Search

The Coefficient of Emotiveness of «Mother Tongue» in the Context of Measuring the Symbolic Power of Minority Languages in the Russian Federation (Based on the Russian Census Data from 2010 to 2020) // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2024. Issue 2 (44). P. 58-69

This study examines a linguistic situation in Russia, focusing in particular on the phenomenon of respondents in sociological surveys and Russian censuses reporting the language they do not actually speak as their mother tongue. This phenomenon emphasizes the emotional significance of the Russian term ‘mother tongue’ and its unique symbolic status. The authors introduce a new term, the ‘coefficient of emotiveness,’ which quantitatively measures the proportion of people who do not speak the language but describe it as their mother tongue. At the same time, the strengthening of ethnic identity and the increasing importance of a language as a symbol are influenced by socio-political changes. The study’s main hypothesis is that the language conflict of 2017–2018 impacted the emotional significance of minority languages in the Russian Federation. A linear mixed-effects model based on the 2010 and 2020 Russian census data revealed a significant positive increase in the coefficient of emotiveness in 2020. Our research confirms that the 2017-2020 socio-political context influenced the ethnic identity and symbolic meaning of minority languages in Russia

Keywords: mother tongue, identity, Russian census, minority language, symbolic power of language, coefficient of emotiveness