| Karto-Zan | |
| Region: | South Caucasus, Anatolia, Israel |
| Familycolor: | Caucasian |
| Fam1: | Kartvelian |
| Child1: | Georgian |
| Child2: | Zan |
| Glotto: | geor1252 |
| Glottorefname: | Georgian-Zan |
| Protoname: | Proto-Georgian–Zan |
| Also Known As: | Georgian–Zan |
The Karto-Zan languages, also known as Georgian–Zan, are a branch of the Kartvelian language family that contains the Georgian and Zan languages. The Svan language forms the other branch of the Kartvelian family, showing characteristic differences from the Karto-Zan group.[1] It has been hypothesized that the divergence between Svan and Proto-Kartvelian goes back as far as the 19th century BC. Georgian and Zan on the other hand diversified from Proto-Georgian–Zan during the 7th century BC.[2] Both languages share common archaic words related to metallurgy and agriculture absent in Svan.
The Karto-Zan languages constitute a branch of the Kartvelian language family. Glottolog internally divides the Karto-Zan group into the Georgic languages, which contain Georgian and its dialects, and Old Georgian, and the Zan languages, which contain the Mingrelian and Laz languages.[3]