Mingrelian

A language of Georgia

ISO 639: xmf
Alternate Names: Iverian, Margalepi, Margali, Margaluri, Margaluri nina, Megrel, Megrelian, Megruli
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 Status: 6a* (Vigorous).
Classification: Kartvelian, Zan
Dialects: 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.

Russian Federation

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