"evropuli qartia saqarTvelo "European Charter for Regional or ...

In fact, Georgian language is a historical native language (National language)
for Svans as well as Megrels; Georgian literary language being a
national creation of the Georgians is believed to unify the Georgian nation
in the course of the centuries, and Megrelian-Laz-Svan idioms are
regarded to be the secondary varieties of the common Georgian language
– a native language. Cf. those who claim that the Georgian language
is not a native language for Megrels deprive this group of Georgians
of great literary culture created by the Chkondideli, Minchkhi,
Merchule and Rustaveli.
The need for ratification of the "European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages" contributes to the urgency of the qualification issue
for the Kartvelian idioms. Given our reality the issue is also complicated
by the fact that there is no consensus on criteria that allow description
of the linguistic situation in Georgia.
Naturally, it is problematic to separate Kartvelian idioms into
languages and dialects as the politicized provisions of the Soviet era are
quite deeply rooted in public consciousness. We as linguists cannot
take comfort in the fact that qualification of idioms goes beyond the
scope of linguistics; cf., for instance, G. Laionz: "difference between the
closely related languages and dialects is more political and cultural, rather
than linguistic"; B. Jorbenadze (1889, pp. 118-119): the process of differentiation
into languages and dialects do involve political and cultural aspects…
"A dialect, a language, a language branch, a language family are relative
terms".
At present it takes a lot of work to provide objective information
regarding the history and present of the language of the Georgians to the
international community that has been largely misinformed by the Russian
empire.
ods it split up into several political entities such as the kingdom of Kartli and Kakheti in
the east and the kingdom of Imereti and principalities like Samegrelo and Svaneti in the
west. Georgia weakened after repeated attacks by foreign powers like the Mongols and
Timurides. From the 16 th century onward, Ottoman Turkey and Safavid Iran began to
subjugate western and eastern regions of Georgia respectively".
For criticism see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21919401/T-Putkaradze-Taliavni-
Komisiis-Daskvnis-Kidev-Erti-Rusuli-Pasaji;
http://pirweli.com.ge/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36778&Itemid=1.
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