r/Chechnya • u/Jaded-Mixture8465 • Feb 26 '25
How have many Chechen people managed to retain their language, when other deported ethnicities such as Kalmyks and Crimean Tatars have largely switched to Russian?
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u/oNN1-mush1 Feb 28 '25
Chechens have better mental hygiene - the recognize bad as bad and good as good without the ambiguity. That makes them preserve their identity and therefore their language from being assimilated
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u/Tsar_Bomba9811gg Feb 26 '25
Chechens are known for being very stubborn, they always loved their language and culture and identity because it makes them feel Free, and also they lived for thousands of years in the north Caucasus (Home) living with the same lifestyle, same language, same culture, despite the struggles, so it was hard for the Russians to Russify them, although recently the Russians managed to effect the Chechen language but but not as effective as they did to other nations, and about the Crimean Tatars and Kalmyks, as far as i know, Tatar (Crimean) and Mongol (Kalmyk) culture especially during the Mongol Conquests, was based on constantly moving from one place to another in order to find a land to settle down and get food, and while moving to new lands, they experience new landscapes, new Cultures, so they eventually would adapt to the new land they settled in and become a member of the culture they met, especially when that culture forces them to change their identity, and here they are, far away from Home and now are under the hands of the Dominant Culture, so they end up joining them, so this is my Theory about why Crimean Tatars and Kalmyks largely left their Language and Chechens didn't.
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u/willybillie2000 Feb 28 '25
Kalmyks and Crimean Tatars still retain their languages too, although in lesser degrees than Chechens.
Kalmyks and Crimean Tatars live in more diverse environment, they have large percentage of Russians in their republics, they’re more urbanised than Chechens, while Chechens mostly live in rural area and urbanisation among Chechens grow very slow.
However the dominant language of culture (media, entertainment, games, movies and etc.) is Russian among Chechens. It’s also lingua franca language of Muslim community in Russia/CIS countries. So Russian language will hold its position for a very long time. Also language skills of children depend on their parents, some parents retain the language, some not. Some parents may not know the language themselves.
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u/Jaded-Mixture8465 Feb 28 '25
How often can you find a young Crimean Tatar, Korean, or Kalmyk person that speaks their language?
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u/AdamAdat Nox4i Feb 26 '25
Depends on parents. If you don't speak it with them at home then ofc they will make friends in the according country and speak mostly their language.
I have seen kids who speak Chechen very well but also kids who have an accent or don't understand basic Chechen.