April 14 Is Mother Language Day in Georgia

Today Georgia is celebrating a Mother Language (Deda Ena) day.

In order to celebrate this day, some events are planned throughout the week. The festivities were opened at Tbilisi State University at 14:00 today. Various activities are planned including concerts and educational installations throughout Tbilisi and regions too.

In 1978 new constitution adopted by Georgian Soviet Socialistic Republic deprived the Georgian language of state language status. The decision sparked large-scale protests.

Participants of the peaceful protest rally strongly demanded legitimacy of Georgian language as a mother tongue at the Rustaveli Avenue on April 14, after which the government was obliged to make a compromising step – the Georgian language was declared as the state language.

Georgian, once described as one of the most beautifully written languages in the world, is written in its own unique writing system and comprises of 33 characters. It is also part of the UNESCO Intangible Heritage list.

By Thea Morrison