Languages of the people of the North and Siberia will live!

There is the Day of the native language in the calendar. According to UNESCO, each two weeks one adverb disappears in the world. There are six tens small nationalities in Russia and their most part lives beyond Ural. How to keep the disappearing languages? Is it necessary to do it in general?

There is a lot of questions, as in due time the western Sovietologists willingly argued on “inevitable assimilation” of the people of Siberia, the North and the Far East. And the fast death was predicted to languages of the small people directly. This thesis can be met in many researches of the American and British authors. But are such conclusions disproved by life?

The head of laboratory of experimental and phonetic researches of Institute of philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Doctor of Philology, the professor Iraida Yakovlevna Selyutina tells about it,

- The very large number of the people lives in the territory of Russia. It is called the figure 180; 63 people from them related to small or minority. These are those people which total from 50 000 to one person. Many of languages of these people are literally on the verge of disappearance. There is such situation in the whole world: about 6000 languages function in the world; the half of them are disappearing. And about 10 languages are annually lost.

This tendency remains now and therefore it is necessary to undertake the necessary efforts not to lose, to keep the languages of the people of Siberia, the North and the Far East. This task is especially urgent for us because a half of the small languages brought in “Red book of languages of the people of Russia”, treat the territory beyond Ural.

- Is it necessary to keep the languages which use so few people?

- The process of gradual assimilation of languages of the small people is the objective process, certainly. But if the representatives of these people have a desire to keep the native language, culture, traditions and if there is a will to undertake any actions in this direction, so our task is to help them in it.

Why is it necessary to do it?! Well who cares that any language left on which spoke, let us assume, 5000 people … and, maybe, only two-three persons… But the matter is that each language is the multicoloured palette of the world; if though one language disappears, so one paint disappears for us also. We become poorer …

- Can the small ethnos make a lot of things?

- There are different approaches at definition of that this dialect is the language. It is the solution of social character, that the ethnos solves it! For example, long enough was considered that the Dolgan language is a dialect of the Yakut language. But it is various languages, and the Dolgans undertook the necessary steps by themselves. They created the writing – the known poetess developed the alphabet. She came to our laboratory and we helped her. As a result, the writing was developed, the ABC book was created, the literature has appeared. But it is not so big people, but it has a will to preservation of own language!

- Is it necessary to know the Russian language? What does your laboratory study?

- Of course, the Russian is absolutely necessary. It is taught at schools therefore, it is acquired by all native speakers. Separate elements are borrowed in the native languages. And, the native speakers sometimes also don't notice that pass from one language to another; there are impregnations in household speech. Certainly, first of all, the lexicon is borrowed; the phonetic level, as the most independent in the language system, is less the subject to changes.

Therefore, we also say that the studying of articulation and acoustic bases, than is engaged our laboratory of experimental and phonetic researches together with Institute of philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, promotes the studying of history of the people. The articulation base is the share of the earliest stage of history of the ethnos. And if during the history the people were won by any other people, passed to other language, but, nevertheless, remained as a compact community, it will keep the articulation and acoustic base in the main dominating lines. And we use these data to restore the history of both this ethnos and this language. So, for example, we established that the Khalkha Mongols, living in the central Mongolia, are the Turkic peoples by origin.

Our researches are unique first of all that the more large-scale researches of languages of the people of Siberia, the North and the Far East aren't carried out anywhere.

- Is it possible to consider one languages more developed than others?

- Each language has own specifics. The northern people terminology for designation of different types of snow is very developed: there are many words which call snow depending on when it dropped out, what it color and so on. The inhabitants of deserts have very developed lexicon for sand designation.

There are the words designating any general concepts in each language. But, for example, there is a word “grandmother” in the Russian language and it is one, but the words, which separately designate the grandmother of father and mother, are used in Turkic languages. That is, lexicon different …

Each language has the specifics in the respect that a great influence renders a kind of activity. The cattle breeding lexicon is developed at the nomadic people, the agriculture and husbandry terms are very developed at settled people. That is, it is impossible to say that one language has more developed grammatical lexical system, and it is poorer at the other: everything is defined by living conditions.

- Is it much managed to achieve in Russia in preservation of minority languages?

- The very active national policy was carried out after revolution: the national schools were created, the writing was developed, the textbooks were published. Process went very actively. It developed more slowly after the war in the whole world. It seemed to someone: well, why these languages of the small people of the North are necessary?...

The new understanding develops in the 80th years of the XX century: it is necessary to take measures for preservation and maintenance of languages of as much as small nationalities. In our country in the 90th years a number of very progressive laws directed on preservation of languages of the small people were accepted. Under these laws, the languages about which we speak were recognized as the object of an etnolinguaecology, national property and historical and cultural heritage. That is they received the necessary status. The state undertook to keep and support these languages. Many steps for realization of these intentions are undertaken.

For example, the department of languages and folklore of the people of Siberia was created in Novosibirsk State University. It exists from 90th years and very successfully! The students, namely the carriers of languages, generally Turkic study there: the Altais, Tuvas, Khakass … Many experts in languages of the people of Siberia were prepared; now they work in the homeland: in higher education institutions, research institutes, on television and are the successful experts.