Numbers in Georgian
15 words
ერთიerti— one
dirty: Out of the whole laundry pile, just ONE sock is DIRTY: d-ERTI. Hold it up on one finger: ერთი, one.
ორიori— two
oar: You can't row a boat with one OAR; you need TWO: OR-i. You'll meet it again in ორშაბათი, Monday: “two after Saturday”.
სამიsami— three
Sam, me: Who's coming? “SAM, ME… and you.” That makes THREE: SA-MI.
ოთხიotkhi— four
four letters: Count the letters: ო-თ-ხ-ი, exactly FOUR. Say it O-T-KHI, with the kh rasping in your throat like Scottish “loch”.
ხუთიkhuti— five
hoot: FIVE owls on a branch, one for each finger: HOOT, HOOT, HOOT, HOOT, HOOT! Make it raspy: KHOOT-i.
ექვსიekvsi— six
hexagon: A HEXagon has SIX sides. Drop the h, slip in a v: EKV-si.
შვიდიshvidi— seven
Swedish: Exactly SEVEN SWEDISH meatballs on your plate, lined up like the days of the week. SHVID-i!
რვაrva— eight
larva: Drop the la- from LARVA: R-VA. Picture a fat larva curled up into the shape of an 8.
ცხრაtskhra— nine
tsk + hurrah: NINE wins in a row. Your rival tuts “TSK!”, you yell “HURRAH!”: TSKH-RA, nine.
ათიati— ten
attic: You find TEN dusty boxes in the ATTIc: AT-i, ten. Handy later: ოცდაათი, “twenty-and-ten”, is 30.
ოციotsi— twenty
oats: Twenty OATS, one balanced on each finger and toe: OTS-i. Learn it well: Georgian counts in twenties, so 40 is ორმოცი, “two-twenty”.
ასიasi— hundred
ace: An ACE scores a perfect HUNDRED out of a hundred: AS-i. Then build up: 200 is ორასი, “two-hundred”.
ათასიatasi— thousand
tassel: Grandma's curtain has a THOUSAND TASSels, and you count every single one: a-TAS-i!
ნახევარიnakhevari— half
nah, heavy: Your friend groans under the sofa. You grab HALF: “NAH, HEAVY? Not with two of us!” — na-KHEV-a-ri.
ოცდაათიotsdaati— thirty
twenty-and-ten: Georgian counts in twenties: ოცი (OTS-i) twenty + და (DA) and + ათი (ATI) ten. OTS-DA-ATI = “twenty-and-ten”: thirty.
Read them yourself
Learn the 33 letters first, in one or two evenings. Then the app teaches these words, each read letter by letter, and brings each one back just before you would forget it.