| Laz | |
|---|---|
| Lazuri, ლაზური | |
| Native to | |
| Ethnicity | Laz |
Native speakers | 22,000 (2007)[1] |
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lzz |
| Glottolog | lazz1240 |
| ELP | Laz |
 Kartvelian Languages | |
 Laz is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
| Laz people |
|---|
 |
 |
The Laz language or Lazuri (Laz: ლაზური ნენა, romanized: lazuri nena) is a Kartvelian language spoken by the Laz people on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea.[2] In 2007, it was estimated that there were around 20,000 native speakers in Turkey, in a strip of land extending from Melyat to the Georgian border (officially called Lazistan until 1925), and around 1,000 native speakers around Adjara in Georgia. There are also around 1,000 native speakers of Laz in Germany.[1]
Laz is not historically a written language or literary language. As of 1989, Benninghaus could write that the Laz themselves had no interest in writing in Laz.[3]
- ^ a b Laz at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume 5, p. 21, at Google Books
- ^ Benninghaus, Rüdiger (1989). "The Laz: Example of Multiple Identification". In Peter Alfred, Andrews; Benninghaus, Rüdiger (eds.). Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey. p. 498.
