Tożsamość językowa Gruzinów a język rosyjski

Abstract

The preservation of the Georgian language was not an easy task at times when its official language status was endangered. These efforts did not last 20 or 50 years, but much longer. At various times in history, Georgia has been occupied, divided by “other”, “foreign” nations that culturally had little in common with Georgia. Georgian culture has suffered greatly, including the Georgian language. In Georgia, Russian language proficiency is still at a high level, as the results show. Those who were born in the USSR or shortly after its collapse had to learn Russian. Knowing a language can be merely a matter of foreign languages knowledge in a given country, which is not necessarily linked to proRussian state policy. Good relations with Russia can play a significant role in the propaganda of Russian language teaching (e.g. in some former Soviet states), but this is not always necessarily the case (e.g. in the case of Georgia). The high percentage of people knowing Russian may be due to geographical location (being neighbors with Russia), history (Russian Empire, USSR), interests (high percentage of Russian investments, e.g. in Armenia), education (“best” universities are in Russia, so it is worth learning Russian), culture (Slavs), etc.