Zan Language

Zan Language, Colchian Language, one of the Kartvelian languages.

No one speaks a unified Zan language today; the concept of "Zan" or "Colchian" is of historical significance. Currently, the Zan language has two dialects - Megrelian and Laz (or Chan)—which are in use today. There are various terms to denote the unity of Megrelian-Laz. N. Marr previously utilized the term "Tubal-Cain" (where "Tubalian" referred to Megrelian and "Cain" to Laz). Later, N. Marr also used "Iverian" for Megrelian. The term "Zan Language" was established by A. Chikobava to signify Megrelian-Laz. The author relied on both historical sources and contemporary linguistic data. Specifically, in Greek sources, the Kartvelian population of the Black Sea coastal strip is mentioned as "Sans" (the Greek language lacks the "z" phoneme; it is thought that the letter "s" was used to convey "z").

The term "Zan" is still not forgotten within the circle of Kartvelian languages. It is preserved in toponyms such as Zana, Sazano, and Zanati; the root zan is also preserved in Svan and is used to denote Megrelians—mgzan ("Megrelian"). The term "Colchian" was first used by the German scholar G. Rosen, but it did not become established in Kartvelology. In the 1960s, A. Shanidze used the term "Colchian" to mean Megrelian-Chan, and thereafter it entered scientific literature alongside "Zan."

Compared to Svan, Zan must have taken on an independent form later. Svan appears to have separated from the Proto-Kartvelian language early—likely by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC (G. Klimov) or by the 10th century BC (T. Gamkrelidze, G. Machavariani). After the separation of Svan, the Georgian and Zan layers remained inseparable for at least another ten centuries. This era is called the period of Zan-Georgian unity. The separation of Zan from this unity likely occurred in the 10th–8th centuries BC (G. Klimov) or at the turn of the Common Era (T. Gamkrelidze, G. Machavariani). The differentiation of Zan into two dialects (Megrelian and Laz) must have begun from the first centuries of the New Era onward. By approximately the 7th century, these dialects likely possessed independent forms.

Historically, the area of distribution for Zan (Colchian) was larger than it is today. The regions of Megrelian and Laz speech are currently separated by the territory of Guria-Adjara, which is explained by the migration of the Georgian-speaking population into this territory (N. Marr, I. Javakhishvili, S. Janashia, A. Chikobava). This is confirmed by the existence of Zan toponyms in the Guria-Adjara region.

The initial differentiation of Megrelian-Laz into dialects deepened in subsequent periods, facilitated by the different linguistic environments in which they had to and still have to function. However, the difference is not so significant that they should be considered as entirely independent languages: their functional and grammatical structures are close to one another. Furthermore, the Laz and Megrelians understand each other to some extent.

Despite shared features, the difference between Laz and Megrelian is still noticeable. N. Marr drew attention to this in his time, considering the difference sufficient grounds to declare Laz and Megrelian as distinct languages. The differences manifest in phonetics (sound systems, phonetic processes) as well as in grammar: there is a large difference in the system of conjugation, in nouns and adjectives, and in pronouns, as well as in syntactic constructions, and so on.

In favor of the independence of Megrelian and Laz (Chan) from each other, according to N. Marr, the most important fact is that they (in this specific case, Marr is discussing only Chan) have their own sub-dialects and idioms which, despite their diversity, are united by a common linguistic norm. This viewpoint is shared by several researchers both in Georgia and abroad.

K. Danelia