The Sakha language in state and municipal administration from the perspective of officials and the people of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

Abstract

The article presents the results of the survey of the population of Yakutsk (the capital of the Sakha Republic) on the implementation of the requirements of articles 12-18 of the Law on Languages in the Sakha Republic, in effect since 1992. These articles concern the use of the republic’s state and official languages in official communication. The survey was conducted among two groups of respondents: 1) government and municipal employees responsible for implementing the state status of the Sakha language; 2) the capital’s residents of different social strata who experience the effects of the language policy of the republican authorities. The responses received were analyzed using statistical analysis methods, and the public opinion on the quality of implementation of the requirements of the Law on Languages in the Sakha Republic was determined, including the language of meetings in organizations, the language of legislative acts of republican and local authorities, the language of office administration, the language of communication between citizens and authorities, etc. As a result of this analysis, it was concluded that the Sakha language has a very narrow application in state and municipal administration – it is mainly the language of informal communication. Translation activities aimed at ensuring equal use of both state languages are not well organized. Some articles of the law concerning office administration in the Sakha language have lost their relevance due to the development of technologies and standards, including systems for the automated circulation of financial and statistical documentation. According to the author of the article, the main reason for the failure to comply with the requirements of the Law on Languages in the Sakha Republic in state and municipal administration is the widespread Yakut-Russian bilingualism, which entails the transition to Russian by a significant number of bilinguals and the lack of targeted measures to support the state status of the Sakha language from the republican authorities.

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