Received a request from Jenanne, a Scotland University of Aberdeen PhD Student. Her major is Social Anthropology, so all her questions sounded accordingly. Mainly she wondered how popular the Sakha (Yakut) language was on the Internet. I said I had a friend of mine, who’s hobby was to write in his native language everything and everywhere in every corner of the worldwide net.
The person I recommended to torture with those questions was Halan (that’s how he prefers to call himself online), who stands behind Sakha Wikipedia. I reforwarded Jenanne’s questions to him. He answered and then Jenanne (currently she studies Russian, but speaks Ukrainian pretty good, cause her mother is originated from Ukraine) translated his text into English. Find Halan’s replies further:
1. Is Sakha your native language? What other languages do you speak?
Yes, my parents speak this language, my grandparents spoke it and I myself didn’t know another language until entering school. Now I speak Russian almost as a native speaker. I studied English later, but this was a requirement of a training program in school and university – that is, the approach to the study was rather formal, therefore unfortunately I don’t speak it for practical purposes. I can read texts on simple themes, and also medical texts with a dictionary.
2. What is your profession?
First – an automobile driver, secondly a doctor – I have a PhD in epidemiology, and third – a manager. At the present time, I manage a small business delivering medicines and medical services.
3. How did you get involved with working on the Sakha Wikipedia? About how many people are collaborating on the Sakha Wikipedia?
I have children growing up, who in my opinion should be proud of belonging to the Sakha people and of their native language. But to be proud of a language with limited possibilities is difficult. Therefore I want that my rich and ancient Sakha language to become widely used in all spheres of human activity. Wikipedia can help a language become universal. From May 2008, when a section in Sakha opened, I became its bureaucrat (administrator). Now the Sakha Wikipedia has about 6000 articles. By this indicator we are in 4th place in Russia (after the sections in Russian, Chuvash, and Yiddish). For reference, in the country there are more than 100 languages that do not have their own national education or formation outside of Russia.
There are no specialized statistics about how many people write or use Wikipedia in our language. But I can say that there are from about 10 people actively writing to about 50 people who write from time to time.
4. Are you involved in any other Sakha language websites, or any other activities to promote the language?
Yes, I am trying to socialize on Sakha forums in Sakha. In the last three years I am actively publishing articles in the press, keeping special blogs in the Sakha language, and entering in studies and public forums in support of native language. I am thechairman of the social/public organization Tas Sakhalar, the task of which is to support connections with Sakha living outside the boundaries of Yakutia.
5. In your opinion, why is it important to promote and spread the usage of the Sakha language on the Internet?
The widening/broadening of the representation of language on the Internet and in general of informational-communication technologies is one of the most important conditions of the retention and development of a language, and of transmission of cultural information to the future generations.
6. What do you think are the most popular websites for people in the Sakha Republic? (e.g. which news sites, which networking sites – Facebook, MySpace, YouTube…)
I don’t completely understand. If you are speaking about the most popular sites of Yakutians, then they are very different and it is unlikely one can gather such statistics. If you are talking about languages, then it is my personal feeling that the most popular ones are usually those sites in Russian.
7. On which Internet sites do you see people using the Sakha language the most?
Recently I made a rather superficial analysis, not pretending in truth in the last instance. It is such that of 34 sites getting into my field of vision (excluding my own blogs) only 15 are completely done in the Sakha language or have a full Sakha version at the same level as other language versions. Still 11 rather often place Sakha texts alongside foreign languages. 8 are done in Russian, but have materials facilitating contact in Sakha (dictionaries, ethnic music, etc).
8. Are there any internet sites that are only in Sakha (besides the Wikipedia) and not Russian, English or any other language?
I answered above.
9. Do younger or older people tend to use the Sakha language more on the Internet? (What age are the people who use Sakha the most on the Internet?)
Specialist research hasn’t been conducted, and this still awaits our own researchers. I think that more middle-ageed representatives study language on the Internet, since the older generation in general badly controls technologies, and youth socialize more in two languages at the same time or even in a mixed language.
10. Do you see more Sakha speakers using English on the Internet, or is using Russian still more popular?
There is a definite tendency. In the language 20 a whole generation of Sakha appeared, controlling well one or two foreign languages (English, German, and French). The Russian language is controlled on a very good level at a practical manner by all youth and all city-dwellers, and at a passable level by all adult inhabitants of the Republic.
11. I found on the Orto Doidu website that there was a list of words in Sakha for computer terminology: http://doydu.sakhaopenworld.org/01tylgt.php. Do you know who worked together to create these? Are you seeing these words used a lot on the Internet, or do you think it is more common to use the Russian or English equivalents?
Yes, this little dictionary was made by my good acquaintance Bert Jikty (Yakov Alexandrov), a man having engineering training, presently a patriot of the nation. The terms Bert Jikty suggests are usually used on Sakha sites, for example, for the translation of the Wiki interface, I based it precisely on this dictionary. Computer terms such as those worldwide, penetrate into Russia from English-speaking countries. Here they at first are adapted to the Russian language, and then penetrate into other languages of the Russian Federation. At the present time, in Russia there appears to be many people speaking the English language no worse than Russian, and therefore people have appeared who consider it correct to borrow terms directly from English avoiding the Russian equivalents.
12. Do you notice many people ‘mixing’ languages when they communicate on the internet? Like speaking Sakha, and using Russian or English words too in their speech?
I don’t completely understand the question. Among Sakha youth it’s always been fashionable to insert (use) some Russian words in one’s sentences. In recent times the use of English expressions has become fashionable. Well, the Internet is a mirror of society, therefore there as well such things are unavoidable.
Similar Posts:
- Are there any websites in the Sakha language? Many! Check the list.
- Press Release: New Technologies & Innovations Permanent Yakutia Online Exhibition
- Which travel insurance is valid for Yakutia, Russia?
- How to contact ALROSA?
- The Russian visa
