Waynakh Online

Top Menu

  • Archive Documents
  • Bookshelf
  • Chechen Culture
  • ECHR Cases
  • Gallery
  • Lyrics
  • Mp3
  • Poems
  • Videos

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Chechens
    • Who are the Chechens?
    • Tribal Unions and Clans
    • Religion
    • Famous Chechens
      • Chechen Academicians
      • Chechen Commanders
      • Chechen Litterateures
      • Chechen Musicians
      • Chechen Painters
      • Chechen Politicians
      • Chechen Presidents
      • Chechen Sports Men/Women
      • Names from Chechen History
  • Chechnya
    • Administrative Divisions
    • Maps
    • Geography
    • Constitution
    • Flag, Emblem and Anthem
    • Parliament
    • Presidents
    • Demographics
    • Economy
    • Human Rights Violations
    • Refugees
    • History
  • Chechen Language
    • Chechen Alphabet
    • Fairy Tales in Chechen Language (Mp3)
  • News
  • Articles
  • Interviews
  • Contact
  • Archive Documents
  • Bookshelf
  • Chechen Culture
  • ECHR Cases
  • Gallery
  • Lyrics
  • Mp3
  • Poems
  • Videos

logo

Waynakh Online

  • Home
  • Chechens
    • Who are the Chechens?
    • Tribal Unions and Clans
    • Religion
    • Famous Chechens
      • Chechen Academicians
      • Chechen Commanders
      • Chechen Litterateures
      • Chechen Musicians
      • Chechen Painters
      • Chechen Politicians
      • Chechen Presidents
      • Chechen Sports Men/Women
      • Names from Chechen History
  • Chechnya
    • Administrative Divisions
    • Maps
    • Geography
    • Constitution
    • Flag, Emblem and Anthem
    • Parliament
    • Presidents
    • Demographics
    • Economy
    • Human Rights Violations
    • Refugees
    • History
  • Chechen Language
    • Chechen Alphabet
    • Fairy Tales in Chechen Language (Mp3)
  • News
  • Articles
  • Interviews
  • Contact
News
Home›News›Batsbi: A Silent Death of a Minority Language

Batsbi: A Silent Death of a Minority Language

By admin
June 18, 2015
673
0
Share:

The Batsbi language, a minority language related to Chechen, has been driven to the brink of extinction. Traditionally spoken in Zemo Alvani, Akhmeta Region, Kakheti, it has already lost its role as a community language and without institutional support it continues to decline at a rapid pace.

Revaz Orbetishvili is the forefront fighter for the preservation of the Batsbi language and one of community leaders in Zemo Alvani. Many foreign linguists studying the language have chosen to stay at his place to receive instruction.

‘All of us here are Tsova Tush’, Revaz tells me at a funeral we’re attending, ‘yet we’re all speaking Georgian. Not a single word in our own language.’

The Tush were resettled to the plains from their historical homeland in Tusheti in the 19th century. Today they inhabit the villages of Kvemo Alvani and Zemo Alvani in the Akhmeta tegion of Kakheti. The majority of the Tush speaks a dialect of Georgian, while one subgrouping — the Tsova Tush — speak a separate language.

Their language, known as Batsbi or Bats, is spoken in approximately half of the village of Zemo Alvani. It is distantly related to Chechen and Ingush and is considered by linguists to have preserved many old forms absent from its sister languages. Although today it features multiple Georgian loanwords, a selection of guttural consonants and diphthongs absent in Georgian reminds us to look for its relatives across the Greater Caucasus mountain range.

Different linguistic studies put the number of speakers at approximately 3,000, yet Revaz estimates that active speakers may be as few as 800. There is also a generational gap. ‘Some youth in their late twenties speaks Batsbi, but teenagers can’t speak it at all. The language is headed towards a disaster.’

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.

Revaz cites multiple reasons for the decline. 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.

Although Revaz writes poetry in Batsbi, his main ambition is to preserve the language in its traditional domain — daily spoken communication. ‘I’d like to establish spoken Batsbi classes for children, without any salary. I approached the principal of the school in Zemo Alvani to ask for a classroom, but he told me that it required consent from the Ministry of Education.’

Batsbi seems to be one of the victims of the authorities’ fear of linguistic minorities demanding political privileges. Georgia still hasn’t ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages which grants rights to minority language users. What constitutes a minority language has proven controversial in the country; while the official policies are very progressive towards Armenian and Azerbaijani, other languages like Batsbi, Mingrelian, or Svan don’t have this luxury. Being traditionally of Georgian Orthodox faith and having historically used Georgian as their literary language, users of these languages are considered a part of the Georgian ethnos, hence not in need of being granted additional rights — such as minority language schooling.

The prospects for saving Bats from extinction are bleak, yet Revaz pledges he won’t cease his efforts to save his heritage. ‘Whatever government comes, I will stand firm in my struggle to save Batsbi. The children should know it and learn it.’

DFWatch staff | Jun 18, 2015

Previous Article

Daughter and Son-in-Law of Djokhar Dudayev Face ...

Next Article

Chechen exile in UK fears explusion will ...

Share:

Related articles More from author

  • News

    Under pro-Russian President Ukrainian Authorities Kidnap Chechen Refugees and Extradite to Death to Russia

    May 18, 2010
    By admin
  • News

    Three Young Men Kidnapped in Ingushetia

    January 2, 2011
    By admin
  • News

    Bandits of Kadirov Kidnapped Three Children

    July 31, 2009
    By admin
  • News

    U.S. Department of State Warns Against Travel to Chechnya

    May 16, 2012
    By admin
  • News

    Murder Suspect in France Arrested

    May 9, 2011
    By admin
  • News

    Chechen Asylum Seeker in France Faces Deportation

    October 19, 2012
    By admin

Leave a reply Cancel reply

  • News

    A Young Local Resident Kidnapped in Chechnya

  • News

    Pro-Russian Regime Dismantles Deportation Memorial in Grozny

  • ECHR Cases

    Tumayeva and Others v. Russia

Our Website in Other Languages

                        

Latest Comments

  • Anter Johnson
    on
    December 10, 2020
    Does anyone have the lyrics in english by any chance, I want to translate this song ...

    Iordanex Oylanaš – Ali Dimaev

  • Noxchi9595
    on
    October 8, 2020
    Yes, it does. Look under Noxcmaxkaxoy number 23. There you have Yeg1ashbatoy

    Tribal Unions and Clans

  • Ali
    on
    October 8, 2020
    What is the name in english letters?

    Tribal Unions and Clans

  • Khaldoun Shishani
    on
    September 23, 2020
    Yes it does! I am a chechen was born and raised in jordan fifth generation chechen, ...

    Tribal Unions and Clans

  • Chechen
    on
    August 21, 2020
    And also my father told me that we are akkhi in tukhum and in taip chantiy ...

    Tribal Unions and Clans

Find us on Facebook

Categories

Archives

Search

Prime Minister Akhmed Zakayev’s Speech at the European Parliament

https://youtu.be/D8Fk6jq5E00
https://youtu.be/LRtf8UENmp8
https://youtu.be/0yiOJCJWZjU
https://youtu.be/o5oU3dXxgSU
https://youtu.be/iDCpqn62bVQ
https://youtu.be/eBaatZVQpQw

Our Partners

Chechenpress
Khaaman
Ichkeria Culture Center in Austria
Qaanuoyn Dosh
World Chechnya Day
Justice for Medet Önlü
Honorary Consulate of the ChRI in Turkey

We are at Instagram

Waynakh Online

Independent Chechen website that publishes news, articles, interviews, historical documents, literary works, photographs, music and videos.


                        

Last Publications

  • March 16, 2020

    Prime Minister Zakayev’s Book Presented in London

  • February 3, 2020

    European Parliament Hosts a Conference Dedicated to Chechnya

  • October 19, 2019

    Akhmed Zakayev’s Book Presented in the House of Commons

  • August 11, 2019

    Subjugate or Exterminate!

  • August 11, 2019

    Chechnya: The Inside Story

Most commented

  • Gallery

    Gallery of Abed Arslan

    By admin
    September 14, 2009
    10
  • Articles

    Gakayev, The Enemy Kadyrov Needs

    By admin
    August 31, 2012
    9
  • Articles

    Sex Slavery and Death Await Women Seized by Kadyrov’s Bandits

    By admin
    August 16, 2011
    8
  • Famous Chechens

    Shamil Salmanovich Basayev

    By admin
    May 18, 2008
    6
  • Home
  • Contact
2000-2020 © Waynakh Online | Powered by Chechen Media