Zemo Alvani
Field Research station
The Zemo Alvani Field Research (ZAFieR) Station is the CauLaGeNet field station in Zemo Alvani (Kakheti, Georgia). It focusses on the documentation, description, and revitalization of East Caucasian languages, in particular (Tsova-)Tush, a critically endangered Nakh language.
Grounded in field linguistics, the ZAFieR station adopts a sustainable model inspired by the natural sciences, to enable ongoing collaboration between linguists and community members.
The ZAFieR station draws on the extensive work conducted in Zemo Alvani through field linguistics summer programs organized in 2024 and 2025 by CauLaGeNet.
The ZAFieR station aims to foster long-term scientific presence in the Kakheti region, to strengthen collaboration with the local community, and to expand the existing research into additional disciplines.
Specifically, the ZAFieR station's primary goals are to:
- Develop a comprehensive digital corpus of Tsova-Tush, documenting cultural practices as well as linguistic (phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic) structures
- Produce a detailed description of Tsova-Tush to advance scholarship on Caucasian languages and linguistic theory, with results disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and international conferences
- Ensure active speaker participation and ethical research practices by positioning speakers and community members as co-researchers and providing training in language documentation and data management
- Strengthen regional research capacity by supporting the involvement and training of Caucasian researchers and students in Georgia and internationally, contributing to the emergence of a new generation of specialists in minority Caucasian languages
- Lay the groundwork for future language revitalization efforts by consolidating community partnerships, supporting community-led initiatives aligned with local needs, and conducting anthropological/ethnographic analyses, in collaboration with the local community
- Organize a (bi-)annual research week in Zemo Alvani dedicated to scientific fieldwork and training in documentation. For more information on the upcoming research week, click here
