This study examined play interactions of 15 to 48-month-old children (n = 59) and their caregivers in Lazuri, a UNESCO-rated endangered South-Caucasian ancestral language, and Turkish, a dominant language supplanting Lazuri usage in the community. Child–caregiver dyads played with two toy sets (animal farm and tea set) that provided different contexts for interaction. Participants’ utterances were coded as instances of distinct functional utterance types (e.g. labels, commands, and questions). Our goal was to analyze the influence of play context on child and caregiver functional utterances in order to identify factors that prompted children to use the ancestral language. The animal farm encouraged dyads to engage in labeling objects, while the tea set encouraged use of social language (e.g. comments). The differing contextual affordances led children to produce many more Lazuri labels than expected when playing with the animal farm. Mixed-effects regression analysis indicated that caregivers’ use of Lazuri and their use of labels predicted children’s use of Lazuri, along with child age. Notably, older children were less likely to use the ancestral language than younger children. The children’s strong preference for speaking Turkish highlights the urgency of interventions to ensure language preservation in Laz communities. Interactions that promote labeling may serve as an effective first step in encouraging children’s use of the Lazuri vocabulary.

这项研究调查了15到48个月大的孩子（n = 59）及其照料者Lazuri（一种被联合国教科文组织列为濒危的南高加索祖传语言）和土耳其语（一种占主导地位的语言，取代了Lazuri在社区中的使用）。照顾儿童的二胞胎玩着两个玩具（动物农场和茶具），它们提供了不同的交互环境。参与者的话语被编码为不同功能性话语类型（例如标签，命令和问题）的实例。我们的目标是分析游戏环境对儿童和照顾者功能话语的影响，以识别促使儿童使用祖传语言的因素。牲畜养殖场鼓励二联体标记物体，茶具则鼓励使用社交语言（例如评论）。不同的上下文提供能力导致儿童在与动物农场玩耍时制作出比预期更多的Lazuri标签。混合效应回归分析表明，看护者对Lazuri的使用及其标签的使用可预测儿童对Lazuri的使用以及孩子的年龄。值得注意的是，年龄较大的孩子比年龄较小的孩子使用祖传语言的可能性较小。孩子们对讲土耳其语的强烈偏爱突显了确保Laz社区语言安全的干预措施的紧迫性。促进标签交互作用可以作为鼓励儿童使用Lazuri词汇的有效第一步。年龄较大的孩子比年龄较小的孩子使用祖传语言的可能性较小。孩子们对讲土耳其语的强烈偏爱突显了确保Laz社区语言安全的干预措施的紧迫性。促进标签交互作用可以作为鼓励儿童使用Lazuri词汇的有效第一步。年龄较大的孩子比年龄较小的孩子使用祖传语言的可能性较小。孩子们对讲土耳其语的强烈偏爱突显了确保Laz社区语言安全的干预措施的紧迫性。促进标签交互作用可以作为鼓励儿童使用Lazuri词汇的有效第一步。