Separation 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) for a specific purpose, for example, to get 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 aims 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, adjust their and others' behavior;
- exchange feelings, feelings, emotions.
The most common form of communication is verbal, that is, speech. Even people can communicate with gestures, facial expressions, looks, if, for example, they speak different languages. A special place among communicative means 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 and performs a certain role. His connection with other members of society is carried out through communication, including linguistic.
In any country, in connection with 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.
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 society associated with its multilingualism: how relations are formed between society and people of different nations, what are the national characteristics of self-awareness, perception of the world and its expression in language, culture, which promotes rapprochement, and what disconnects people in a 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 domestic 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 on it, the media work, teaching is conducted in educational institutions, and official communication is conducted 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.
Planetwide
There are several so-called world languages recognized as the largest, since they are owned (as the main or second) by a significant part of the world's population. Their carriers are people of different countries and nationalities. The list of languages of international communication includes up to 20, but the most common and having the largest number of carriers are:
- Chinese - more than 1 billion carriers in 33 countries.
- English - more than 840 million in 101 countries.
- Spanish - about 500 million in 31 countries of the world.
- Russian - more than 290 million in 16 countries.
- Arabic - over 260 million in 60 countries.
- Portuguese - more than 230 million in 12 countries.
- French - over 160 million in 29 countries.
- German - more than 100 million in 18 countries.
Languages of interethnic communication and world languages are means of communication between the peoples of not only neighboring countries, but even on a planetary scale. Official representatives and participants of various international meetings, events, forums in the scientific, cultural, commercial and other fields communicate at them. Six of them, besides German and Portuguese, are the official languages of the UN.
According to the pages of history
With the unification of the Eastern 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. The characteristic dialectal features did not interfere with mutual understanding and communication.
Russian is the language of interethnic communication in the former USSR, and now in its former countries, one of the largest in the world. Throughout its existence, it has been enriched with borrowed words from those languages with which the country's population had to historically communicate (German, French, English, Dutch, Iranian, etc.). However, the Russian language gave the world words (for example, matryoshka, satellite, samovar), 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 took shape at the beginning of the 20th century, when its reform was carried out.
In the USSR, Russian was the language of interethnic communication, a must for study by the country's population. It published newspapers, magazines, conducted television and radio broadcasting. 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 writing of the peoples that did not have it, which still exists.
Russia is multilingual today
On the territory of the Russian Federation there are about 100 peoples communicating in a language that belongs 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.
A 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 languages of interethnic communication in the subjects of the Russian Federation. In many of them both are recognized at the legislative level as state.
The exact number of dialects and dialects by science has not yet been determined. Dialects (North Russian, South Russian dialect and Central Russian dialect) are divided into groups and dialects characteristic of 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, the construction of sentences. For example, the Odessa dialect is widely known, which incorporates some features of other languages (Greek, Yiddish, Ukrainian).
Chingiz Aitmatov: “Immortality of a people is in its language”
Small languages of Russia today
After the 1917 revolution in Russia, the course on the preservation and development of the languages of small nations was proclaimed for the first time in the world. Each citizen had the right to study, communicate in his native language, use it in all areas of life, including official ones (court, government agencies, etc.). The publication of literature, textbooks, and media in various languages has taken enormous proportions.
At the same time, the scientific and ruling political circles came to understand that there should be languages of interethnic communication - this is a factor in the ideological unification of the population, the economic and political development of the country, which occupies such a vast territory. It is clear that only Russian could be such a language, so its introduction into all spheres of life has become forced. In general, the population was sympathetic to these measures, but Russification caused hidden resistance from representatives of the peoples inhabiting 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 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 serious contemporary problem is the spread of the Russian language and the languages of the peoples of Russia abroad. Funds and programs are organized to help foreign schools, publishers, 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” (edited in 2014) guarantees state protection and support for all, large and small, languages existing in the country.
In Russia, the state language of Russian is proclaimed 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 the right to recognize their own language as a state language. Their citizens have the right:
- to use the native language in official and informal institutions and organizations throughout the Russian Federation. If they do not speak anything other than their native language, then they shall be provided with a translator;
- to choose the language of communication and training;
- on his research and their financing from the federal and regional budget.
Currently, various aspects of language policy in Russia are widely discussed. For example, the public is worried about the tendency for some small languages to disappear due to a decrease in the number of their native speakers.