91 km away
A Kartvelian language of western Georgia around Zugdidi. Closely related to Georgian but linguistically distinct; primarily an oral language with limited written use.
Svan
Also known as: 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.
Shareable facts
Want a Svan app?
Vote and we'll prioritise it. Top-voted dialects move up the roadmap. One vote per email.
Frequently asked questions
What language is Svan?
Svan is a dialect of the Svan language.
Where is Svan spoken?
Svan is primarily spoken in Georgia.
Which region is Svan associated with?
Svan is part of the Middle East region on DialectAtlas.
Is Svan known by other names?
Yes — Svan is also referred to as Lushnu Nin.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →138 km away
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.
159 km away
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.
225 km away
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.
243 km away
A Northeast Caucasian (Nakh) language and the official language of the Chechen Republic in Russia. The largest Northeast Caucasian language, with around 1.5 million speakers.
251 km away
A Northwest Caucasian language of the Black Sea coast around present-day Sochi, carried to Anatolia in the 1864 deportation. Famous for one of the largest consonant inventories ever recorded — around eighty consonants against two phonemic vowels. Died with its last speaker, Tevfik Esenç, in 1992; extensively documented by Georges Dumézil.