Abstract

RUSSIAN-ESTONIAN CODE-SWITCHING AMONG YOUNG ESTONIAN RUSSIANS: DEVELOPING A MIXED LINGUISTIC IDENTITY Anastassia Zabrodskaja Tallinn University Introduction The study is concerned with conversational functions of Russian-Estonian codeswitching in Kohtla-Jarve, which is a specific region in terms of population structure: Estonians from 20.9 % and Russians 79.1 %. The demographic situation is not homogenous throughout the whole Estonian territory. There are predominantly Russianspeaking areas in North East (Kohtla-Jarve, Narva etc), predominantly Estonian-speaking Western, Central and Southern Estonia, and the capital Tallinn with approximately the same size of the two speech communities (see M. Rannut (2004) , Verschik (2007) for discussion). The internal diversity within the Russian-language community (indigenous group vs. newcomers, self-identification with Estonia or Russia) actuates variations in Estonian language skills, degree of contacts with Estonian, and in linguistic and cultural identity (for more detail see Verschik 2002, 2005). Young Russian-speakers of Kohtla-Jarve have a more sovereign command of the Estonian language than their parents and use their Russian as a strategy to communicate with their parents, but are essentially moving towards primary use of Estonian as they become socialized into the larger society. Changes in language attitudes, self-perception, and linguistic repertoire have occurred during the last ten years. Considerably, the

Highlights

  • The study is concerned with conversational functions of Russian-Estonian codeswitching in Kohtla-Järve, which is a specific region in terms of population structure: Estonians from 20.9 % and Russians 79.1 %

  • Young Russian-speakers of Kohtla-Järve have a more sovereign command of the Estonian language than their parents and use their Russian as a strategy to communicate with their parents, but are essentially moving towards primary use of Estonian as they become socialized into the larger society

  • Russians living in Estonia only up to 40 percent are born in Estonia

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Summary

Introduction

The study is concerned with conversational functions of Russian-Estonian codeswitching in Kohtla-Järve, which is a specific region in terms of population structure: Estonians from 20.9 % and Russians 79.1 %. Based on Franceschini (1998) concept of the portrait of a CS-speaker (“CSspeaker” means a multilingual speaker that uses code-switching), Verschik (2004 a: 436) states that a CS-speaker in Estonia is: (1) a younger person that comes from a Russian monolingual setting (typically his or her parents would barely know any Estonian); (2) has typically acquired Estonian as L2 in school or in a university; (3) uses CS for both inand out-group communication. This portrait precisely applies to the young Russianspeakers of Kohtla-Järve. Their occurrence will only be referred with categories “a lot”, “often”, “rarely”

Language play
Partitive
Quotation
Reiteration
Topic shift
B2: Ran’še nado bylo dumat’!
Change in participant constellation
Parentheses or side-comment
Expressive function
Conclusion
Findings
11. Cambridge
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