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Language Research

The Chechen Parliament has declared Chechen the sole official language of the Republic. Chechen and Russian co-existed as the official languages up until the Chechen Declaration of Independence. However, according to the President of the Parliament, the war period has brought about a change of sensitivity in the Chechen people (September 1, 1997).

The Parliament of the Kalmyk Republic has sanctioned a law, which recognizes Kalmyk and Russian both as official languages. According to this resolution, Kalmyk citizens will be able to choose any of the two languages in mass media, education and culture. The law also attempts to guarantee their protection and the creation of the conditions to develop and preserve both languages. This law proposes funding for a study program on languages of the Republic and provides legal framework for educational programs, the formation of educational staff, and for the field of culture in general, including literature and mass media. In the administrative scope, the law guarantees the possibility to use any language in legislation as well as in general administration. Additionally, it also states that topography and toponomy must be bilingual, and public street signs must be established in both languages. Lastly, both Kalmyk and Russian are considered official languages in foreign affairs.

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Updated (April 2002)

Russia's first post-Soviet population census will finally be conducted by the State Statistics Committee [Goskomstat] in October 2002. Postwar practice has been to conduct the census every ten years and the last one was in 1989. The census is considered to be “the main event of the year.”

One of the most controversial questions in the census form asks: “To which nationality or ethnic group do you regard yourself to belong?” The answer may not coincide with the information in a person's passport (an explanation is added in brackets “according to the self-definition of the respondent”).

The list used in the 1989 census contained 128 ethnonyms (ethnic labels). The list recommended by the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, which has not been approved yet, contains about 150 ethnonyms. The proposal is to remove about 30 ethnonyms and to replace them by about 50 new ones. Only those ethnonyms included in a special list get separate codes, while other answers are lumped together under the residual category of “other nationalities.”

The Institute proposes to recognize several groups previously subsumed under “Tatars” as distinct: Kryashens (Tatars whose ancestors were converted to Christianity) and such local subgroups as Mishars, Nagaibaks, Astrakhan Tatars, Crimean Tatars and Siberian Tatars. Many Kryashens, especially those living outside Tatarstan, do not regard themselves as Tatars at all. The leaders of the Republic of Tatarstan consider this proposal as a part of a plot to break up the Tatars (as well as other non-Russian ethnic groups) into numerous tiny subgroups, which can more easily be assimilated into the Russian ethnic group. Tatarstan president Mintimer Shaimiev appealed directly to President Putin to preserve “Tatar” as an undivided category.

Dagestan has a complex system of power sharing among the leaders of ethnic communities. However, only 14 largest groups take part in this system. The regional authorities still maintain the fiction that the smaller groups do not need to be represented because they are rapidly assimilating into two largest groups - the Avars and the Dargins. The Institute proposes to give separate codes to 15 smaller groups, which were not counted in 1989 Census. The Russian government recently decided to grant the request of the Dagestani authorities to count only 14 officially recognized groups.

The Cossacks present a special problem because ethnologists do not regard them as a separate ethnic group. However, 100,000 people identified themselves as Cossacks in the last census. Some Cossacks have threatened to boycott the Census if their identity will not be recognized, and Goskomstat is afraid that the whole Census will be ruined if a boycott movement starts to spread. So Cossacks will be counted, but as a subgroup within the Russian and Ukrainian ethnic group.

In other cases dual ethnic identities will be taken into account as well. For example, the Komi will be subdivided into Komi-Permyak and Komi-Zirian (although there are Komi who do not assign themselves to either subgroup, and there are Zirians who deny being Komi).

There is no provision for people who wish to claim no ethnic affiliation and say only that they are citizens of Russia [rossiyane], in the way that Yugoslav censuses allowed people to identify themselves simply as “Yugoslavs.”

Source: Valery Tishkov (Head of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) at Brown University on March 18, 2002 http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/6168-10.cfm

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Updated (August 2007)

A NEED TO PROMOTE THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

Russia has opened a campaign to promote the national language and culture abroad as the state officials feel that the credibility of the Russian language has fallen over the years.

Andrei Busygin, Russia's Deputy Culture Minister has defeated their aim by saying: “Russian is Russia's state language, and Russia is a multinational country. The Russian language unites all these nationalities, these peoples who live in Russia. And in addition, we should remember that the language, as an indicator of popular culture, is not only concentrated within the country's borders, it is also important abroad.”

Experts say that in many former Soviet Republics, where Russian used to be widespread, the language is starting to fall out of use. The same situation is in all post–communist countries in Eastern Europe, where English has replaced it as the favored second language.

Leonid Krysin, the Deputy Director of the Russian Language Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, has commented the situation: “Firstly, the number of people who know the Russian language is definitely falling. Secondly, the younger population does not know the language as well as the older one, who learned it under the Soviet rule. And thirdly, of course, the number of schools teaching Russian has been dramatically reduced.” He also claimed that “in the sphere of education, schools which taught Russian during the Soviet period have lost their status”.

Only five former Soviet republics now have Russian as an official language alongside their own: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

But even in these countries, the issue of language remains contentious. In Belarus, the political opposition accuses the government of “Russifying” the country and has called for a return to Belarusian as the sole official language.

In Turkmenistan, the Russian language is actively discouraged. In some regions Russian schools have been closed, and the department of Russian philology at the Turkmen State University was shut down in 2002. All teaching now takes place in Turkmen, which means Russian–speakers do not often receive full education.

According to Leonid Krysin, there are objective reasons why former Soviet republics should not turn their backs on the Russian language: “In the sphere of education and the sciences, there is a whole vocabulary that simply does not exist in those (native) languages.”

The issue of language remains divisive even within Russia's borders. The number of mother–tongue Russian speakers continues to decline. Russian population is falling by 700,000 every year and stands at 142 million.

Just recently, President Putin has backed proposals to create a National Russian Language Foundation. The main aim of this institution will be to develop the Russian language at home, support Russian language study programs abroad and generally promote Russian language and literature around the world. Furthermore, the Russian Government has created a web site (www.russian2007.ru) in both Russian and English to promote the Russian language. It provides details on more than 100 international festivals and events, as well as publications and plans to build libraries.

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty News and Analysis, August 26, 2007 http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/633ca874-92c1-411a-9753-2981492839b5.html and International Herald Tribune, July 2, 2007 http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/02/news/russia.php

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