The Forest Nenets as a double language minority

• Main Author: Toulouze, Eva
• Other Authors: Centre de recherches Europes-Eurasie (CREE EA 4513), Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2003
• Subjects: sociolinguistics; endangered language; Western Siberia; minority language; [SHS.ANTHRO-SE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Social Anthropology and ethnology; [SHS.LANGUE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Linguistics; khanty; nenets; Siberia
• Online Access: https://hal-inalco.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01284698; https://hal-inalco.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01284698/document; https://hal-inalco.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01284698/file/A%20dual%20language%20minorityERM2003.pdf

International audience This article comments upon the sociolinguistical situation of the Forest Nenets in the Agan region: this language, which is practically non written, is nowadays spoken only by people aged 60 and more, only some adults being able to use it and no children at all. It observes that Forest Nenets is not only a minority language compared to Russian, the lingua franca; it is also a minority language in regard to the other native language of the region, Khanty (Eastern dialect): if the Nenets who speak Nenets are also fluent in Khanty, the Khanty speaking Khanty do not know Nenets.