How Languages Die
The Example of Udmurt
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Udmurt is one of over 155 languages spoken in Russia. Measured by the number of speakers, it is one of the larger languages in the country. In the Republic of Udmurtia, the Udmurts are the titular nation, and their Finno-Ugric idiom has the status of state language. Nonetheless, Udmurt is under serious threat. The decisive factor is the integration of the Udmurts into the urban working world, which is dominated by Russian. Only in rural areas is the language still passed on from parents to children. Added to this is the toothless language policy of the republican authorities, who have been politically incapacitated by Moscow. A prerequisite for the survival of Udmurt is overcoming Russia’s authoritarian centralism.
(Osteuropa 1-3/2024, pp. 299–308)