Description:
'Lazuri: An Endangered Language of the Black Sea' is a unique source in terms of presenting a close examination of the Laz language from multiple perspectives. This volume, edited by Züleyha Ünlü, and Brian George Hewitt, examines the current status of the Laz language, Laz speakers' perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality, the significance of the Laz language for theoretical research in linguistics, the examination of Laz lexical data from historical documents, the linguistic variation of the Laz language, the use of a Laz alphabet in literary genres, contemporary responses to preserve the Laz language, and reflections from applied linguistics for the future of the Laz language. Focusing on the main features of the Laz language and its present situation in Turkey and in other regions as well as the attempts to revitalize Laz and Laz culture, this book will be the first scholarly publication on Laz as a South Caucasian language in terms of being a road-map for future studies.
Brief description: Brian George Hewitt holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Cambridge University. Lecturer in Linguistics at Hull University (1981-88), he was then transferred to SOAS (London University), where he remained until his retirement in 2015, having become Professor of Caucasian Languages in 1996. He was elected to the British Academy in 1997. First President of the (now defunct) Societas Caucasologica Europaea (1986-88 & 1988-90), he is an Honorary Member of the International Circassian Academy of Sciences (1997-) and of the Abkhazian Academy of Sciences (1997-). He has published extensively on Georgian and other Caucasian languages as well as on the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.