An overview on the languages spoken in Siberia

Whenever we think of Siberia, we imagine a land full of ice and snow but nothing of the languages. The different languages spoken here are rich, full of tones and tell us much about the history of the land and its fascinating people.

Siberia is located in the western regions of the Russian steppes. The Russian language is still very much the dominant language spoken here, but this North Asian land has more than 40 different languages spoken by its different communities. However, preserving, cataloguing and understanding these languages have not been a priority for the government or scholars; this is such a shame as we are gradually losing the opportunity to do so as younger generations are more frequently using the most dominant languages in the country, ignoring their past languages.

There are several language groups in Siberia belonging to what is known as the Paleo-Asiatic or Paleo-Siberian languages. These include the Yukaghir, Nivkh, and Ket.

The Ket language is the most famous and widely known to scholars and the world. It has been known in the past as the Yenisei Ostyak language. Ket is the only spoken language from the Yenisei language family unfortunately. It is spoken by the Ket ethnic group, a people who live along the Yenisei River, running throughout Central Siberia.

The Ket language has managed to survive into this century despite the centuries under Russian rule and their dominating language. However, it is still faces the high risk of extinction. Those who speak the language are quickly diminishing and the younger generation are choosing to speak Russian instead of Ket; by the end of the 20^th century, it was estimated that only 500 people knew and spoke the language.

Yukaghir is also known as Jukagir, a language mixed up of the Tundra and Kolyma dialects. It is spoken in the far east of the Kolyma River by the Yukaghir people.

Nivkh is part of the Paleo-Siberian language group, spoken by the people living the border of what used to be Manchuria. It is what is called an ‘isolate’ language, spoken in the Amur region, possibly down to the north of Sakhalin Island.

Another language spoken in Siberia is the Ainu language. Although closely associated with Japan, the Ainu language is spoken by a few communities in the Kamchatka Peninsula region.

Other language umbrella groups spoken in Siberia include the Chukotko-Kamchatkan. Including in this group are the Chukchi, or Chukot, Chukcha or Luoravetlan, as well as other smaller languages. These are used by the Chukchi people, who live in the far east of the country.

In the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, scholars from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Russia and other nearby countries started to record some of the languages spoken in Siberia. It is only hoped that we continue to do so before time runs out and the languages are dead.

Changing Patterns of Language Utilization in the Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is situated in the middle of Central Africa. In 1960 she won her independence from France in 1960 and has undergone significant changes within those decades.

One of these changes is regarding languages. The Congo has around 50 different ethnic groups within her borders; these all have their own distinct languages and dialects and the inhabitants all correspond to different varieties.

The government recognises three major languages; French for education and business since gaining her independence, as well as Lingala and Munukutuba (also known as Kituba), as national languages. “All three languages are heard on national radio and television. Lingala, spoken to the north of Brazzaville, grew up as a trade language along the Congo River, which is only navigable above Brazzaville. Munukutuba is spoken to the west and south of Brazzaville and grew up along the trade routes to the ocean, especially along the railroad, which was completed in 1934”.

Because of this, all those who live in the Congo have between subjected to these languages; French is often claimed as the official language, another as the ethnic dialect and another national language. Everyone will learn these, albeit to different levels of proficiency. “Unless these three layers of language are reserved for functionally distinct domains as in diglossic situations, they will be in competition with each other and it is likely that changing patterns of language utilization will be observed. Indeed, it appears that Congo has been undergoing such a change and that many domains of usage are 'leaking', thus creating a linguistic situation similar to what Fishman calls 'bilingualism without diglossia', characterized by instability and transition”.

Scholars have made extensive studies into the changing patterns of language utilization in the Congo, especially into Lingala and Munukutuba. Using questionnaires in French, the results showed that the younger generations were more likely to have a different mother tongue to that of their parents. This could be explained through the shifting political and educational systems that have taken place in recent decades.

The changing mother tongue patterns are of great importance for scholars. For so many centuries, the African people have had their lives altered dramatically due to European influence. It has only been recently that the African people have been able to go back to their roots with pride. The fact that French is being more rapidly replaced by native languages, such as Lingala and Munukutuba, is proof of that.

Bibliography:

Woods, David R. (1994) Changing Patterns of Language Utilization in the Republic of Congo, African Languages and Cultures, Taylor & Francis, Ltd.