• Language loyalty to the ethnic language among the Hausa community in Khartoum

  Research Article

  

  Ethnic Culture Volume 7 No 2

  Author:

  Muhammad N. Osman

  Work direction:

  World languages and literature

  Abstract:

  This article presents the results of a comprehensive study of the language loyalty of Hausa speakers in the urban environment of Khartoum. Based on field data collected in 2022–2025 (one hundred in-depth interviews and questionnaires), the key factors influencing the preservation of the ethnic language in the diaspora community are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the intergenerational dynamics of language preferences, strategies of language socialization, and the role of language attitudes in identification processes. An analysis of language loyalty in the Hausa diaspora environment showed that, in addition to the traditional criterion of recognizing an ethnic language as native, important indicators include practices of preserving cultural heritage. In the Khartoum diaspora, a special role is played by maintaining song traditions and watching foreign films in the Hausa language, and regular meetings of community representatives. For most respondents, the native language performs a predominantly symbolic function, serving as a marker of group identity and a bearer of cultural values. In general, the results demonstrate a complex picture of language shift, where the traditional “home-street-school” triad undergoes significant transformations under the influence of urbanization processes. The study makes a significant contribution to understanding the mechanisms of language stability in the context of Arabic-African language contact.

  Keywords:

  ethnic identity, diaspora, internal diaspora, language shift, language loyalty, Hausa, language ideology, urban sociolinguistics, Sudan

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• Paired words in the poetic genres of Russian children's folklore

  Research Article

  

  Ethnic Culture Volume 7 No 2

  Authors:

  Tamara N. Erina, Eduard V. Fomin

  Work direction:

  World languages and literature

  Abstract:

  The work is devoted to the study of a particular problem of children's speech - paired words that exist in folklore texts - counting rhymes, roll-call-teasers, chants. The sources of factual material were collections with samples of children's oral folklore. The lexemes considered in the article were extracted by the method of continuous sampling. The study is based on the descriptive method, which is important for determining the functional features of paired words in the named genres. Unlike the Turkic and Finno-Ugric languages, where paired words are perceived as ordinary vocabulary and their problems are developed quite well, in Russian linguistics they have become the object of close study only recently. The article reveals the functions of paired words, conditioned by the specifics of the child’ perception, and determines their role in the formation of the linguistic consciousness of children. Paired words in poetic genres of Russian children's folklore perform a rhythmic-melodic function: they create a clear rhythm that organizes the text, make it convenient for memorization, pronunciation or singing, develop the child's linguistic intuition, sound repetitions and alliterations contribute to the development of phonetic hearing. Along with this, the study of paired words in children's folklore allows a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of transmission of linguistic traditions, contributes to the preservation of cultural memory.

  Keywords:

  nicknames, paired words, children's speech, counting books, teasers

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• The ontology of the formation of state bilingualism in the Republic of Belarus by the end of the 20th century

  Research Article

  

  Ethnic Culture Volume 7 No 2

  Author:

  Liubov R. Mustafina

  Work direction:

  World languages and literature

  Abstract:

  The work is devoted to the description of the language situation in the Republic of Belarus. The author studies the status and functions of the Belarusian language in the lands that were historically part of several states and are currently Belarusian territory. The aim of the work is to establish the factors that determined the return to state bilingualism following a short period of using the Belarusian language as the only state language. The study is based on the analysis of published documents devoted to the description of the language situation, as well as the language policy pursued in the Republic of Belarus, starting from the 9th to the 20th centuries. The study is of a review nature. The following should be recognized as the main factors underlying the modern language situation in the country: a long time of the Belarusian language being in a diglossal distribution with more functionally developed languages; close relationship of the Russian and Belarusian languages; stigmatization of a mixed version of these languages; the inclusion of the territory of modern Belarus into the Russian Empire and the USSR; a more prestigious status for the Russian language in the world; the functioning of the Belarusian language as a symbol of ethnic identification of Belarusians, but not as a means of communication.

  Keywords:

  the Russian language, the Belarusian language, closely related languages in bilingual settings, belarusian-russian-mixed-speech, language functions

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• The somonym component baş ‘head’ in the phraseology and proverbs of the Dobrujan Tatars and the Volga Tatars (functional-semantic analysis)

  Research Article

  

  Ethnic Culture Volume 7 No 2

  Authors:

  Fyaridya I. Tagirova, Ilgamiya I. Sabitova

  Work direction:

  World languages and literature

  Abstract:

  The article analyzes the functional and semantic features of the existence of the component-somonym "baş" (head) in the phraseology and proverbs of the Dobrudzha Tatars and the Volga Tatars in a comparative aspect. Illustrative material for comparison with the Tatar literary language was selected from special and explanatory dictionaries and collections of folklore. The work uses the method of functional-semantic analysis, as well as the analysis of phraseological units of the compared languages for the similarity of the plan of internal semantic content and the plan of lexical expression. The well-known thesis on the conservatism and stability of vocabulary denoting parts of the body is confirmed by this material. The results of the analysis of the dictionary of Nadrat Mahmut and Anvar Mahmut "Atalar sözi", as well as factual material from other sources, indicate that the phraseological units of the Romanian Tatars with the somonym "baş" have both full and partial parallels in the Tatar literary language. In this article, the authors try to demonstrate the similarity of lexical-semantic processes and the linguacultural similarity of the compared idioms using specific examples. It can be seen in the compared phraseological units both in terms of expression and in terms of content, which allows us to judge their common roots. The observed differences are primarily due to the fact that the formation of the linguaculture of idioms took place separately for a long time, surrounded by different cultures.

  Keywords:

  semantics, vocabulary, somatism, phraseological unit, Tatar language, Dobrujan Tatar language

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• Virtual excursions as a means of improving professional foreign language skills in a non-linguistic university: cultural immersion approach

  Research Article

  

  Ethnic Culture Volume 7 No 2

  Author:

  Tamara A. Kordon

  Work direction:

  Ethno-Cultural Problems of Education

  Abstract:

  The article discusses modern approaches to foreign language teaching, emphasizing the use of virtual excursions as an effective method that promotes the development of language and cultural skills. Virtual excursions, which utilize contemporary digital technologies such as 3D modeling and augmented reality, provide learners with a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the language environment and broaden their cultural horizons, which is vital in the context of international communication. The aim of the study is to demonstrate the potential of using virtual excursions in foreign language teaching at a non-linguistic university. The research was conducted at the Yakovlev’s University, where future teachers participated in a series of virtual excursions focusing on the history and culture of Great Britain. The research methodology included surveys, observations, and semi-structured interviews, allowing an assessment of the students’ language preparedness and engagement before and after the implementation of the innovative teaching method. The results showed a significant improvement in language skills, perception of authentic audio and video materials, as well as knowledge of the cultural aspects of the studied language countries.

  Keywords:

  intercultural communication, digital technologies, foreign language teaching, teacher training, language environment, virtual tours

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• Associative experiment as a means of tracking dynamics of secondary language personality development as exemplified by the stimulus word “nation”

  Research Article

  

  Ethnic Culture Volume 7 No 2

  Authors:

  Vera V. Koroleva, Ekaterina T. Polyanskaya

  Work direction:

  Ethno-Cultural Problems of Education

  Abstract:

  The article examines the dynamics of secondary language personality formation and the influence of learners’ native linguistic personality on this process. The article reviews the role of associative experiment in linguistic worldview and language personality examination. A chain associative experiment, conducted in three groups with different levels of English proficiency – including a group of native speakers – serves as the primary research method. The lexeme “nation” is used as the stimulus word in the experiment. The interpretation of the results is carried out according to Yu. N. Karaulov’s three-level model of language personality. The findings allow conclusions that there is a strong influence of the native linguistic personality on the formation of the secondary language personality at an early stage of the language mastery and the threshold level (A2–B1). Subjects with a great experience of conscious language acquisition demonstrate the most comprehensive understanding of the stimulus word “nation”, even compared to the native speakers. Furthermore, the prospects of associative experiment application for methodological purposes are noted, particularly for tracking the level of secondary language personality formation in learning groups and adjusting the language learning trajectory.

  Keywords:

  associative experiment, linguistic personality, linguistic worldview, secondary language personality

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