Preservation of native languages of national minorities in a multinational region

Fatkhutdinova Aigul Ilyasovna ORCID: 0000-0002-6647-6306 PhD in History Senior Researcher at the Department of Ethnopolitology; R.G. Kuzeev Institute for Ethnological Studies – Subdivision of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences 450077, Russia, Republic of Bashkortostan, Ufa, Karl Marx str., 6 aygul_kamila@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The problem of the development and preservation of the native languages of national minorities is very relevant at the present stage, because, despite "historical practice and the existence of a well-developed system for studying native languages in the republics of the Russian Federation" ^{[13, p. 78]}, their role and importance has begun to decline over the past decade.

Federal legislation quite clearly outlines the legal framework for the use of native languages by the subjects of the Russian Federation and the preservation of the language as an element of cultural heritage.

From the point of view of the use of languages in the socio-political sphere, the Russian language prevails in office work ^{[23, p. 141]}. The languages of national minorities are often used in monolingual settlements with their compact settlement and, to a greater extent, in the family and household sphere.

In this article, based on the results of an ethnosociological study, an attempt is made to synchronously analyze ethnolanguage processes among representatives of the Mari, Udmurt and Chuvash ethnic groups living in the Republic of Bashkortostan and reveal their speech activity and linguistic behavior in everyday life.

Materials and methods of research

The successful solution of the tasks of preserving national languages in the country directly depends on the regulatory framework. In the Russian Federation, the right of Russian citizens to use their native languages and study them is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal and regional legislation in the field of language and national policy. So, in Bashkortostan, along with the Constitution of the Republic of December 24, 1993, No. VS-22/15, the Laws of the Republic of Belarus "On the Languages of the Peoples of the Republic of Bashkortostan" dated February 15, 1999, No. 216-z (as amended. dated 02.02.2023, No. 672-z ), "On Culture" dated July 13, 1993, No. VS-18/19 (ed. dated 12/20/2023, No. 45-z), "On Education" dated July 1, 2013, No.696-z (ed. dated 06/10/2024, No.126-z), "On Nationalcultural autonomies" dated March 17, 1998 No.145-z (ed. dated 09/29/2010 No.308-z) the State Program "Preservation and Development of the state languages of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the languages of the peoples of the Republic of Bashkortostan" dated January 29, 2024 in the latest edition.

In accordance with the provisions of the federal Law "On the Languages of the Peoples of the Russian Federation" on the linguistic sovereignty of the people, the right to preserve and develop their native language, the law of the Republic of Bashkortostan proclaimed Bashkir and Russian as the official languages of the Republic, also guaranteeing the protection of the languages of all peoples living in the territory of the Republic. According to the law, bilingualism in the republic has received a legal status, respectively, the Bashkir language has acquired an official status at the regional level.

In recent decades, scientists of the republic and other regions have paid close attention to studying the problems of individual ethnic groups, including those related to their linguistic development.

Linguistic aspects in the context of the development of the Udmurt ethnos, ethnographic and ethnolanguage processes, changes in the social composition of the population in the Udmurt Republic and Bashkortostan are revealed in the works of V.E. Vladykin, V.V. Pimenov, R.R. Sadikov, F.G. Safin ^{[4; 17; 18; 20]}; problems of ethnic and linguistic development in the nationalmixed families – in the studies of V.S. Vorontsov, L.S. Khristolyubova ^{[6; 27]}.

Certain theoretical conclusions in the study of the ethnic composition, ethnolanguage, ethnosocial and ethnocultural processes of the Mari ethnic group were made by scientists: E.N. Belkov, L.P. Vasikova, E.A.Kondrashkina, K.N. Sanukov, S.N. Fedorova, V.I. Shabykov, R.A. Kudryavtseva, O.V. Orlova ^{[1; 3; 11; 19; 24; 29]}.

The issues of ethnogenesis, ethnography and cultural history, and the revival of the language of the Chuvash people were studied in the Chuvash Republic by O.M. Vasilyeva ^[4], in the Republic of Bashkortostan by I.G. Petrov ^[16]; their traditional culture was in the works of E.A. Yagafova ^[30], the prospects for ethnic and linguistic development were outlined in the works of A.I. Khaliulina ^[25].

The empirical base of the presented study was made up of the materials of the population census, as well as the results of an ethnosociological survey conducted in Bashkortostan by the author of this work in 2020.

Ethnosociological survey on the research project: "Modern ethnocultural processes in Bashkortostan: ethnicity, language, religion" – ESO–2020. The choice of a questionnaire survey as the main method of collecting sociological information is due to the need to conduct a mass survey covering 8 cities, 14 districts (the center of the Ufa region, cities of republican subordination, district centers, rural settlements), as well as the need to study the ethnic and linguistic characteristics of the population: their linguistic competence, speech activity, as well as linguistic orientations that reveal their ethno-linguistic identity.

The study sample consisted of 660 people aged 17 to 65 years and older, including 230 Chuvash, 225 Udmurts, 205 Mari. The population survey was conducted in the cities of Ufa, Birsk, Davlekanovo, Belebey, Neftekamsk, Sterlitamak, Yanaul, Uchaly, as well as in rural areas: Tatyshlinsky, Krasnokamsky, Birsky, Buraevsky, Sharansky, Kaltasinsky, Sterlibashevsky, Uchalinsky, Ufa, Belebeyevsky, Aurgazinsky, Karmaskalinsky, Bizhbulyaksky, Yanaulsky.

The monitoring results were processed in the program for processing sociological information "SPSS".

Results and discussion

Undoubtedly, language legislation should clearly reflect both the ethnolinguistic situation in general and sociolinguistic pluralism and syncretism in particular. As we can see, the Russian Federation differs from other states of the modern world in having a well-thought-out and effective state national and language policy aimed at protecting the right of representatives of the peoples of Russia to use the national language, receive education in it and use information not only in Russian, but also in their native languages. This is a very great achievement against the background of the processes of globalization of the modern world. Back in 2018, in Pyatigorsk, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Mashuk educational forum dedicated to education and national policy in this area, stressed the importance and significance of learning the national languages of the peoples of Russia.

It is very noteworthy that Bashkortostan pays great attention to supporting not only the state languages of the republic, but also creates conditions for the study and preservation of the languages of national minorities ^{[20, p. 98]}. According to the 2020 census, representatives of more than 140 nationalities live in the region. Of these, two peoples – Russians and Bashkirs number more than 1 million people, Tatars 974.5 thousand people. In addition to them, Mari (84,988 people) and Chuvash (79,950 people), Udmurts (17,149 people), Mordvins (10,970) are represented in the republic with a population of less than 100 thousand people ^{[15, p. 56]}. If in places of their compact residence the national languages are the language of communication, then in a multiethnic urban environment – the Russian language. Despite the widespread use of the Russian language, as the 2020 census data show, the rate of recognition of their nationality as their native language remains high among non-Russian peoples, which confirms the thesis that language is becoming one of the markers of ethnicity. For example, 91% of Tatars, 92% of Mari, 76% of Chuvash, 75% of Bashkirs, 93% of Udmurts noted the language of their people as their native language ^{[15, p. 67]}.

Figure 1. What is your native language?

Let us focus more specifically on the object of our research – the national minorities represented by the Mari, Udmurts and Chuvash. The analysis of the conducted research shows that a high percentage of recognition of the native language of their ethnic group is demonstrated by: Udmurts (93.8%), Mari (97.8%), Chuvash (92.6%). In turn, the level of recognition of Russian as a native language is 4.3% for Chuvash, 4.2% for Udmurts, and 2.2% for Mari. At the same time, the Tatar language was indicated as a native language in equal proportions by respondents of Udmurt and Chuvash nationalities (see Figure 1).

Empirical material for analyzing the expression of different types of identity ^[14] in the minds of the above–mentioned three non-Russian peoples of Bashkortostan showed that regardless of the entry in the passport, if necessary, determining nationality, a high proportion of self-recognition as a representative of their people was recorded (Udmurts - 85.4%, Mari – 94.4%, Chuvash – 90.5%). It should be pointed out that the identification of oneself as Russian is more pronounced among Udmurts, amounting to 13.5%, than among Mari (5.6%) and Chuvash (5.3%). Whereas, identification according to the principle "equally Bashkir and Russian" turned out to be three times higher among the Chuvash respondents than among Udmurts. A comparative analysis of these ethnic groups shows the similarity of the structure of ethnic identity ^{[10, p. 102]} of both Finno-Ugric (Mari and Udmurts) and Turkic (Chuvash) peoples living in Bashkortostan. This suggests that there are grounds for the harmonious development of interethnic communities within a single national region.

Table 1. How do you define your native language?

An important marker defining ethnic identity is the native language. According to a quarter of the Mari respondents (25.8%), more than a third of Udmurts (38.5%) and Chuvash (31.6%) associate their native language as the "first language" ^{[25, p. 39]}. The same indicators, with some variations, of defining the native language as the "language of their people" were noted in every fifth Udmurt (20.8%), a quarter of Mari (25.8%) and slightly less than a third of Chuvash (31.6%), indicating the importance of intraethnic solidarity ^{[7, p. 106]}. It is noteworthy that the native language is steadily attached to the family and ancestral values of the ethnic group, namely to the mother's language in the majority and the father's language to a lesser extent among representatives of the Chuvash and Mari nationalities. Whereas the Udmurts have an indicator "I use this language most often" twice as much as the Mari, and nine times higher than the response of the Chuvash. There is approximately such a difference in the responses of non-Russian-speaking respondents who understand their native language as the language they speak best (see table 1).

As noted by a number of researchers, "recognition of a native language is rather a psychological category that is associated with the language of childhood, with the mother's language, and it does not reflect the real situation" ^{[22, p. 153]}. Currently, the category of "knowledge and proficiency in language" is gaining great importance.

Table 2. Which language do you speak better?

The dynamics of the linguistic priorities of respondents of non-Russian nationalities was clearly manifested when answering the question: "Which language do you speak better?". The answer was "in Russian" indicated by 49.0% of Udmurts, 70.8% of Mari and 45.3% of Chuvash (see Table 2). A high percentage of native language proficiency was noted among representatives of the Chuvash ethnic group, and a low percentage of Mari proficiency (24.7%). It is noteworthy that only 55.2% of the Udmurt respondents speak their native Udmurt. There is a clear tendency to increase those who consider Russian to be their native language, and a decrease in the number of those who consider their native language to be their nationality ^{[12, p. 11]}.

This survey also confirmed the fact that about one tenth of the respondents surveyed are bilingual and trilingual.

Russian Russian, for example, 5.3% of Chuvash are fluent in three languages (Bashkir, Tatar, Russian) and 4.2% are fluent in two languages – Tatar and Russian – to an equal extent. 3.1% of Udmurts speak Tatar. Whereas every tenth Marian indicated his excellent command of the Mordovian language [see Table 2]. About 20% of Udmurts, 15% of Mari and a little more than 10% of Chuvash speak other languages, and they are fluent.

The sphere of application of native languages is very significant in characterizing ethnolanguage processes ^{[26, p. 142]}. From the point of view of modern practical tasks, as well as for forecasting the development of ethnolanguage processes and the preservation of non-Russian languages in the conditions of further dominance of the Russian language in national republics, an important role is played by the "approach to bilingualism as a real dynamically developing process" ^{[2, p. 18]}.

Table 3. What language(s) do you usually speak at home with your father?

There are intensive and extensive trends in the development of bilingualism. The sociological study showed a wide spread of bilingualism "in breadth" among the surveyed nationalities, i.e., in the mastery of the Russian language by an increasing number of representatives of non-Russian peoples. The essence of the second trend is the development of bilingualism "in depth", i.e., in better mastery of the Russian language ^{[8, p. 5]}.

Both of these two trends manifest themselves in different ways in different groups of the urban and rural population of the respondents.

The survey materials showed that the younger the age group of the respondents, the less likely they are to speak only one language when communicating within the family. Thus, the dialogue between children and fathers takes place mainly in their native language, as indicated by 78.7% of Udmurts,75.3% of Mari, 85.2% of Chuvash. But there is also a multi-level degree of use of the Russian language in the process of this communication (from 12.3% to 42.4%). In turn, 2.1% of Udmurts reported their communication in Tatar and 4.9% of Chuvash in Bashkir (see Table 3).

Table 4. What language(s) do you usually speak at home

With my mother

Very interesting data were obtained as a result of the analysis of the language orientations of the younger generation when communicating with their mother. Here, as in the case of communication with the father, the predominance of the native language is observed ^{[9, p. 12]}. For example, the use of the Udmurt language reaches 77.7%, Mari – 76.2%, Chuvash – 85.9%. Russian, which acts as the language of family communication, prevails among Mari (42.9%), but to a lesser extent among Udmurts (22.3%) and Chuvash (11.8%). When communicating with their mother, as it turned out during the survey, a small part of respondents choose not the language of their nationality, but another language, which often may not coincide with their ethnic identity. Russian Russians, Udmurts, and Russians living in the Russian and Tatar environment also become familiar with the language of the overwhelming majority (see table 4). Russian Russian is spoken by 1.1% of Udmurts and 1.2% of Chuvash, while the mixed Tatar-Russian variant is chosen by 1.2% of Mari and Chuvash people. At the same time, the Bashkir language is used in the process of communication by Udmurts (2.1%) and Chuvash (2.4%) (see Table 4).

Table 5.What language(s) do you usually speak with your paternal grandmother?

An ethnosociological study in the republic revealed a direct dependence of the language of communication between young people and the older generation on the age characteristics of the surveyed nationalities. The older the age, the more family communication takes place in their native language. To the question "What language do you usually speak with your paternal grandmother?" 78.9% of Mari and 83.0% of Udmurts noted their native Mari and Udmurt languages, respectively. But the Chuvash language is used by 90% of representatives of this ethnic group in communication with their grandmother. Communication in Russian among non-Russian youth is increasing due to a reduction in communication in their native language (see table 5). Thus, about 40% of Mari, 20% of Udmurts and 8.6% of Chuvash people communicate with the older generation in Russian.

Conclusions

Thus, with the introduction and development of a market economy, attitudes towards native and Russian languages have radically changed. The requirement to learn the language of one's nationality ceases to be relevant every year. As the survey results showed, the majority of parents of Udmurt (50.5%), Mari (42.7%) and Chuvash (53.3%) nationalities ^[16] began to take more care of children's better mastery of the Russian language, which confirms the fact of the spread of an extensive trend in the development of bilingualism by non-Russian peoples of the republic.

As for the intensive form of bilingualism, it also takes place as one of the trends in the use of national minority languages. To the question "In which language is it desirable to teach your children at school?" the answer "in Russian with the study of the native language" varies from one third of Mari (33.7%) and up to one in two Chuvash (40.2%) and Udmurts (41.1%).

As the survey data showed, the absolute majority of respondents, regardless of ethnicity, use their native language only when communicating with people of their nationality, communication with other nationalities is in Russian. Firstly, the areas of compact residence are not large, they mostly have either mixed-compact or dispersed accommodation. Secondly, in an unbalanced bilingual situation, people use a particular language based on real communication with a native speaker of a particular language. It is noteworthy that 97.6% of all nationalities surveyed noted that fluency in the Russian language has a material benefit, regardless of the political status of Bashkortostan. Therefore, the use of minority languages has decreased significantly in recent years.

So, national-Russian bilingualism and multilingualism is the most defining feature in characterizing the development of language processes among the non-Russian population of Bashkortostan. At the same time, the results of the ethnosociological survey showed that more than half of the respondents, regardless of ethnicity, are focused on preserving their native languages.