Talk:Laz language

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To the anonymous user 213.157.194.83: your numbers and the statement about ethnic identity do not agree with the sources I have found, including the paper listed in the page. If you disagree, please provide supporting references.
Jorge Stolfi 04:25, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

To 213.157.193.*: apparently the facts (esp. numbers of speakers) which you have repeatedly placed on this page are in disagreement with the sources originally found by the authors of this article. Please either state here your sources and/or your rationale for continually placing these facts here or cease continued altering of this page. -- Grunt 01:36, 2004 Jun 14 (UTC)

Support Lazuri wikipedia

For supoort new Lazuri Wikipedia in lazuri nena please click this link Request lazuri wiki --Salahana 14:57, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Number of Speakers

I wonder about the number of speakers. What's the source for the number given in the page? Ethnologue gives 33,000 speakers (1980), Andrews (1989) gives 45,000 speakers, Feuerstein (1983) 250,000 speakers, Holisky (1991) estimates it between 50,000 and 500,000. I'll change it to 45,000 to 500,000, since that's what's more credible, plus it's sourced. — N-true 21:24, 23 January 2007

-- I'm one of those few speakers of the Laz language, I certainly do not agree with any of those numbers has been presented here, it is very difficult to determine such a number. It is more likely to say that there are not more then a million in total all around the world, (that still probably can not include the fact that there are Laz's who are not aware of their origins), in fact the new generation usually denies speaking the Laz language...

I think it's of more interest to readers of this article how many people actually speak the language currently, not how many people might have some Lazo-Mingrelian blood and not be aware of it. The Laz cultural article is the place for a broader estimate of Laz, conscious and unconscious... eliotbates (talk) 05:23, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Pontic Greeks?

I wonder if there is any connection between Pontic Greeks and Laz people? Are there any similarity to Greek in the Laz language? Zapaorjdik 15:26, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

--- I guess it is not only you who wonders that. It has been centuries that people look for behind the scene to find a connection between those two, but the only relation is that the Colchis was once part of the Eastern Byzantium, further, genetically or linguistically spoken there is not any relation (just borrowed some words and legends...)... However just around a century ago around the time of Laz's convertion from Christianity to the Islam, and the creation of the Turkish Republic, the most of the last Christian Laz's moved to the Greece... Which actually makes the confusion between the two subjects...The present region of the Laz's still contains a very colourful harmony of different folcs...

So same story can also be criticised about the relation between Pontics and the Ermenians of that region, in fact Ermenians are splitted in two major groups, with a little difference; The western Ermenians who denies the eastern part(Christian ones) and the eastern Ermenians who denies the Western part(Islam converted) who do live at the same region as the Pontic was and the Laz is... Those two folcs are more likely look like eachother rather then a Laz would look like to a Pontic...

--- But there always can be exceptions on every subject.

Don't underestimate the huge number of microethnicities that have been able to survive as mostly distinct cultures for over a millennium in Anatolia (Hemşin, Zaza, Assyrian, Laz, etc.)... Just because there was territorial overlap that's no reason to assume they're ethnically connected or culturally similar in any prominent way... eliotbates (talk) 05:26, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

ლაზური ენა-- Laz Language

To "N-True": მაზურ ნენა is what you had written as a choice for a Georgian version of the term "Laz Language". However ნენა is not the correct word (it means something like "cutie")-- you mean ლაზური ენა, which means Laz Language. ენა means "language or tounge".

Why did you undo my change? — 71.198.61.200 (talk) 15:40, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Dear 71.198.61.200, Please have a closer look at that line, it says that "მაზურ ნენა" is the Laz name for the language itself, and in Laz, the word for language is indeed spelled ნენა (nena). — N-true (talk) 19:28, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Edit request on 24 January 2013

I'm a registered user also but I can't edit this page. could you please say why? thanks. Laziva1 (talk) 02:13, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

In order to edit semiprotected pages, your account needs to be autoconfirmed, which usually happens after your account is at least 4 days old with at least 10 edits. RudolfRed (talk) 02:39, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

what happened to lazish music page

Why redirecting from Lazish music? Manaviko (talk) 09:15, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Laz Literacy

The current page does not represent the current status of Laz literature. For example, the page states that Laz people are not interested in writing in Laz, a claim supported by citation [3] from 1989. Given the fact that this source is almost 50 years, this claim holds to be not true anymore. Below can be found a brief summary:

In 1991, Osman Tamtruli's Laz language textbook named Nana Nena was published in Germany. In 1992, a Laz language magazine named Lazuri Ambarepe (Laz News) was published, also in Germany. This was followed by the Parpali magazine. Then, the Laz alphabet was used for the first time in Turkey in the Laz language magazine Ogni, which was published by Turkish Laz people. Additionally, Laz language magazines such as Mjora and Sima published a few issues. In 2004, Tine Amse-de Jong's 400-page Laz-English dictionary was published, and in 2011, the first Laz language novel, Daçxuri, was released. The first Laz literary magazine, Uncire, started publication in 2020. The Laz Institute declared November 7 as the "Laz Language Day" in 2021. The reason for choosing this date was that it was the day the first Laz newspaper, Mçhita Murutsxi, was published and also the birthday of Kâzım Koyuncu, a prominent Laz musician. 76.38.163.147 (talk) 21:03, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

That info lacked a reference that backed up. You used an archived Bianet as reference but it did not contain that info. Semsûrî (talk) 21:07, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

An archived Bianet is for the final sentence about the declaration of the Laz Language Day celebrated on November 7th. The necessary references can also be found on http://lazenstitu.com/ and https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazca. 76.38.163.147 (talk) 21:29, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Okay, Bianet is for the last sentence. What about everything else? Wikipedia cannot be used as a reference per Wikipedia:CIRCULAR and linking to the front page to the Laz Institute is not enough either. Semsûrî (talk) 21:36, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

It's also important to add here Hasan Helimişi, a Laz poet who lived between 1907-1976. (http://www.lazuri.com/tkvani_ncarepe/i_b_xelimisi_xasaninin_otobiyografisi_lz_tr.html). 76.38.163.147 (talk) 21:31, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Current Status of Laz Language

Unfortunately, the current page does not say anything about the current status of Laz language. I find this very important given that the Laz Institute has created awareness on the endangered status of Laz language in Turkey. It is important to raise awareness about this issue among people outside of Turkey.

Laz language is in danger of extinction. Only a small fraction of Laz people in Turkey and Georgia speak Laz language. Due to the replacement of Laz language with Turkish in Turkey and Georgian in Georgia as the mother tongue, Laz language has entered into a process of extinction in both Turkey and Georgia. UNESCO has added the Laz language spoken in Turkey and Georgia to the "Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger" and defined it as a "definitely endangered language" (https://web.archive.org/web/20200102163812/http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php?hl=en&page=atlasmap&cc2=TR). The same situation applies to Laz people living in other countries as well. 76.38.163.147 (talk) 21:13, 14 March 2023 (UTC)