The
Georgian language, along with its relatives Mingrelian, Laz, and
Svan, comprise the Kartvelian language family. The initial breakup of
Proto-Kartvelian is estimated to have been around 2500–2000 BC, with the divergence of Svan from Proto-Kartvelian (Nichols, 1998). Assyrian, Urartian, Greek, and Roman documents reveal that in early historical times (2nd–1st millennia BC), the numerous Kartvelian tribes were in the process of migrating into the
Caucasus from the southwest. The northern coast and coastal mountains of
Asia Minor were dominated by Kartvelian peoples at least as far west as
Samsun. Their eastward migration may have been set in motion by the
fall of Troy (dated by
Eratosthenes to 1183 BC). It thus appears that the Kartvelians represent an intrusion into the Georgian plain from northeastern Anatolia, displacing their predecessors, the unrelated Northwest Caucasian and
Vainakh peoples, into the Caucasian highlands (Tuite, 1996; Nichols, 2004). The oldest known settlement of the Lazoi is the town of Lazos or "old Lazik", which
Arrian places 680 stadia (about 80 miles) south of the Sacred Port,
Novorossiisk, and 1,020 stadia (100 miles) north of
Pityus, i.e., somewhere in the neighborhood of
Tuapse. Kiessling sees in the Lazoi a section of the Kerketai, who in the first century AD had to migrate southwards under pressure from the
Zygoi. The same author regards the Kerketai as a "Georgian" tribe. The fact is that at the time of Arrian (2nd century AD), the Lazoi were already living to the south of Um. The order of the peoples living along the coast to the east of
Trebizond was as follows: Colchi (and Sanni); Machelones; Heniochi; Zydritae; Lazai, subjects of King Malassus, who owned the suzerainty of Rome;
Apsilae;
Abacsi; and Sanigae near Sebastopolis.
Social and cultural status Laz has no official status in either Turkey or Georgia, and no written standard. It is presently used only for familiar and casual interaction; for literary, business, and other purposes, Laz speakers use their country's official language (
Turkish or Georgian). Laz is unique among the Kartvelian languages in that most of its speakers live in
Turkey rather than Georgia. While the differences between the various dialects are minor, their speakers feel that their level of mutual intelligibility is low. Given that there is no common standard form of Laz, speakers of its different dialects use Turkish to communicate with each other. Between 1930 and 1938, Zan (Laz and Mingrelian) enjoyed cultural autonomy in Georgia and was used as a literary language, but an official standard form of the language was never established. Since then, all attempts to create a written tradition in Zan have failed, despite the fact that most intellectuals use it as a literary language. In Turkey, Laz has been a written language since 1984, when a script based on the
Turkish alphabet was created. Since then, this system has been used in most of the handful of publications that have appeared in Laz. Developed specifically for the Kartvelian languages, the
Georgian alphabet is better suited to the sounds of Laz, but the fact that most of the language's speakers live in Turkey, where the
Latin alphabet is used, has rendered the adoption of the former impossible. Nonetheless, 1991 saw the publication of a textbook called Nana-nena ('Mother tongue'), which was aimed at all Laz speakers and used both the Latin and Georgian alphabets. The first Laz–Turkish dictionary was published in 1999. Speaking Laz was forbidden in Turkey between 1980 and 1991, because doing so was seen as a political threat to the unity of the country. During this era, some academicians lamented the existence of the Laz ethnic group. Because speaking Laz was banned in public areas, many children lost their mother tongue as a result of not communicating with their parents. Most Laz people have a heavy Turkish accent because they cannot practice their mother tongue. == Phonology ==