issues of linguistics - Tbilisi State University

Manana Kvachadze
Towards the Linguocultural Interference in Language Contacts
(As Exemplified by Gomborian Layijis)
Summary
A very interesting linguistic and cultural picture can be observed in the Georgian village of
Gombori on the example of its multiethnic population. Gombori is an ethnically and
linguistically mixed village. Since the times of the Tsarist Russia, Russians have inhabited
this village alongside with Georgians. To a certain extent, this fact determined the linguistic
picture of the village.
In the first decades of the 20 th century, different Moslem ethnic groups from the
neighboring regions of Iran and South Caucasus started to inhabit the territory with the
purpose of earning. Among these was an ethnographic group of Iranian origin, refugees
from the village of Lahij in Azerbaijan (to a certain extent Turkified and bilingual (Tati and
Azerbaijani)), and a Turkish ethnographic group, refugees from Iranian Azerbaijan, also
bilingual (Azerbaijani and Persian). The process of migration continued in the Soviet
period, being most intense in the 30s and 40s of the 20 th century.
Representatives of the immigrant Moslem population, despite their ethnic and linguistic
origin, are registered as Azerbaijani in the official documents and consider Azebaijani as
their native language. Due to their common historical, cultural and religious origin, at first
glance these people do not differ from each other. However, an Iranian-speaking group can
be distinguished, calling themselves and their native language Layiji. This langiuage is an
oral dialect of Moslem Tat language. The bilingualism of the Layijis living in Azerbaijan is
universal, mass and complete.
Representatives of the above-mentioned ethnic groups are in friendly neighboring
relationships with the main population of Gombori. They try to live like ordinary
Gomborian peasants, have similar houses and gardens, farms and lifestyle. A respect of
Georgian traditions can be felt. Georgian cuisine, rituals of celebration and mourning are
shared by the Layijis, but at the same time, their own customs are retained. This can be
revealed in the observation of religious and cultural traditions.
Gomborian Layijis belong to practically all social-professional groups. Practically all
Gomborian Layijis speak the so-called “two native languages” – Layiji (Tat) and
Azerbaijani. All Gomborian Layijis speak Georgian and Russian to some extent. The
language of education is chosen according to their personal attitudes and opinions. Special
mention should be made of the Georgian and Russian speech of the Moslem population,
both Azerbaijani and Layiji. From purely linguistic viewpoint, should be mentioned ad
stratum interference revealed in their Georgian speech. Even more interesting is the
transformation of certain concepts.
As for their linguistic orientation, they – as speakers of an unwritten language – have to
choose formal and education language according to the environment: in Iran it is Persian, in
Azerbaijan – Azerbaijani, in Soviet Georgia they chose Russian, whereas now in
independent Georgia they prefer Georgian. A speech in a foreign environment mainly
retains its originality. However, at nearly all levels the influence of languages of other
systems can be observed. The culture and speech of a multiethnic society include many
different interesting aspects. This yields rich material, from both linguistic and
extralinguistic viewpoints.
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