The Georgian Language Week was opened at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) with an exhibition “Georgian Language Chronicles.” The University also hosted presentations of the project “Svaneti, Lazia, Samegrelo through the eyes of students – 2016-2017” implemented by the Georgian Language Institute of the Faculty of Humanities, as well as Volume 4 of a collection “Kartvelian Linguistics” prepared by the Georgian Language Institute. The book presentation was dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Professor Zurab Chumburidze. Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze, Head of the Department of the Official Language, Giorgi Alibegashvili, students and professors attended the event
Rector Giorgi Sharvashidze said that “April 14 is an important day for establishing national thinking. The developments that took place 40 years ago were exemplary not only for Georgia, but also for other countries united in the Soviet Empire. We are proud that the Tbilisi State University became the epicenter of developments with its academics, students, youth. Construction of Georgian civil society started with this large-scale development; the Georgian nation united around the idea of protecting the Georgian language. The University will dedicate diverse events to the Georgian Language Day – exhibitions, conferences, competitions. On April 14, an event will be held at the Mother Language Monument with the participation of our students and school pupils.”
“I would like to congratulate everyone on the Georgian Language Day; let’s jointly take care of it, because it is the heritage left by our ancestors. Three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet were inscribed in 2016 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It imposes a lot of obligations on us”, Head of the Department of the Official Language, Giorgi Alibegashvili said.
The exhibition “Georgian Chronicles” displays the publications stored in TSU’s library collections. “In connection with the Georgian Language Week, we opened our depositories and exhibited unique literature, rare books, which we display quite rarely. These are the books, which reflect the depth of our richest Georgian language. We have also exhibited modern literature dedicated to Georgian language learning,” Zurab Gaiparashvili, head of the TSU Library, said.
As part of the Georgian Language Week, TSU will host conferences, awards ceremony for the winners of student essay competition, student event “I Love Georgian – My Official Language”, exhibitions “Georgian Writing in the Works of Georgian Painters,” etc. An awards ceremony that will bring together the winners of school competition “Let’s Take Care of Our Native Language!” will mark the end of the Georgian Language Week on April 16.
