Ethnolinguistic identity of the Dolgans of Taymyr (based on the results of sociological study)

Abstract

Ethnic language is the crucial component of national culture of the ethnic group, as it is simultaneously the prerequisite and the condition for the existence of ethnos. The subject of this research is the ethnolinguistic consciousness and ethnic identity of the Dolgans of Taymyr. The article examines the choice of language as native, the level of linguistic competence, the scope of use of the Dolgan language, the command of other regional languages, the questions of linguistic continuity, and other processes that reveal the dynamics of ethnolinguistic self-consciousness. The article provides the results of field research conducted in 2021in Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, including in the settlements Khatanga and Popigai, which are the place of compact residence of Dolgan people. Based on the results of quantitative and qualitative sociological studies, as well as the analysis of modern scientific research, the conclusion is drawn on the leading positions of native language as the crucial ethnic identifier, and stable position of the Dolgan language as the master language of communication in these localities. The development and sustainability of the traditional way of life, spheres of employment, and traditional culture of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North is the major institutional barrier for the linguistic shift that entails the loss of ethnic languages. The education system in native languages of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North along with the sociocultural sphere are also the key factors for preservation of native languages, traditional way of life, and unique cultural values of the Dolgans of Taymyr.