# General information

<img src="https://git.bcharge.de/images/BirelQutt.jpg" alt="The first inscription of the Bir el Qutt perforemd using Asomtavruli script, found in Jerusalim, dated as 430 AD." style="width:30%;"/>

Khutsuri is the name of a Georgian writing system which combines Asomtavruli
and Nuskhuri scripts. It was predominantly used from the 9th century until the
late 19th century and eventually, it was replaced by another Georgian script
called Mkhedruli. Nevertheless, nowadays Khutsuri is still used by the Georgian
Orthodox Church. All the iconography, historical murals and stone engravings
are decorated using Asomtavruli letters. The originals of many hagiographic and
historic documents are performed either using Asomtavruli or Khutsuri writing
systems. On the image to the right, there is a photograph of the first
inscription of the Bir el Qutt perforemd using Asomtavruli script, found in
Jerusalim. The inscription is dated as of 430 AD.

All three Georgian scripts are part of the Unicode (UTF-8) since the year 2000
(Mkhedruli since 1991). The keyboard layout for Mkhedruli is included in every
standard installation of major operating systems. The layout for Asomtavruli
and Nuskhuri is mostly unavailable. This repository provides a layout for the
Khutsuri script for Unix-like systems, by effectively combining both scripts at
the convenient keyboard combinations.

In 2016 the "living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet"
was added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
You can read more about the Georgian scripts [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_scripts).

# Usage

To install this layout, append the content of khts to 'ge' layout of your
standard X11 installation:
``` bash
#For Linux
cat khts | sudo tee -a /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/ge
#For *BSD
cat khts | sudo tee -a /usr/local/share/X11/xkb/symbols/ge
```

To apply the layout you can run following command:
``` bash
setxkbmap -layout us,ge,ge -variant basic,basic,khts -option grp:alt_space_toggle
```

Afterwards pressing on `Alt L+Space` will switch between English, Georgian
Mkhedruli and Georgian Khutsuri layouts.

They visual representation of the keymap will follow shortly.

The layout follows the common Mkhedruli QWERTY style. Small caps produce
Khutsuri letters, the combination with `Shift` produces Asomtavruli letters.
The extra letters such as 'შ (sh)', 'ღ (gh)' or 'ჲ (hie)' are produced using
the `Alt R` key. Their Asomtavruli counterparts are produced using the
combination `Shift+Alt R`.

<hr>

**Keywords:** Asomtavruli layout, Nuskhuri layout, Khutsuri layout, X11 keyboard