Russian, Tatar, Chechen and Bashkir languages are most spoken in country - expert

UFA, 24 October 2019. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

The languages ​​of the small peoples of Russia are in the most vulnerable situation, 54 of them are now included in a special list. A researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the Center for European and American Studies, editor-in-chief of the “Vestnik Antropologii” journal, doctor of historical sciences, professor Marina Martynova stated this at a press conference at the Bashinform Agency following an international language conference in Ufa. According to her, now, according to the 2010 census, 174 languages ​​are recorded in the country, and according to some data, if we count the dialects, their number reaches 277. The vast majority of the country's population speaks the Russian language - 98.2%. Besides, 23% of the population speaks 38 more languages, and the remaining 114 languages ​​are distributed among only 1% of the population.

After the Russian language, native speakers of the Tatar, Chechen, Bashkir language prevail in the country, the scientist noted. Next Ukrainian, Chuvash, Avar, Yakut languages go.

“Given that the UN has declared this year as the Year of Indigenous Peoples, the conference held in Ufa is of particular relevance. The interest in the language topic in our country increased after the federal law on the study of native languages ​​was adopted, ”said Marina Martynova.

As the director of the Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Research Institute RAS ​​Aibulat Valiev noted, the conference in Ufa brought together scientists from leading language scientific centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk and other cities of Russia, as well as the CIS countries.

The range of issues discussed at it was extensive and diverse. These are issues of training personnel and textbooks for the study of native languages, their popularization, preservation of the cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia, the study of dialects. Today, sessions, round tables, symposia on the development of indigenous languages, computer linguistics and intellectual technologies in linguistics, modern language processes in the media, translation, folklore, and ethnography will take place.