| Zan | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | South Caucasus,Anatolia |
| Linguistic classification | Kartvelian
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| Glottolog | zann1245 |
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TheZan languages, orZanuri (Georgian:ზანური ენები) orColchidian, are a branch of theKartvelian languages constituted by theMingrelian andLaz languages. The grouping is disputed as some Georgian linguists consider the two to form adialect continuum of one Zan language. This is often challenged on the most commonly applied criteria ofmutual intelligibility when determining borders between languages, as Mingrelian and Laz are only partially mutually intelligible, though speakers of one language can recognize a sizable amount of vocabulary of the other, primarily due tosemantic loans,lexical loans and otherareal features resulting from geographical proximity and historical close contact common for dialect continuums.
The termZan comes from theGreco-Roman name of one of the chiefColchian tribes, which is almost identical to the name given to theMingrelians by theSvans (მჷ-ზა̈ნmə-zän). Georgian linguistAkaki Shanidze proposed the name "Colchidian" for Zan.
According to aglottochronological analysis byG. Klimov, the Zan languages had split from theCommon Kartvelian group by about the 8th century BC. Zan was spoken by a continuous community stretching along the Black Sea coast, from modern dayTrabzon,Turkey into westernGeorgia, also existing in modern-dayGiresun andOrdu provinces of Turkey.
In the mid-7th century AD, Zan speakers were split by migration of Georgian-speaking peoples fromIberia (eastern Georgia), driven by theArabs, who took over the regions ofImereti,Guria, andAdjara.
Separated by geography, and later by politics and religion, northern and southern Zan eventually diverged into Mingrelian and Laz. Since the differentiation was basically complete by early modern times, it is not customary to speak of a unified Zan language today. Presently, Mingrelian is spoken by theMingrelians primarily in northwestern Georgia (Mingrelia andAbkhazia), whereas Laz is spoken by theLaz people in Turkey (and in a small portion of Adjara, southwestern Georgia).
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