Georgia celebrates Mother Language Day
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Georgia is celebrating Mother Language Day today, marking the country's victory over Soviet attempts to do away with Georgian as the official language of Georgia.
On this day 41 years ago, hundreds of Georgians took to the streets of Tbilisi in protest against the Soviet government's decision to remove words in the Georgian Constitution solidifying Georgian as the state language.
On April 14, 1978, local students, professors, teachers and citizens strictly opposed the decision – the government was forced to step back.
This was an unprecedented case when the regime withdrew and backed down to the community’s demands.
After the protest a special monument was erected in Tbilisi honouring the day’s events. Photo: 1TV.ge
An initial march of 15,000 protesters grew to a demonstration involving 100,000 citizens at a central Tbilisi park – now known as Dedaena Park.
Georgian is written in its own unique writing system and is comprised of 33 letters.
It was granted the national status of cultural heritage in Georgia and was added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The ancient Georgian alphabet has been granted the national status of cultural heritage.
Georgia is embracing a new campaign to encourage people to protect the Georgian language and abstain from using hybrid and loan words.
Georgia’s ancient language is being recognised among some of the most popular languages in the world at an event dedicated to celebrating European languages.
The Georgian alphabet has been named among the top five most beautiful alphabets in the world by an international travel website.
The story of the UNESCO-recognised writing systems of the Georgian alphabet is now on display at Google Arts and Culture, a major online repository of museum exhibits and cultural phenomena.
The international terminological resource of EuroTermBank will now offer terms in the Georgian language to users. EuroTermBank is the largest online terminology bank.
Georgian iconic schoolbook Deda Ena (literally ‘Mother Language’) authored by Georgian writer, publicist and teacher Iakob Gogebashvili in 1876 will return to schools in September, Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze stated today. The Georgian government held an event dedicated to the return of the textbook at Iakob Gogebashvili’s house museum in the village of Variani, Shida Kartli region, Georgia.
Georgia is celebrating Mother Language Day today, which marks the country’s victory over the Soviet repressive machine in maintaining the Georgian language as the official language.