The isolation of individual tribes and peoples once gave way to stormy communications of small and large scale. This is due to the intensive development of political, cultural, economic ties between different countries. Therefore, the emergence of languages of interethnic communication is a historically natural process.
Why do people communicate?
Communication is a very complex process, usually arising on someone's initiative (the subject of communication) with a specific goal, for example, to obtain some information, information. Two or more people can communicate. The one to whom the initiative of the subject is directed is called the object of communication.
Communication is also called communication, but if communication is aimed only at the exchange of information, then the goals of communication are wider. In his process, people:
- exchange messages, set common goals;
- discuss problems and agree on joint actions;
- change, correct their own and others' behavior;
- exchange feelings, experiences, emotions.
The most common form of communication is verbal, that is, speech. People can also communicate with gestures, facial expressions, glances, if, for example, they speak different languages. A special place among the means of communication is occupied by artificial languages created for international communication or in specialized fields of activity (Esperanto).
Speech is a social phenomenon
Each person occupies a certain place in society in accordance with his gender, education, age, marital status, religion, that is, he is a member of several social groups at once and performs a certain role. His connection with other members of society is carried out through communication, including language.
On the territory of any country, due to the heterogeneity of society, there are dialects: social (for example, by ear you can determine the level of education of a person), territorial (Moscow dialect, Kuban dialect). The style of speech corresponds to social needs and depends on the scope of its use - everyday speech differs significantly from professional speech.
Language is a unique product of the development of human society. Linguistics studies many aspects of its development as a social phenomenon. For example: features of its functioning in various social strata and groups, linguistic relations in the conditions of national and ethnic diversity of the population; reasons why language becomes a means of interethnic communication, etc.
Ethnolinguistics studies the processes in a society associated with its multilingualism: how relations are formed between society and people of different nations, what are the national features of self-consciousness, perception of the world and its expression in language, culture, what contributes to rapprochement, and what separates people in multilingual society, etc.
Vocabulary work: official, state, international language
The status of a language in a multinational state, as a rule, is enshrined in the constitution. The official is used in the legislative, educational sphere, in office work. The principle of linguistic sovereignty of the people and the individual guarantees the possibility of using other languages as official in those territories of the state where the majority of the population uses them in everyday and official situations.
The state language is one of the symbols of a multinational country, a means of integrating the population, since legislative documents are published in it, the media work, teaching is conducted in educational institutions, official communication is carried out between citizens and with representatives of other countries.
The language of interethnic communication acts as an intermediary between the peoples of one state (or locality), inhabited by several nations. Serves for their communication, organization of interaction in all spheres of life.
Global scale
There are several so-called world languages, recognized as the largest, because they own (as the mainor second) a significant part of the world's population. Their carriers are people of different countries and nationalities. The list of languages of interethnic communication includes up to 20, but the most common and having the largest number of speakers are:
- Chinese - over 1 billion speakers in 33 countries.
- English - more than 840 million in 101 countries.
- Spanish - about 500 million in 31 countries.
- Russian - over 290 million in 16 countries.
- Arabic - over 260 million in 60 countries.
- Portuguese - over 230 million in 12 countries.
- French - over 160 million in 29 countries.
- German - over 100 million in 18 countries.
Languages of interethnic communication and world languages are means of communication between peoples not only of neighboring countries, but even on a planetary scale. Official representatives and participants of various international meetings, events, forums in scientific, cultural, trade and other fields communicate at them. Six of them, apart from German and Portuguese, are official UN languages.
Through the pages of history
With the unification of the East Slavic tribes, the need arose for their close political and economic communication. In the XIV-XV centuries, the Old Russian language became the basis for the emergence of closely related languages - Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian. Their inherent dialectal features did not interfere with mutual understanding and communication.
Russian is the language of international communication informer USSR, and now in its former countries, one of the largest in the world. Throughout its existence, it was enriched with borrowed words from those languages with which the population of the country had to communicate historically (German, French, English, Dutch, Iranian, etc.). However, the Russian language also gave the world words (for example, matryoshka, satellite, samovar) that are understandable to people of many nationalities.
The emergence of writing dates back to the 9th century, when the first Cyrillic alphabet appeared. Subsequently, it spread to the East Slavic peoples. The modern alphabet was formed at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was reformed.
In the USSR, Russian was the language of interethnic communication, compulsory for the study of the population of the country. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio broadcasts were published on it. In the Union republics, the indigenous population also communicated in their own languages, literature was printed, etc. The Russian alphabet served as the basis for the development of the written language of the peoples who did not have it, which still exists.
Russia is multilingual today
On the territory of the Russian Federation there are about 100 peoples who communicate in a language belonging to one of 8 language families. Outside the country, about 500 million people, being citizens of near and far abroad, are native speakers of the Russian language.
Part of the population of our country speaks other languages as native languages, which are recognized as state languages in other countries: Belarusian, Ukrainian, German, Estonian, Finnish, etc.
Russian and native are the languages of interethnic communication in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In many of them, both are recognized at the legislative level as state.
The exact number of dialects and dialects has not yet been determined by science. Dialects (Northern Russian, South Russian dialects and Central Russian dialects) are divided into groups and dialects characteristic of the peoples and nationalities inhabiting certain territories of the country. They are characterized by a specific pronunciation of sounds (pitch, duration), the names of objects and actions, and the construction of sentences. For example, the Odessa dialect is widely known, incorporating some features of other languages (Greek, Yiddish, Ukrainian).
Chingiz Aitmatov: "The immortality of the people is in their language"
Small languages of Russia today
After the 1917 revolution in Russia, for the first time in the world, a course was proclaimed to preserve and develop the languages of small peoples. Every citizen had the right to study, communicate in their native language, use it in all spheres of life, including official ones (court, economic agencies, etc.). The publication of literature, textbooks, media in various languages has taken on a huge scale.
At the same time, the understanding came to the scientific and ruling political circles that there should be languages of interethnic communication - this is a factor in the ideological unification of the population, economic and political development of a country occupying such a vast territory. It is clear that only Russian could be such a language, so its introduction into all spheres of lifebecame forced. In general, the population was sympathetic to these measures, but Russification caused hidden resistance on the part of representatives of the peoples who inhabited the USSR.
After its collapse in the former republics, the systematic displacement of the Russian language and its replacement with the national one is taking place at different speeds. In Russia, there is no clear language policy, all its issues are mainly resolved at the regional levels and depending on the views and intentions of the local authorities. The Russian language is the language of interethnic communication in the post-Soviet space, mainly due to the rapid development of international market relations in the post-perestroika years and at the household level.
A modern serious problem is the spread of the Russian language and the languages of the peoples of Russia abroad. Funds and programs are being organized to help foreign schools, publishing houses, and cultural centers. However, there are a lot of tasks in this area: coordination of actions, financing, training of specialized personnel for state, public and charitable organizations.
Russian legislation on the state language
The 1991 Law "On the Languages of the Peoples of the Russian Federation" (revised in 2014) guarantees state protection and support for all - large and small - languages that exist on the territory of the country.
In Russia, Russian is proclaimed the state language in Art. 53 of the Federal Law, which is enshrined in its Constitution (Article 68). However, this does not deprive the republics that are part of the country of the right to recognize their ownstate language. Their citizens are en titled to:
- to use their native language in official and unofficial institutions and organizations throughout the Russian Federation. If they do not speak other than their native language, then they are provided with an interpreter;
- to choose the language of communication and learning;
- on his research and funding from the federal and regional budgets.
Currently, various aspects of language policy in Russia are being widely discussed. For example, the public is concerned about the disappearance trends of some small languages associated with a decrease in the number of their speakers.
