradually became dominant for secular writing, Nuskhuri retained its use in ecclesiastical writings until the 19th or early 20th centuries; by then it was largely ceremonial.

Characteristics: Nuskhuri is more compact and rounded than Asomtavruli, with flowing, cursive letterforms and frequent ligatures. It retains some of the angular elements of its ancestor while providing a distinct lowercase set. It often shows connections between letters in ligatures, enabling faster writing.

Today: Nuskhuri is studied mainly in paleography, manuscript conservancy, and church liturgy; modern digital fonts and scholarly editions reproduce Nuskhuri alongside other Georgian scripts.