Mingrelian

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A language of Georgia

ISO 639-3

xmf

Alternate Names

Iverian, Margalepi, Margali, Margaluri, Margaluri nina, Megrel, Megrelian, Megruli

User Population

344,000 in Georgia (Leclerc 2015). Total users in all countries: 345,530.

Location

Abkhazia region: Gali and T’q’varčeli districts; Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, all except Poti town; Tbilisi.

Language Maps

6a* (Vigorous).

Samurzaq’ano-Zugdidian, Senak’ian. Officially considered a single language with Laz [lzz] called Zan, but linguists recognize they are not inherently mutually intelligible. Some mutual intelligibility of northern varieties of Laz spoken in Sarpi (Georgia), and to a lesser extent, Hopa, a bordering territory in Turkey (2020 A. Rostovtsev-Popiel).

Typology

Postpositions; case-marking (9 cases); agglutinative morphology; 30 consonants and 5 vowels.

Language Use

Younger generation uses the language less (Salminen 2007). All also use Georgian [kat]. Some also use Russian [rus], in Abkhazia. Also use Abkhaz [abk].

Language Development

Dictionary. Grammar.

Language Resources

OLAC resources in and about Mingrelian

Writing

Georgian (Mkhedruli and Mtavruli) script [Geor].

Other Comments

Christian.