Day 1: Abkhazia

[Tetro Kornbluth]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazia

A long while ago on this forum there was a day by day series of threads on all countries of the world. Because I am a deeply quixotic soul I've decided to revive this series for the year of our lord 2015. Here, unlike the original series I think, I have decided to include non-recognized countries (or 'countries' if you prefer) just to include a wider range. Also they are some of the more controversial.

Anyway, Abkhazia. Discuss. With maps. Starting below



Abkhaz is one of the Northwest Caucasian languages, which once included Ubykh (now extinct), holder of the most consonants ever noted in a language (81).

[Insula Dei]

Pretty interesting documentary about the place:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XkgoPGD7U4

[Antonio the Sixth]

Abkhaz is one of the Northwest Caucasian languages, which once included Ubykh (now extinct), holder of the most consonants ever noted in a language (81).

What a shame. How could they let such an awesome language die?

[politicus]

Abkhaz is one of the Northwest Caucasian languages, which once included Ubykh (now extinct), holder of the most consonants ever noted in a language (81).

What a shame. How could they let such an awesome language die?

The Ubykhs are Muslims and left Caucasus for Turkey in 1864 after the Russian conquest. They stopped being nomads and became farmers in western Turkey (around Manyas).

To avoid discrimination their elders encouraged Ubykhs to assimilate into Turkish culture. The last native speaker died as recently as 1992.

[politicus]

Last Ubykh speaker Tevfik Esenç:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDOePxXxQ04


He even had it engraved on his gravestone:

"This is the grave of Tevfik Esenç. He was the last person able to speak the language they called Ubykh"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tevfik_Esenç

[Antonio the Sixth]

That's pretty depressing. Though I guess there are probably thousands of stories like that (including from Western Europe).

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Abkhaz is one of the Northwest Caucasian languages, which once included Ubykh (now extinct), holder of the most consonants ever noted in a language (81).

What a shame. How could they let such an awesome language die?

The Ubykhs are Muslims and left Caucasus for Turkey in 1864 after the Russian conquest. They stopped being nomads and became farmers in western Turkey (around Manyas).

To avoid discrimination their elders encouraged Ubykhs to assimilate into Turkish culture. The last native speaker died as recently as 1992.

They didn't leave, so much as were pushed hard.

[politicus]

Abkhaz is one of the Northwest Caucasian languages, which once included Ubykh (now extinct), holder of the most consonants ever noted in a language (81).

What a shame. How could they let such an awesome language die?

The Ubykhs are Muslims and left Caucasus for Turkey in 1864 after the Russian conquest. They stopped being nomads and became farmers in western Turkey (around Manyas).

To avoid discrimination their elders encouraged Ubykhs to assimilate into Turkish culture. The last native speaker died as recently as 1992.

They didn't leave, so much as were pushed hard.

Yeah, fled might be a more appropriate term, but the Ubykhs migrated before the Russians got to them in a relatively coordinated and organized exodus.

[Figueira]

The Abkhaz word for elephant is the same as the Turkish word for lion.

[Sol]

The Abkhaz word for elephant is the same as the Turkish word for lion.

That's not too unusual, unless they are cognates. Such things happen some times.

[Zanas]

The Abkhaz word for elephant is the same as the Turkish word for lion.

That's not too unusual, unless they are cognates. Such things happen some times.

They're probably cognates, but not for sure.

Read it discussed here :

"Most probably, the Slavic word слон/slon is a very old loanword from a Turkic language, Avar (or Bulgarian, if different).

That word meant an unknown terrific animal. The slavophone population at that time has never seen neither elephants nor lions. However, slavophones did see ivory. Slavophones knew somehow that ivory is the teeth of some big animal. That animal was then called слон/slon in Slavic, and the ivory itself was called слонова кость (slonova kostь)."

Ironically, the Greek "elephantos" seems to have also given proto-Germanic languages words that went on to mean... "camel".