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The Svan language is classified by UNESCO as 'critically endangered' due to its low number of speakers.
Answer: False
The UNESCO designates Svan as a 'definitely endangered language', not 'critically endangered'.
Svan is natively spoken only in the Svaneti region of Georgia, with no significant communities elsewhere.
Answer: False
In addition to the Svaneti region of Georgia, Svan is also natively spoken in Abkhazia, specifically in the Kodori Valley.
The total number of native Svan speakers is estimated to be over 50,000, with the majority speaking the Upper Svan dialect.
Answer: False
The estimated number of native Svan speakers is 14,000, and the total number of speakers is fewer than 30,000, not over 50,000.
Svan speakers primarily reside in the mountainous region of Svaneti, specifically in the Mestia and Lentekhi districts of Georgia.
Answer: True
Svan speakers are indeed primarily located in the Mestia and Lentekhi districts within the mountainous Svaneti region of Georgia, along the Enguri, Tskhenistsqali, and Kodori rivers.
Svan is considered an endangered language because its proficiency is declining among younger generations, hindering intergenerational transmission.
Answer: True
The endangered status of Svan is attributed to limited proficiency among younger generations, which impedes the intergenerational transmission of the language.
The Svan language is primarily used in formal settings and has an official written standard.
Answer: False
The Svan language is primarily used in familiar and casual social communication and does not have a written standard or official status.
What is the Svan language, and where is it primarily spoken?
Answer: A Kartvelian language primarily spoken in the western Georgian region of Svaneti.
Svan is a Kartvelian language primarily spoken by the Svan people in the western Georgian region of Svaneti, and also in Abkhazia.
What is the native Svan name for the Svan language?
Answer: 'ლუშნუ ნინ' (lušnu nin)
The Svan language is natively referred to as 'ლუშნუ ნინ' (lušnu nin).
According to the 2015 estimate, what was the number of native Svan speakers?
Answer: 14,000
As of 2015, the number of native Svan speakers is estimated to be 14,000.
In addition to the Svaneti region of Georgia, where else is Svan natively spoken?
Answer: Abkhazia
The Svan language is natively spoken in the Svaneti region of Georgia and also in Abkhazia, specifically in the Kodori Valley.
What is the approximate total number of native Svan speakers?
Answer: Fewer than 30,000
The total number of native Svan speakers is estimated to be fewer than 30,000, with approximately 15,000 speaking Upper Svan and 12,000 speaking Lower Svan.
Svan speakers primarily reside along which rivers in Georgia?
Answer: Enguri, Tskhenistsqali, and Kodori.
Svan speakers primarily reside in the Mestia and Lentekhi districts of Svaneti, along the Enguri, Tskhenistsqali, and Kodori rivers.
What is the official status of the Svan language?
Answer: No official status.
The Svan language holds no official status and is primarily used in familiar and casual social communication.
Svan is considered endangered due to:
Answer: Limited proficiency among younger generations, indicating a decline in intergenerational transmission.
Svan is considered endangered because proficiency in it is limited among younger generations, leading to a decline in intergenerational transmission and active use.
Svan has notably lost the voiceless aspirated uvular plosive /qʰ/ and the glides /w/ and /j/, which are still present in other Kartvelian languages.
Answer: False
Svan has notably *retained* the voiceless aspirated uvular plosive /qʰ/ and the glides /w/ and /j/, which have been lost in other related Kartvelian languages.
The consonant inventory of Svan is largely identical to Modern Georgian, having undergone similar sound changes.
Answer: False
The consonant inventory of Svan is largely similar to Old Georgian, and it retains certain consonants that Modern Georgian has lost, indicating it is not identical to Modern Georgian.
The sounds /j/, /q/, and /w/ are specific to Svan's consonant inventory and are not typically found in Modern Georgian.
Answer: True
Svan's consonant inventory includes /j/, /q/, and /w/, which are indeed not typically found in Modern Georgian, reflecting Svan's retention of older phonological features.
In Svan phonology, the uvular consonant /q/ is realized as a simple stop sound.
Answer: False
In Svan phonology, the uvular consonants /q/ and /qʼ/ are realized as affricates, specifically [q͡χ] and [q͡χʼ], not as simple stop sounds.
The labiodental fricative [v] exists as an independent phoneme in all Svan dialects.
Answer: False
The labiodental fricative [v] does not exist as an independent phoneme in Svan; it appears only as an allophone of the sound /w/ in the Ln dialect.
Svan has notably retained which of the following phonological features that have been lost in other related Kartvelian languages?
Answer: The voiceless aspirated uvular plosive /qʰ/.
Svan has notably retained the voiceless aspirated uvular plosive /qʰ/ and the glides /w/ and /j/, which have been lost in other related Kartvelian languages.
Compared to Georgian, Svan's vowel inventory is:
Answer: Larger.
Svan possesses a larger vowel inventory compared to Georgian, which only has five vowels.
Svan's consonant inventory is largely similar to which historical form of Georgian?
Answer: Old Georgian.
The consonant inventory of Svan is largely similar to that of Old Georgian, retaining certain consonants that Modern Georgian has lost.
Which of the following sounds is present in Svan's consonant inventory but is not typically found in Modern Georgian?
Answer: /w/
Svan's consonant inventory includes the sounds /j/, /q/, and /w/, which are not typically found in Modern Georgian.
How are the uvular consonants /q/ and /qʼ/ realized in Svan phonology?
Answer: As affricates, specifically [q͡χ] and [q͡χʼ].
In Svan phonology, the uvular consonants /q/ and /qʼ/ are realized as affricates, specifically [q͡χ] and [q͡χʼ].
What is the status of the labiodental fricative [v] in Svan?
Answer: It appears only as an allophone of the sound /w/ in the Ln dialect.
The labiodental fricative [v] does not exist as an independent phoneme in Svan; it appears only as an allophone of the sound /w/ in the Ln dialect.
A characteristic Svan shares with other Caucasian languages is a large number of consonants and a split-ergative morphosyntactic system.
Answer: True
Svan, like other Caucasian languages, is characterized by a large number of consonants and employs a split-ergative morphosyntactic system.
In Svan, verbs are marked for aspect, evidentiality, and a grammatical category called 'version', which is unique to Kartvelian languages.
Answer: True
Svan verbs are indeed marked for aspect, evidentiality, and 'version', a grammatical category unique to Kartvelian languages.
The morphology of Svan is more regular and consistent than that of its three sister languages within the Kartvelian family.
Answer: False
The morphology of Svan is actually *less* regular and consistent than that of its three sister languages within the Kartvelian family, with notable differences in its conjugation patterns.
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Svan shared with other Caucasian languages?
Answer: A purely accusative morphosyntactic system.
Svan, like other Caucasian languages, is characterized by a large number of consonants, agreement between its subject and object, and a split-ergative morphosyntactic system, not a purely accusative one.
Which of the following grammatical categories is specific to Kartvelian languages and marked on Svan verbs?
Answer: Version
In Svan, verbs are marked for 'version', a grammatical category specific to Kartvelian languages that can indicate the beneficiary or direction of an action.
The Upper Bal dialect of Svan is recognized for having the most vowels among all South-Caucasian languages, totaling 18 distinct vowel sounds.
Answer: True
The Upper Bal dialect of Svan is indeed noted for its extensive vowel inventory, comprising 18 distinct vowel sounds, the most among South-Caucasian languages.
The two main dialects of Svan are Upper Bal and Lower Bal, with Upper Bal having more speakers.
Answer: False
The two main dialects of Svan are Upper Svan and Lower Svan, not Upper Bal and Lower Bal. Upper Bal is a subdialect of Upper Svan.
Proto-Svan phonemic long vowels are preserved in the Lentekh and Lower Bal dialects, but lost in Upper Bal.
Answer: False
Proto-Svan phonemic long vowels are preserved in the Upper Bal, Cholur, and Lashkh dialects, but have been lost in the Lentekh and Lower Bal dialects.
The digraphs 'ჳი' ('wi') and 'ჳე' ('we') are used in the Lashkh dialect to represent specific vowel sounds.
Answer: False
The digraphs 'ჳი' ('wi') and 'ჳე' ('we') are used in the Lower Bal and Lentekh dialects, and occasionally in Upper Bal, but they do not occur in the Lashkh dialect.
How many distinct vowel sounds does the Upper Bal dialect of Svan possess, making it notable among South-Caucasian languages?
Answer: 18
The Upper Bal dialect of Svan is noted for having 18 distinct vowel sounds, the most among South-Caucasian languages.
The Upper Svan dialect has approximately how many speakers?
Answer: 15,000
The Upper Svan dialect has approximately 15,000 speakers, while the Lower Svan dialect has about 12,000 speakers.
Which of these is a subdialect of Lower Svan?
Answer: Lashkhian
The Lashkhian subdialect, specifically Lashkh, is part of the Lower Svan dialect, along with the Lentekhian subdialect.
The Svan language primarily uses the Latin alphabet for its written form, with some unique characters.
Answer: False
The Svan language utilizes the Georgian script for its written form, not the Latin alphabet.
Evdokia Kozhevnikova was a Soviet ethnologist who documented the Svan language during fieldwork in the 1920s and 1930s.
Answer: True
Evdokia Kozhevnikova is recognized for her significant contributions to the documentation of the Svan language through extensive fieldwork conducted in Svaneti during the 1920s and 1930s.
The Svan alphabet includes several additional letters that are otherwise obsolete in the standard Georgian script, such as 'ჶ' for /f/ and 'ჸ' for /ʔ/.
Answer: True
The Svan alphabet indeed incorporates several letters, such as 'ჶ' for /f/ and 'ჸ' for /ʔ/, that are no longer used in the standard Georgian script.
Diacritics like the umlaut and macron are commonly written in Svan to indicate vowel features.
Answer: False
While diacritics like the umlaut and macron are used to supplement the Svan alphabet, they are not normally written in practice.
Which script is NOT used by the Svan language for its written form?
Answer: The Latin script.
The Svan language utilizes the Georgian script for its written form, which is an alphabetic writing system similar to the Mingrelian alphabet. The Latin script is not used.
Evdokia Kozhevnikova's contribution to Svan language study was primarily in:
Answer: Documenting the language during fieldwork.
Evdokia Kozhevnikova made significant contributions by extensively documenting the Svan language during her fieldwork in Svaneti throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Svan is of particular interest to linguists because it has preserved ancient linguistic features that have been lost in other Kartvelian languages.
Answer: True
Svan is noted by linguists for retaining ancient linguistic features, such as the voiceless aspirated uvular plosive /qʰ/ and glides /w/ and /j/, which have been lost in other Kartvelian languages.
Svan is the least differentiated member among the four South-Caucasian languages, having diverged relatively recently.
Answer: False
Svan is, in fact, the *most* differentiated member among the South-Caucasian languages, having diverged from the common ancestor in the 2nd millennium BC or even earlier.
The Svan language is believed to have diverged from the common ancestor of other South-Caucasian languages approximately one thousand years before Georgian and Zan diverged.
Answer: True
Svan is believed to have diverged from the common ancestor of South-Caucasian languages in the 2nd millennium BC or even earlier, which is approximately one thousand years before Georgian and Zan diverged from each other.
Which of the following is NOT a reason Svan is of particular interest to linguists?
Answer: It has an extensive body of modern literature.
Svan is of interest to linguists due to its retention of ancient linguistic features and the insights it provides into the historical development of the Kartvelian language family. The provided information does not indicate an extensive body of modern literature.
Svan diverged from the common ancestor of South-Caucasian languages in the:
Answer: 2nd millennium BC or even earlier.
Svan is believed to have diverged from the common ancestor of South-Caucasian languages in the 2nd millennium BC or even earlier, making it the earliest branch to separate within the family.