A Study On The Use Of Russian In Central Asia

Language is a tool for communication between people; and it plays a very important and even indispensable role in human social activities. At the same time, language and society have a close relation. Its development and evolution are closely linked with politics, economies and cultures, etc. Changes in usage of Russian in Central Asia are a good example.As a former national lingua franca and the official language in Soviet Union, Russian is currently one of the six working languages in the United Nations. Its impact on the development of world civilization is tremendous. Soviet period was the heyday of Russian dissemination and development; in addition to the Soviet Union, there were also a large number of users in other countries and regions. According to statistics, the number of residents using Russian exceeded 350 million worldwide at that time. The great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin once called Russian as "the world’s most beautiful language". Just as the former Soviet Union’s ambitious political and military strength, Russian is absolutely a language with strength. However, with the breakdown of the Soviet Union, use space for Russian significantly decreased. After the declaration of the independence of the former Soviet countries, in order to get rid of Russian influence and control, these countries have reduced the social status of Russian, reduced and limited the use of Russian in social life. We refer to this policy as "Anti-Russian policy".The five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) were also actively carrying out "Anti-Russian policy". They have issued a new language law, stipulated their own language as the national language and downgraded Russian from the official language to a non-national or inter-ethnic communication language. Therefore, the use of Russian was of a very limited range. With accelerating of the "Anti-Russian policy" in Central Asian countries, the status of Russian in Central Asia continued to decline. Even in some countries, Russian lost position of national language and official language, and gradually became a minority or foreign language.Central Asia has deep ties with the Russian history and culture; and Russian evolution in Central Asia is a long process. Since the 19th century when Tsarist Russia annexed Central Asia, under the tsarist government promotion, Russian gradually spread in Central Asia and became the common language of Central Asian societies. After the October Revolution with the Central Asian countries joining the Soviet Union, in order to build a unified culture and ideology, the Soviet Russian authorities continued to strengthen the promotion and popularization of Russian in Central Asia.Russian rapid development in Central Asia had a direct connection with the policy the former Soviet government took. Russian government defined it as a common communication language of all ethnic groups, so as to get it to promote under the protection of law and policy. However, too much emphasis on the priority of Russian, making Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkmen, Kyrgyz, Tajik and other Central Asian ethnic minority languages a secondary position, and fail to obtain proper legal statuses restricted their development. Language development was limited resulting in cultural development of these native peoples. This has gradually made the Central Asian nation produce a rebellion and exclusion of psychology for Russian. This has also foreshadowed Central Asian countries pursuing "Anti-Russian policy" afterwards.For the newly independent Central Asian countries, the native language, equally important as national territory, national flag, national emblem, etc., is a symbol of a sovereignly independent state. Thus, in the early days of independence, in order to enhance the social status of the national language, these countries firstly made their main native language as the sole national language in terms of law, so as to reduce the impact of Russian culture and language. It was also a symbol to get rid of the Russian rule, and to achieve national independence.In the post-Soviet Central Asia, Russian lost its status of national language, and was restricted in the business, social life, culture, education and the mass media and other areas. Russian in Central Asia was not only marginalized by main national languages, and was challenged by Turkish, English and other foreign languages.But in recent years, with changes in the international situation, especially Russia’s economic recovery, national strength resuscitation, Russia’s leaders have repeatedly said, "to defend the Russian international space", which made a positive impact in the consolidation of Russian in Central Asia. In addition, with the strengthened economic ties between the Central Asian countries and Russia, learning Russian is becoming increasingly important for residents of Central Asia. Russian in Central Asia looms a "bright" future.Dissemination and development of Russian in Central Asia are influenced by Central Asia and Russia (Soviet Union) relations and international situations. Through researches in the development of Russian in Central Asia, we can more clearly understand language as a communication tool for human society, and its close link with the development of human society. Changes in social circumstances have a profound impact on the development of language.