АБАЗИНСКИЙ ЯЗЫК: ИСТОРИЯ И СОВРЕМЕННОСТЬ

Abstract

The article analyzes the prerequisites and the main causes and factors that influenced the current state of the Abazin language. Various processes related to the preservation of the national language are ongoing in Abaza society. Russia’s modern abazins live compactly in the Abazinsky district of Karachay-Cherkessia, they are one of the five title nations of the republic. However, their significant part left homeland in the middle of the 19th century and emigrated to the Ottoman Empire. As a result of this relocation, the abazins found themselves scattered around various parts of the world. The absence of their own writing and life in a foreign cultural environment led to a significant loss of the communicative properties of the Abazin language. Many factors influenced the functional change of the language — political, socio-economic, cultural, etc. At the turn of the 20th–21st centuries, realizing that the native language is on the verge of extinction, the abazins started vigorous activity to preserve the language, uniting the efforts of not only those living in the Russian Federation, but also fellow tribesmen from other countries of the world. This was facilitated by the holding of the World Abkhaz-Abazi Congress and the creation of other public organizations aimed at preserving national culture and language. These processes are gaining strength thanks to information technologies that allow not only broadcasting, but also seeing the interlocutor and communicating with him. Native speakers can teach the Abazin language to anyone, regardless of where they live. Thus, modern abazins use all available resources to preserve their original culture.