Friday, July 5, 2019
Loss of Language May Not Mean Loss of Ethnic Identity, Vakhtin Says
Paul Goble
Staunton, July 3 – If a nation loses its traditional language and adopts another, that may or may not lead to a loss of ethnic identity, Nikolay Vakhtin, a specialist on the peoples of the Russian North who heads the Center for Social Research at St. Petersburg’s European University (nazaccent.ru/content/30255-ne-povod-zaciklivatsya.html).
Language is an important ethnic marker, but it is far from the only one, he says; and the loss of a traditional language may not be the end of the nation. Instead, it may give the nation additional bases for defending their identity because their interactions with other peoples will intensify, a situation that often gives rise to more intensely held national feelings. Read more
