Language Policy in the Soviet Union

Language Policy in the Soviet Union Chapter 6: Central Asia

Overview of Central Asia • Central Asia = Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan; all are Muslim, and all except Tajikistan are Turkic; part of Russian empire since late 19th c • Lots of reshuffling of borders in Soviet period • Soviets very concerned over high birth rate – Central Asian population growth was over three times higher than elsewhere

Overview of Central Asia, cont’d. • Turkic language-dialect continuum runs across the region, with all contiguous peoples able to communicate with each other, no firm linguistic boundaries • Only exception is Tajiki, which is I-E, which has 3.3M in Tajikistan, .9M in Uzbekistan

Overview of Central Asia, cont’d. • Uzbek (politically defined) has 16.5M in Uzbekistan, .8M in Tajikistan, .5M in Kyrgyzstan • Minority groups speak local varieties of Arabic, Farsi and indigenous languages, most of which lack a written form • 1926 switch from Arabic to Latin script

Overview of Central Asia, cont’d. • Language and identity were deliberately manipulated by Soviets, who tried to invent “separate” languages and identities and thus reduce the opportunity for a pan-Turkic identity to arise • Creation of Central Asian “identities” was successful; creation of Soviet-Russian identity was less successful – population is large and has a strong Muslim identity that resisted Soviet dogma • Language retention rates are very high, over 97%; knowledge of Russian as a second language is low, at about 25-30% except in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, where it is 50%

Overview of Central Asia, cont’d. • Although they are primarily associated with the Tatar ASSR within Russia (technically North of Central Asia, but not in it), Tatars are a Turkic people and very influential in the area, and there are .3M Tatars in the Central Asian republics • Tatars tended to be leaders and education specialists, but they promoted pan-Turkism, and opposed change from Arabic to Latin script and were viewed with suspicion by Moscow

The Influence of Islam • Region is primarily Turkic and Muslim, but there are Turkic people who are not Muslims and Muslims who are not Turkic • Initially anti-religious > atheistic • Soviet policies had little impact on strong Muslim identity • Shift from Arabic script was designed to cut people off from religious literature, language was manipulated in order to divide people, create geolinguistic (instead of religious) identities

Turkestan • Part of Russia since 19th c, initially one large Republic, 1924 broken into Uzbek and Turkmen republics • Despite Bolshevik claims to defend indigenous peoples, Muslim Central Asians were excluded from decision-making processes from the start • Early Soviets blamed extremely low literacy rates for preventing inclusion of Central Asians in administration

Turkestan, cont’d. • 1923 mandate to make use of Turkic exclusive and universal proved to be unfeasible and in 1924 all documents were mandated to be written in Russian • Turkestan completely lacked an educational infrastructure: books, teachers, schools • 1924 only 4% of indigenous children were enrolled in school

Turkestan, cont’d. • 1924 regrouping broke Turkestan into: • Uzbek SSR • Containing the Tajik ASSR in its boundaries • Turkmen SSR • Also created within Russia • Kyrgyz ASSR (later > SSR) • Karakalpak ASSR • Kazakh ASSR (later > SSR)

The Uzbek SSR • Uzbek nation and identity are a Soviet invention; before 1920 Uzbek was not considered a distinct language, but rather a Turkic dialect, closely related to Uyghur & Kazakh • Until 1924, written language was Chagatai (also Turkic); Soviets declared Uzbek the direct descendant of Chagatai and refer to Chagatai as “Old Uzbek” • Literacy rate 3.8% in 1928

The Uzbek SSR, cont’d. • Uzbek and Tajiki, despite lack of genetic similarity, have had profound effects on each other • Some Soviet planners initially promoted the adoption of a pan-Turkic language, but when the Uzbek SSR was created, basically “Uzbek” was the term for all Turkic varieties within its borders

The Uzbek SSR, cont’d. • Non-standardized use of Arabic script for writing since 9th c • 1921 several reforms of use of Arabic to better represent Uzbek (especially vowels and vowel harmony) • 1926 Latin alphabet introduced to reduce influence of religion and speed literacy

The Uzbek SSR, cont’d. • Orthography was introduced without first codifying the language, and dialectal differences created chaos • Effort to get children into schools was enormous, but still many dropped out after 2nd grade • Large commitment to publishing textbooks

The Uzbek SSR, cont’d. • Uzbeks were slow to enroll in higher education; numbers of indigenous students at Central Asian State University: 3.5% in 1927-28, 19% in 1928-29, 26% 1929-30, but dropout rates were high, and indigenous students were often ill-prepared • 1934 Soviets began backing away from nativization, began recruiting more non-indigenous (Russian) employees for administration, and number of posts occupied by Uzbeks declined; emphasis on Russian language

The Uzbek SSR, cont’d. • Late 1930s Russian made compulsory for all schoolchildren, despite fact that necessary materials and teachers did not exist • However support for Uzbek in elementary education remained quite strong, partly because the most effective medium for education was the native tongue

The Uzbek SSR, cont’d. • 1940 shift to Cyrillic script and elimination of spelling of vowel harmony, which was not used by urban speakers, and which made it possible to accept Russian borrowings as is. • Russification stepped up in post-Stalin era • Rapid growth of Uzbek population reduced effects of Russification; in 1989 98.3% claimed Uzbek as mother tongue, and only .07% claimed Russian

Central Asia prior to WWII • Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen all closely related Turkic languages • 1991 Kazakh speakers: • 6.5M Kazakhstan, 37K Kyrgyzstan, 88K Turkmenistan, 808K Uzbekistan • Karakalpak (disputed as a dialect of Kazakh): 400K Uzbekistan and some in Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan

The Kazakh SSR in the Early Years • Chagatai was the early literary language • 19th c efforts to create Kazakh literary language produced two opposing views: • Intellectuals advocated use of Tatar; Tatar schools promoted Islam • Secular elite and Russian authorities advocated development of Kazakh; Russian schools trained Kazakhs for govt service

The Kazakh SSR in the Early Years, cont’d. • 1876 Kazakh-language (Cyrillic) schools established by Ministry of Education • 1892 Tatars banned from teaching in schools • Northern dialect chosen as standard; less Farsi influence and more Russian influence • Literacy: 1919 2%, 1926 22.5%, 12% of children enrolled in school

The Kazakh SSR in the Early Years, cont’d. • 1927 switch from Arabic to Latin script -- this made all previous literature inaccessible to newly literate population and disrupted historical continuity, political identity -- this was interpreted as “anti-Soviet” • 1940 switch to Cyrillic, with some modification in 1952

The Kazakh SSR in the Early Years, cont’d. • Civil unrest begins in 1986 in response to appointment of ethnic Russian to be 1st Secy of Kazakhstan CCCP, and to Russification • 1989 Kazakh declared official language, big push to appoint Kazakhs to govt posts, Russian-speaking population complains of lack of access to Kazakh language instruction

The Development of Tajiki and the Tajik SSR • Tajiki is the only I-E language among titular languages of Central Asia, related to Farsi, Tat (Azerbaijan); some consider it a dialect of the Farsi spoken in Iran and Afghanistan, but Tajiki has more Turkic influence • 9th c literary language founded, but did not become widespread, Classical Persian used instead • 1926 <3% literacy rate

The Development of Tajiki and the Tajik SSR, cont’d. • Busy history: • Early 19th c semi-independent state with Uzbekistan • Annexed by Russian Empire • 1918 part of Turkmen SSR • 1929 Tajik SSR established and Tajik became its official language

The Development of Tajiki and the Tajik SSR, cont’d. • 1920s & 30s standardization of language & orthography, based on NW dialects near Samarkand & Bukhara • 1927 Arabic > Latin; 1940 Latin > Cyrillic • Likbez (likvidacija bezgramotnosti) schools established to raise literacy and train workers -- quite successful • 1979-89 highest growth rate in USSR 43% (national average 9.3%, next highest was Uzbekistan 29%)

The Development of Tajiki and the Tajik SSR, cont’d. • Russian was absolutely necessary for govt posts and was the primary language of education • 1989 Tajik Supreme Soviet passed a language resolution similar to that in Estonia and renamed the language: Tajiki (Farsi)

The Kyrgyz SSR and the Turkmen SSR • For both languages, 1926 Arabic > Latin, 1938 Latin > Cyrillic • Turkmen SSR • 1928 govt campaign to eliminate Islam, compulsory education replaces religious schools • 1930-35 intelligentsia criticizes Soviet regime, demands return to Chagatai or Anatolian Turkish as literary language

The Kyrgyz SSR and the Turkmen SSR, cont’d. • Turkmen SSR • One of the most rural and poor Republics • Tribal identity remained stronger than national identity • Kyrgyz SSR • 1924 Autonomous Region > 1926 ASSR > 1936 SSR • Kyrgyz language and ethnic identity is real, not a Soviet invention, epic literary works exist

The Success of Literacy • Great progress was made, though it is hard to judge because of Soviet exaggerations of statistics, basically it went from single digits to over 50% by 1939 throughout Central Asia • Urban areas did better than rural ones, males better than females, younger people better than older • Tajik SSR makes the biggest gains, going from lowest to second highest in region

Central Asia after Stalin • Russification mostly failed in Uzbekistan but was successful in Kazakhstan; Kazakhs have lowest language retention rate in Central Asia; similar situation in Kyrgyzstan • 1989 Fluency in Russian as a second language: Kazakh 60%, Kyrgyz 35%, Tajik 28%, Turkmen 28%, Uzbek 24% -- this represents a decrease from 1979 levels everywhere but in Kazakhstan

Language Reform • Like Baltics, the Central Asian states were concerned about Russian encroachments and enacted language laws in 1989-90, though Turkmen, Kazakh, and Tajik make provisions for support of Russian too; but all state employees are required to speak the titular language

Language Policy in the Soviet Union