Overview
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Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

800

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Community Members

    No members

Revitalization Programs

No programs

Discussion Forum

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Language Information By Source

Batsbi: A Silent Death of a Minority Language
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Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

800

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"Different linguistic studies put the number of speakers at approximately 3,000, yet [Revaz Orbetishvili] estimates that active speakers may be as few as 800."

Year of info

2015

Location and Context

Countries

Georgia

Coordinates

No data

Location description

In the Zemo Alvani village in the Akhmeta region of Kakheti

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

In the Zemo Alvani village in the Akhmeta region of Kakheti

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Georgian

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

"For centuries, Batsbi served the community as a spoken language, while Georgian was used for writing and higher domains such as religion. The situation of stable bilingualism began to change with Georgian slowly replacing Batsbi as the spoken language. ... One of the factors is the high degree of intermarriages between Tsova Tush men and women from different villages, making Georgian a natural choice for a language of communication between family members."

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

500

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

42.0982,45.0878

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

3,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2005

Location and Context

Countries

Zemo-Alvani, Akhmeta County, Georgia

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

None

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Georgian

Domains of other languages

Schools and wider communication

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

3,420

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2009

Location and Context

Countries

Georgia;

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

200-300

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

All

More about speakers

"Batsbi, an endangered language of the Nakh-Daghestanian family [...] is now spoken by perhaps only two or three hundred individuals."

Year of info

2011

Location and Context

Countries

Georgia

Coordinates

42.045117, 45.302274

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Georgian; Russian

Domains of other languages

Georgian is used in schools

More on context

"All Batsbi people speak Georgian, and many also speak Russian; none of these three languages is related to the others. For several generations Batsbi people have attended schools taught in Georgian."

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

1,600

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

All

More about speakers

Number in 1953 given as over 3,000.

Year of info

2006

Location and Context

Countries

Georgia

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Within one village of northeast Georgia

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Within one village of northeast Georgia

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Georgian

Domains of other languages

Education

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

2,500-3,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

2500-3000

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

1993

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Georgian

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

No data

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2005

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

42.5,45.5

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

400-800

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2019

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

Older speakers reported using Tsova-Tush in a more diverse set of domains than younger speakers. – Domains of use fell along a scale (see e.g., Blommaert 2007) where Tsova-Tush is used the least at translocal levels (doctor and work) and increasingly more often in more local levels. – Even in the most local levels, with spouse or parents, Tsova-Tush was either always or never used. – Reported use was greater with extended family than with children.

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

3,420

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Media Resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

Filter By

No programs

  1. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
    2012. "Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled By Research Teams At University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute For Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) At Eastern Michigan University."
  2. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)
    Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)
    http://www.ethnologue.com/
  3. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
    Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)
    http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
  4. World Oral Literature Project
    "World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.
    http://www.oralliterature.org
  5. Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages
    Moseley, Christopher. 2005. "Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages." RoutledgeCurzon.
  6. "Svan/Udi/Tsova-Tush" DoBES Project
    Gippert, Jost, Wolfgang Schultze and Manana Tandashvili. 2006. ""Svan/Udi/Tsova-Tush" DoBES Project." Online: http://www.mpi.nl/DOBES/projects/svan.
    http://www.mpi.nl/DOBES/projects/svan
  7. The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire
    "The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire." edited by Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits. Online: http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook.
    http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook
  8. The World Atlas of Language Structures
    2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.
  9. Perception of Exuberant Exponence in Batsbi: Fuctional or Incidental?
    Alice C. Harris and Arthur G. Samuel. 2011. "Perception of Exuberant Exponence in Batsbi: Fuctional or Incidental?" In Language, 87: 447-469. Linguistic Society of America. Online: http://muse.jhu.edu.eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/journals/language/v087/87.3.harris.html.
    http://muse.jhu.edu.eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/journals/language/v087/87.3.harris.html
  10. Batsbijskij jazyk: fonetika, morfologija, sintaksis, leksika
    Desheriev, Junus Desherievich. 1953. "Batsbijskij Jazyk: Fonetika, Morfologija, Sintaksis, Leksika." Izdatel'stvo Akademii nauk SSSR.
  11. Tsova-Tush (Batsbi)
    Holisky, Dee Ann and Rusudan Gagua. 1994. "Tsova-Tush (Batsbi)." In The indigenous languages of the Caucasus. Volume 4: The North East Caucasian Languages, edited by Rieks Smeets. 147-212. Caravan Books.