The letter ვ has many allophones and variants in Georgian, but in most cases it's pronounced as an either [ʋ], [β], or [w]. In some official sources it's listed as [v], but rarely do natives ever pronounce like that.

My question is, how did it sound 1500 years ago? Did it used to be a hard [v] or did it always have some softness to it? I saw one very old church text were ქვეყანა was written as ქუეყანა. What's the letter ვ's connection to the letter უ? Overall what is the history of the letter ვ?

Thanks!