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Abstract
What are those threats and challenges that languages face in a time of globalization, when progress and prosperity speaks the dominant language? And how far can they avoid the influences of the most widely spoken languages? How can languages participate in intercultural dialogue and keep their language identity at the same time? The paper provides an attempt to answer these questions and focuses on the example of the Georgian language, spoken by approximately 4 million people. The example of Georgian is significant for several reasons: a) it is an official language of Georgia, a country with great language diversity and therefore, as an official language its policy is designed to protect other regional and ethnic languages; b) on the other hand, Georgian can be considered as a language whose viability is under threat. The paper presents a picture of the historical background, describes the threats existing during and after the Soviet regime. It also concentrates on the current situation, language policy and current challenges.References
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