Novus Ortus: The Awakening of Laz Language in Turkey

Abstract

Laz (South Caucasian) language, which is spoken primarily on the southeastern coast of the Black Sea in Turkey, is being threatened by language endangerment. Having no official status, Laz language is considered to be an ethnic minority language in Turkey. All Laz people residing in Turkey are bilingual with the official language in the country, Turkish, and use Laz most frequently in interfamilial conversations. In this article, Laz language is removed from the dusty pages of Turkish history as a response to the threat of language attrition in the world. Accordingly, language endangerment is viewed in terms of a sociolinguistic phenomenon within the boundaries of both language-internal and -external factors. Laz language revitalization acts have also been scrutinized. Having a dekko at the history of modern Turkey will enlighten whether those revitalization acts and/or movements can offer a novus ortus (new birth) for the current situation of Laz language.

Building a Morphological Analyser for Laz

“…writing system for Laz based on Latin alphabet and later 'Lazuri Alboni' (Laz Alphabet) and only after 1990s, the written texts started to come out as several associations were founded for the preservation of Laz language and culture. Now with all these efforts, Laz has been thought in public schools in Turkey as an elective language course since 2013 (Kavaklı, 2015;Haznedar, 2018).…”

“…In 1999, the first dictionary for Laz (Turkish-Laz) was prepared and published by İsmail Bucaklişi and Hasan Uzunhasanoğlu. The following years, Bucaklişi also published the first Laz grammar book (Kavaklı, 2015) and has begun teaching Laz at Boğaziçi University in İstanbul as an elective course since 2011. The foundation of the Lazika Publishing Collective in 2011 has given rise to the publication of more than 70 books on Laz language and literature (Kavaklı, 2015).…”

Encouraging usage of an endangered ancestral language: A supportive role for caregivers’ deictic gestures

“…Parents and other caregivers often do not believe that the use of an AL enhances their children’s opportunities in life and they potentially see it as a burden for children’s success in school (Genesee, 2009). In the absence of direct efforts to legitimize and thereby preserve the AL (Kavakli, 2015; Kutscher, 2008; Sarigil, 2012), such as promoting its use at home and within schools, minority communities that no longer use their AL in child-directed speech are at risk of losing it permanently within one or two generations.…”