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EARLY ETHNIC LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN MOSCOW REGION MARI DIASPORA // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2021. Issue 3 (33). P. 49-58

The article presents the results of a sociolinguistic survey conducted by the author in the Mari diaspora of the Moscow region aimed at identifying and describing the functioning of the ethnic language. One of the aspects of the study is devoted to the issue of intergenerational transmission of the ethnic language in the conditions of diasporic residence. The first-generation respondents in the sample generally demonstrate a high level of language loyalty and are confident that they will not lose their ethnic language, their concerns are more likely to deal with to the second-generation representatives who grew up in the Moscow region. Among the main factors contributing to the early acquisition of an ethnic language in the second generation, the following ones were mentioned: immersion in the language environment in the Mari village in the summer; intra-family everyday communication in an ethnic language; children’s participation in cultural events organized in Moscow by the Mari community, as well as on the initiative of individual representatives or groups of the diaspora. However, when directly implemented, these models reveal several significant drawbacks in practice: further russification of the Mari rural areas, which leads to a child’s poor proficiency in Mari; assigning the child the role of a passive listener in the conversations of older family members; lack of cultural forms that meet the adolescents’ demands. Negative attitudes, stigmatizing ideologies as well as language practices inherited by respondents in relation to the Mari language in their small homeland all play a significant role in the weak transmission of the ethnic language to children. The survey revealed some positive changes, mainly among young respondents, due to their increased language awareness and changes in language strategies and ideologies. The Mari language is one of the main features of ethnic identity in the sample: the decay of the ethnic language in the second generation of the diaspora leads to the loss of some other ethnic markers and, as a result, to the blurring of the boundaries of the ethnic group.

Keywords: Mari language, ethnic language, internal diaspora, Moscow region, intergenerational language transmission, attitudes, ideologies, language practices

FUNCTIONS OF THE ETHNIC LANGUAGE IN THE MARI DIASPORA OF THE MOSCOW REGION // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2021. Issue 4 (34). P. 58-72

The article presents the results of a sociolinguistic survey conducted by the author in the Mari diaspora of the Moscow region aimed at identifying and describing the functioning of the ethnic language. One of the aspects of the study is devoted to the establishment of the functions, assigned to the ethnic language in the conditions of the diaspora residence of an ethnic group. Despite the insignificant degree of the Mari language use in the Moscow region (due to the ubiquity and dominance of the Russian language there) and its use mainly in family, household, friendly, sometimes professional communications, the Mari language, however, performs several important functions in the diaspora. The survey results revealed the following functions: communicative, phatic (contact-establishing), the function of a secret language (used in a public space between Mari speakers or in the home communication between some family members), emotional (which language the respondents are likely to think, dream, swear, joke in), sacred (the language of appeal to the divine powers, the language of religion and religious practices) and symbolic (language used as a symbol of group identification). As a result of the survey, the distribution of functions of the Mari language by generations was established, as well as some patterns, majorly related to the proficiency levels in the Mari language and the respondents’ belonging to the first or the second diaspora generation. Factors preventing the use of Mari in some functions mentioned above have been equally singled out.

Keywords: Mari language, ethnic language, internal diaspora, Moscow region, functions of the language

ON THE PROBLEM OF NOMENCLATURE OF MARI IDIOMS // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2022. Issue 3 (37). P. 55-68

The article discusses the nomenclature and classification of Mari idioms, which are recognized as one of the state languages in the Republic of Mari El alongside Russian. While some researchers believe that there is only one Mari language, others argue that there are multiple Mari languages. The article reviews the various names given to Mari idioms in Soviet and post-Soviet literature and concludes that the categorization of Hill Mari as a dialect or an independent language has largely been influenced by political factors, such as the desire of Hill Maris to have their idiom recognized as a separate language rather than a dialect. The author also conducted a sociolinguistic survey in a Moscow region Mari diaspora to determine how Mari speakers perceive their idioms. The survey found that the nomination of Mari idioms is largely based on the respondent's sub-ethnic identity and personal experience with members of other sub-ethnic groups, rather than the legal status of the idioms. The majority of respondents (56 %) indicated that there are “two Mari languages” while 24 % believed there are “several (more than two) Mari languages”. Only 20 % of respondents identified Mari as a single language, and this group was largely composed of Meadow Maris and natives of Bashkortostan.

Keywords: Mari language, Meadow-Eastern Mari language, Hill Mari language, literary language, legal status of the language

The village helps those who help themselves: on the question of language practices and ideologies in the chuvash and mari diasporas in the Moscow region // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2023. Issue 2 (40). P. 65-78

The article is based on the data obtained through sociolinguistic research in the Chuvash and Mari diasporas in the Moscow region. It examines the linguistic practices of representatives of ethnic groups living in the internal diaspora. These show a high level of linguistic loyalty and a desire to preserve their ethnic language as one of the main features of ethnic identity. Nevertheless, the respondents' linguistic loyalty level does not correlate with the level of language maintenance, as shown by the low level of intergenerational transmission of the ethnic language in the samples. Passing the language on the children is transferred from the diaspora representatives to the ethnic village. Special attention is paid in this paper to the analysis of the language ideologies underlying such practices and to the description of the mechanism of (non)transmission of the ethnic language characteristic of these communities living in urban environments. These are an ideology of legitimacy (authenticity), which confines the language to a specific area where traditional speakers live, and an ideology of anonymity, which is widespread in urban spaces and de facto presupposes the use of Russian as an unmarked linguistic and social norm, regardless of the identity of the speakers. Stereotypes, deeply rooted beliefs, attitudes towards the respective languages, and negative and traumatic experiences traced in the linguistic biographies of the respondents are crucial to ethnic language maintenance in the internal diaspora. The results of the survey provide a comprehensive picture of the language situation in Chuvash and Mari villages in diachrony and synchronicity and show that the ethnic village is currently unable to cope with the task of uninterrupted language transmission, as the village itself, which is considered the traditional compact place of residence of these ethnic groups, is affected by the language shift. The author concludes that there is an urgent need to revise existing language practices in the diaspora in order to develop new and more effective strategies for ethnic language transmission. This requires – in the case of the representatives of the internal diaspora – a conscious adaptation of their current language practices in the village, as well as a growing awareness of their own responsibility for the transmission of their ethnic language to the future generation.

Keywords: Mari language, Chuvash language, ethnic language, Moscow region, internal diaspora, language practices, language ideologies, language transmission, language management, language policy, language situation, language shift