Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1279

Part of General Poster Session (Other abstracts in this session)

Language shift in Komi: the dynamics and interaction between rural and urban areas

Authors: Partanen, Niko Tapio
Submitted by: Partanen, Niko Tapio (University of Helsinki, Finland)

Komi Zyrian is a Uralic language spoken primarily in the Komi Republic in Russia. According to the Russian population census there were 202,348 Komi Zyrians in the Republic in 2010 (Russian National Census 2010). Censuses conducted since the 1920s show that the number of Komis has not increased in a way that corresponds with the natural population growth. The explanation is the assimilation of Uralic people into the Russian population (Lallukka 2008). In Komi this has led to a complete language shift in many regions (Leinonen 2006). Especially after the 1960s the non-Komi population has increased, and the percentage of Komis has fallen. The cities and larger villages became predominantly Russian speaking when people from other parts of the Soviet Union were relocated to the Komi Republic.

Throughout the Komi Republic there are villages where Komi is learned by children. However, children in the regional centres generally speak more Russian. Often geographic isolation has prevented the non-Komi population from increasing, but even in the most remote settlements the whole population, including the elderly, is now bilingual. The movement of young people to the cities is leading to many of these very settlements becoming endangered. This is apparently an old process, and thus the cities have a Komi-speaking population in all age groups with extensive Komi-speaking networks in both urban and rural areas.

My research in the Komi Republic shows that in Syktyvkar the natural intergenerational language transmission has been severely interrupted. Komis who are born or have moved there have not been able to transmit full competence in Komi to their children. On the other hand, Komis living in the cities have access to political and institutional resources and have been able to influence their situation at the administrational level. A recent example is the passing of a law in 2011 which made Komi an obligatory subject in all schools in the Republic. However, the language is not learned by children in urban areas, and meanwhile rural populations continue to dwindle. It is common for urban children to spend holidays in the villages, which provides them with access to a Komi-speaking environment. At the same time these monolingual urban children widen Russian's sphere of use in the rural areas.

I have investigated the processes young bilingual Komis encounter in Syktyvkar and the kinds of Komi networks they have. The interviews are semi-structured and conducted using a sociolinguistic questionnaire. In the summer of 2012 I would like to continue my research in the villages to acquire better data from rural areas.

References:

Lallukka, Seppo 2008 ‘Venäjän valtakunnallinen ja suomalais-ugrilainen väestökriisi,’ Murros. Suomalais-ugrilaiset kielet ja kulttuurit globalisaation paineissa. Ed. by Sirkka Saarinen ja Eeva Herrala. Helsinki. Uralica Helsingensia 3, p. 11-37.

Leinonen, Marja 2006 ‘The Russification of Komi,’ The Slavicization of the Russian North. Mechanisms and Chronology. Ed. by Juhani Nuorluoto. Helsinki. Slavica Helsingiensia 27, p. 234-245.

Russian National Census 2010. Информационные материалы об окончательных итогах Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года: http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/perepis_itogi1612.htm

Sociolinguistics Symposium 19

Programme: accepted abstracts

Language shift in Komi: the dynamics and interaction between rural and urban areas