What is the state language and how important is it for the country? How are things with him in our country? Could it be that there are several state languages?
general characteristics
The Constitution stipulates that the state language of the Russian Federation is central and such that it is used throughout the country. This is used in countries where there is a complex national structure of the population, as well as many dialects. Of course, this is accompanied by certain difficulties. After all, it is necessary to study the issues of the legal regime for all other languages that are used in a certain territory. Mechanisms to protect national minorities are also often created. For states where only one language is used, this process acts only as a statement of the current state of affairs. In the presence of an external threat, it can act as a factor in consolidation. This is what the state language is. Let's take a closer look at its importance in the modern world. And in the future, we will find out which countries speak what language.
Importance of the issue
Most often, state languages are not introduced to solve any problems. This, as a rule, is determined by certain reasons for development. Let's look at two examples. There are countries like Italy and Finland. They believe that part of the indigenous population is 94.06% and 93.35%, respectively. In Italy there are no legal regulations on the official language. But in Finland, such a status is assigned not only to Finnish, but also to Swedish. Although only 6.21% of the population uses it. What is the state language, is it needed and what attention should be paid to it - this is decided by each country separately.
The history of development in the Russian Federation and in the former Soviet Union
Russian as the state language was originally proclaimed in October 1991. In 1993, this status was enshrined in the Constitution. At the same time, the republics were legally given the right to establish the state languages in their subjects and use them. Although it should be noted that this was solely a consolidation of the current state of affairs. So, in three republics, this was done before the October events of 1991. Something similar could be seen throughout the former Soviet Union. So, the state language of the Russian Federation is such in the territory of the Republic of Belarus. Although it should be noted that this was not observed in all countries. So, in a number of countries there was a crowding out of the Russian language. In some, these processes can be seen even now. Suffice it to recall Tajikistan, where only a few months ago Russian names were officially banned.
Reasons for conducting such a language policy in the Russian Federation
The initial task of adopting the relevant bills was not to strengthen the position of the Russian thanks to raising him to the rank of a nationwide. Then they relied on the need to consolidate legal language policy in order to solve a number of problems. It was also necessary to show the unity of the state, which was especially relevant in the period 91-93. After all, then there were a lot of manifestations of separatism and desire to separate from the state (which, however, can be observed in a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation somewhat in a weakened form). Then it was important to overcome the problems as quickly as possible, therefore, all possible means were used.
Current situation
Now the Russian language is used in official communication. It is most widely represented at the highest level. To designate it, two concepts are used - the state and official language. Each of them is correct. Unfortunately, to this day there is no clear definition of each of the concepts. Therefore, we cannot draw any definite conclusions about their difference between themselves. Particular attention is paid to the fact that on the scale of the Russian Federation only one state language is recognized - Russian, which is used by the most numerous people of the country. To study it, the country creates all the necessary conditions. The main characteristic that this is true is the fact that the Russian language is used in local government and in
government, clerical work, legal proceedings, and so on.
Terminological differences
Let's look at the concepts of state and official languages from the point of view of UNESCO. They consider them close, but not the same in meaning. So, in 1953, their experts proposed defining as the state language the one with the help of which political, cultural and
social integration is carried out
. So, if some kind of mass celebration takes place, then it is conducted in Russian. Whereas the official language from the point of view of UNESCO is one that is used in public administration, law and legal proceedings. Adherence to their version can be seen in the constitutions of Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Slovakia, Austria, Turkey and Cyprus. The existence of a definition is highly controversial in France and Spain, as well as in a number of other smaller
states (this is due to the peculiarities of local legislation). This is due to the fact that the most common folk language is used as a means of fixing the process, as well as the results of the country's activities.
About features
Now let's look at the finishing touches to have an idea of what the state language is. Initially, it is necessary to note a close relationship with the existing real country. In the Russian Federation, the state language acts as a means of communication in the main areas of interaction of a multinational society. It also acts as a symbol and maintains a connection with a particular nationality. The state language in every self-respecting country has priority in development and use. So, in addition to the official sphere, it can also be found in education and mass communication. Now let's talk about the official languages of the countries of the world, as well as the subjects of the Russian Federation.
Where, what and at what level are they used?
Let's start with where Russian is used as the state language. There are only two such countries: Belarus and the Russian Federation. There are 4 more quasi-entities: the
Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, the LPR, the DPR and South Ossetia. But since conflicts clash around these territories and there is very little that can be understood with their legal status, we will ignore them. The countries where Russian is used in state and municipal institutions and has official status is Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Not least of all, this is due to the fact that they lack the practice of using their own dialect, as well as a significant dependence on the modern Russian Federation. And now let's go through the countries where official functions are assigned to the Russian language. It:
- Ukraine.
- Tajikistan.
- Uzbekistan
- Israel.
- State of New York (USA).
A fresh list of entities in the Russian Federation that have their own characteristics can be found on the official websites of government agencies. Of particular interest is the Bashkir state language. The fact is that he was determined in this status back in 1920. In general, there are quite a lot of similar interesting information, so you will have something to occupy yourself with. If we talk about Europe, then officially multilingual are: the Russian Federation, Belarus, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany and Ireland. But this rather weakly reflects the real state of affairs. The fact is that most European countries are multilingual, despite the fact that only one is officially used. From a geopolitical point of view, it is important that the country's leadership use peaceful methods (preferably economic, that is, people themselves want, like ours) to promote Russian as the state language in other countries.
Conclusion
Let's talk a little about the global environment. Now the
international language of communication is considered English. It publishes many scientific papers, and also conducts commercial correspondence. Some countries introduce English as their national language to facilitate their citizens' learning. But, as a rule, this applies either to past colonies, or to small and not very successful states.