Home to 6 dialects represented on Dialect Atlas, spanning 6 language families.
also: Iron, Digor
An eastern Iranian language of the North Caucasus, the only living descendant of the ancient Scythian-Sarmatian languages. Two main varieties: Iron (the standard) and the more divergent Digor.
also: Romeyka, Pontiaka
The Greek variety historically spoken along the Pontic coast of the Black Sea, brought to mainland Greece by refugees of the 1923 population exchange. Its Anatolian-resident form (Romeyka) survives among Muslim communities near Trabzon.
also: Kartuli
The largest Kartvelian language and the official language of Georgia. Written in the unique Mkhedruli script, with a literary tradition dating back to the 5th century.
also: Margaluri
A Kartvelian language of western Georgia around Zugdidi. Closely related to Georgian but linguistically distinct; primarily an oral language with limited written use.
also: Lushnu Nin
The most divergent Kartvelian language, spoken in the high-mountain Svaneti region of north-western Georgia. Considered to have split from Proto-Kartvelian several thousand years ago.
also: Apswa byzshwa
A Northwest Caucasian language of Abkhazia. Famous for one of the smallest vowel inventories of any natural language (just two phonemic vowels) and a correspondingly large consonant system.