남·북캅카스의 언어상황 비교

Abstract

Caucasus is divided into the North Caucasus of the Russian Federation and the South Caucasus, where the three independent countries and three disputed areas are located. It is a region that is still geopolitically and linguistically unstable due to the establishment of an artificial border in the Soviet period, the forced migration of the people, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the resettlement of indigenous peoples of independent countries, (Russian speaker’s exclusion in state administration, decline and elimination of Russian status, reduction and elimination of Russian language - used areas, transition of writing system, etc.) and Western-oriented policies. First, Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus is a Muslim country, and the State language is Azerbaijani, similar to Turkish language, and it is pursuing gradual derussification by taking a moderate policy with the possession of oil resources. Second, Armenia has pursued a pro-Russian policy due to the Russian support of the first Karabakh war and geopolitical instability, and Russian education has been set as a mandatory in schools, but due to the defeat of the second Karabakh war in 2020 and Russia’s indifference, the situation of Russian language in the future is not appear to be positive. not bright. Third, Georgia has a great deal of hostility toward Russia, Russians and Russian language due to the separation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by the promotion of monoethnic centered nation-building, the outbreak of war and de facto independence. However, I researched that Russian language’s strengthening would be stronger in the these two separate Russian-speaking regions that border Russia and want to integrate with Russia. Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, is also a notable region. It is clear that the restoration of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh to the Russians, Russian language and culture that supported Armenia in the 1st Karabakh war will have an extremely negative impact on the status and use of Russian language. Next, the indigenous national languages of the native Republics of North Caucasus, along with Russian, the state language of the Russian Federation, all have the status of republican official language, but the future is not bright. In particular, with the adoption of the Russian Federal Education Law in 2018, Russian language has been privileged by acquiring the status of mother tongue by Russian speakers (indigenous and ethnic minorities) in addition to state language. Moreover, the development and result of the Russian-Ukrainian war (whether Russia wins or loses the war) shows that the Russian government's efforts to raise the status of the Russian language will be stronger.