MULTILINGUALISM OF POST-SOVIET MIGRATION: FUNCTIONAL ASPECT

Erzhen V. Khilkhanova

Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federation

Abstract

The article uses the results of a project aimed at studying the relationship between language and ethnic identity of non-Russian immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Western Europe. It is concluded that, on the one hand, the fi rst-generation migrants «export» patterns of using L1 (ethnic language) and L2 (Russian language) formed in their native country. On the other hand, in a foreign cultural environment there is a transformation of existing and appearance of new functions and values of L1 and L2. Regarding L2 the author draws two main theoretical conclusions: 1) in a migration situation, the Soviet concept of the Russian language as a language of interethnic communication receives its «second life», 2) L2 fulfills the functions of the inner language — the language used for «internal» purposes, that is, for communication with people from the post-Soviet space sharing a common past and socialization experience.
Keywords: non-Russian migrants, Western Europe, former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan, Russia, ethnic languages, Russian, inner language, outer language

For citation: Khilkhanova E.V. Multilingualism of post-Soviet migration: functional aspect. Sociolinguistics, 2020, no. 1, pp. 63–78 (In Russ.)

DOI: 10.37892/2713-2951-2020-1-1-63-78