Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1007

Part of Session 133: Ethnicity, Language and Culture in a Post-Soviet Multi-Ethnic City (Other abstracts in this session)

Ethnically marked linguistic landscape of Kazan

Authors: Rychkova, Nadezda Vasilevna; Rychkov, Sergey Iyrievich
Submitted by: Rychkova, Nadezda Vasilevna (Kazan National Research Technological University, Russian Federation)

Linguistic landscapes of Kazan, capital of Republic Tatarstan, form following factors:

· Polyethnic structure of the population (more than hundred ethnoses for which language is an ethnic marker);

· Centuries-old experience of interaction of three language groups (Turkic, Finno-Ugric, slavic);

· The state status of the Tatar and Russian languages, the right of all ethnoses to using the native language;

· A situation of «language asymmetry»;

· transformation processes in economy, ethno-demographic environments of a cultural landscape of Republic.

The analysis of a linguistic landscape multi-ethnic cities, capitals of national Republic, the subject of the Russian Federation, in conditions of the ethnic Renaissance and globalizations of economy is actual. Result of the ethnic Renaissance became increase in Kazan’s ergonimikone names which reflect culture of the ethnoses living here. Signboards of cafe, restaurants, shops, etc. at which there are Tatar, Uzbek, Ukrainian, Russian and other words, are visualization of " national revival », a part of language space of city.

Kazan’s ergonimikone areflects reaction of a linguistic landscape to globalization. As a result of development of market space by world brands there is a westernisation of linguistic landscapes. In daily speech, for example, Russian, Turkic, Finno-Ugric, Anglo-Saxon and other language units enter.

In Kazan as a result of development of commercial sector of public space some models of multilingual signals were generated. 1. The same information is given in several languages (stops of public transport are duplicated in Russian, Tatar and English languages; signboards of grocery shops, libraries, drugstores). 2. The information moves in one language and partially on other (advertising Media Markt in Russian with addition of the Tatar phrases). 3. Different parts of the information are given in different languages with partial imposing (advertising of the federal operator of cellular communication «Beeline»). 4. Different parts of the general information are broadcast in different languages - is used in the Tatar-speaking information space more often.

The ethnic variety of a linguistic landscape of Kazan is formed by different subjects. Bodies of the government and municipal management act as developers and guarantors of realization of language policy. Their initiative - edition of 20-th clause of Law RT « About languages of people of Republic Tatarstan» enables to insist on necessity of the publication of advertising in two state languages.

Ethnicity gets in an orbit of market communications. Business start to consider ethnicity as the tool of increase of competitiveness and means to resist to world brands which use ethnicity as a way of adaptation to regional conditions (glocalization). As a whole the language situation in commercial sector of public space basically corresponds with the law about bilingualism and a level of demand on ethnicity.

The presence of language in public space is one of factors of its increase ethnolinguistic vitality. Bilingual advertising diversifies a linguistic landscape of the postsoviet Tatarstan and becomes an additional symbol of social and cultural tolerance of its inhabitants.

The work was supported by the RHSF, the project 12-01-00018

Sociolinguistics Symposium 19

Programme: accepted abstracts

Ethnically marked linguistic landscape of Kazan