Lietuvos rusų ir rusakalbių sąvokos „gimtoji kalba“ suvokimas

A.Lichachiova. Perception of the concept of mother tongue by Lithuanian Russians and Russian speakers 253 ALA LICHAČIOVA Vilniaus universitetas LIETUVOS RUSŲ IR RUSAKALBIŲ CONCEPTION OF THE CONCEPT OF MOTHERS LANGUAGE The mother tongue is one of the most important concepts in many branches of science directly related to man and society: psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, language didactics, ethnopsycholinguistics, sociology, social psychology, etc. However, in the humanities, including linguistics, there is no strict and unambiguous definition of mother tongue*.1 It is possible to talk about the refinement of this concept according to the branches of science in which it is used (Залевская 1999: 292). For example, in applied linguistics, the common contradiction is first language vs. second language; in psycholinguistics known terms mother tongue or naturally acquired language, learned language; ethnolinguistics refers to the concepts of national masks and, respectively, masks of different peoples (ethnoses); language teaching methodology talks about native and non-native, or foreign, language. There is no direct correlation between these concepts, because the first language of an individual is not necessarily the same as the native language, and the second language is not equal to a foreign language. Let us say that in Lithuania, in non-Lithuanian schools, the second language is not a foreign language but the state (Lithuanian) language. In addition, an individual's mother tongue may be a foreign language in relation to the country in which he or she lives. Such are the Russian and Polish languages, which are the native languages of Lithuanian Russians and Poles. Therefore, the relationship between mother tongue and foreign language, as a means of kykloje dėstomų dalykų. GIMTOSIOS KALBOS APIBŪDINIMAS ĮVAIRIOSE KALBOSE The concept of mother tongue is described differently in different languages, for example, the Oxford Dictionary (1992) provides several synonymous definitions: concept * Article prepared according to a presentation read at the 17th Jon Jablonskis conference (2009 10 09), based on surveys of Lithuanian Russian speakers. 254 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 mother tongue is interpreted as the “language of the childhood home”, or as “a language learned at one’s mother’s knee”, or as the term native language (a language that people have acquired naturally as children). This dictionary states that primary language is a term of applied linguistics and language education, which usually means the same as mother tongue and native language. The English term native language also indicates the transmittable nature of this language, as it is said to be not learned (Dictionary by Longman 1983). The Oxford English Dictionary defines mother tongue as "the national language of all members of a nation". In Russian linguistic dictionaries, the term родной язык is usually undefined – for example, in the most important Encyclopedia of Language (ЛЕС 1990) the term is mentioned four times, but there is no separate article. Mother tongue is interpreted through the term материнский язык or первый язык, and первый язык as родной язык. Thus, one concept is defined by another. In the Lithuanian Kalbotyros dictionary of terms, mother tongue is defined as “a language that a person learns in childhood by imitating adults” (KTŽ 1990: 72). A similar definition of the term is given in the Russian Dictionary of Methodological Terms: "it is the mother tongue, acquired in early childhood by imitating the adults surrounding the child" (СМТ 1999: 276). However, it brings together things that are often completely different: the child's mother tongue and the language of the child's family. According to Russian sociolinguists V. Belikov and L. Krysin, "in every science, besides terms with more or less strict definitions, there are indefinite terms that are understood intuitively." For example, such a basic but undefined is the concept of number in mathematics, the concept of word in linguistics (so far there is no single and unambiguous definition of the term word). “Although it is paradoxical, these terms often denote the basic concepts of certain sciences” (Беликов, Крысин 2001: 145). The naive perception of the world shows that different peoples choose different mental bases for naming their mother tongue, which testifies to the ethnocultural conditionality of this concept. For example, in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Romanian, Serbian, Croatian, Finnish, Hindi, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, Scandinavian languages it is the "mother tongue". The English name of the place of birth one’s mother country, motherland, the Russian high-style name родина-мать (‘motherland-mother’) confirms “native” A.Lichachiova. The perception of Lithuanian Russians and Russian-speaking people of the concept of mother tongue 255 and the inseparability of "mother". In Hebrew, Greek, Finnish, and in many Germanic, Romance, and Slavic languages, the homeland is also associated with the father, and there is a clear contradiction between the concepts of "mother tongue" and "father's land". In Esperanto patrina lingvo also means mother tongue (patrino – “mother”), and the words patrio, naskiĝlando are derived from the root of the noun patro (“father”): patrijo, patrio. In the linguistic consciousness of other peoples, the native language is associated with blood kinship and the native land, the place of birth, for example, in English, as mentioned, there are two names: mother tongue and native language; the Lithuanian term gimtoji kalba is etymologically related to gimtinė and su gimine, the Polish język ojczysty – to ojczyzna and ojciec; in Russian родной язык – with родина and родитель, родня. One of the meanings of the Russian word родной is "close, own in spirit" (свой по духу), so it is natural that this axiological connotation is transferred to the concept of родной язык. A similar set of evaluations can be found in the everyday (domestic) designations of the mother tongue of some peoples – “their language” (Finnish), “our language” – Serbian, Croatian, “my language” – in the Turkish languages. In this type of names, the meaning of closeness is revealed more obviously than in the other mentioned ones, but in any case, the mother tongue in the consciousness of all peoples enters the sphere of the axiological contradiction “own-foreign”. LIETUVOS RUSŲ IR RUSAKALBIŲ Which of the languages spoken in Lithuania are preferred by Lithuanian Russians and Russian speakers? What factors, other than emotional, determine a person’s decision about the language he calls his native? In order to clarify the answers to these questions, the opinion of 57 Lithuanian Russian and Russian-speaking respondents about their mother tongue was summarized (46 questionnaires and 11 interviews). The questionnaires were prepared according to the 2002–2006 programme of the master’s course in Slavic Philology “Problems of Bilingualism” at Vilnius University. The qualitative interviews are part of the Cities and Languages project, carried out in 2007-2009. It should be emphasized that the survey was selected precisely those respondents whose mother tongue is probably Russian. Thus, the most important factors that influenced the answers on mother tongue can be considered as follows: 1) the language that was the language of the family, the home language in childhood, remains the native language or one of the native languages of the majority of adult respondents; 256 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 2) the majority of respondents do not identify the concepts of mother tongue and language of my nationality directly; 3) respondents do not directly associate their parents’ nationality with their mother tongue; 4) many respondents from mixed families, if there are no Lithuanians among the spouses, consider Russian as their family language; 5) younger respondents most often mention two native languages: the first – the family language (Russian, Polish, Jewish or another ethnic language) and the second – the school language (Lithuanian or Russian). In summary, it can be said that the naive perception of the mother tongue of Lithuanian Russians and Russian-speaking people is associated with the language of the home and the family, and the school language acquires the status of second mother tongue if it is different from the home language. According to respondents who chose only one language (in this case, Russian) as their mother tongue, it is the language that they feel as their mother tongue; it is the most important language for man; it is the most enjoyable language to use; it is the language of the parents; it is the language of the school where you are studying; can convey all the nuances of the language; it is the language that offers the most opportunities to express one's thoughts; it is the language of the culture to which they are accustomed in the family; it is the language through which you perceive the phenomena of different cultures; it is the language of human faith; is the language on the basis of which one learns other languages; it is the emotionally closest language; the language you start to speak when you want to express yourself more broadly, more beautifully, more accurately, more interestingly; it is the most pleasant language for communication; you don’t feel like you’re doing a job while speaking that language; that language can relax; it is the language that allows us to understand everything; it speaks of that culture, in which everything is clear, who, how and why it is so; it is a language that allows people to express themselves like no other; finally, it is the only language suitable for direct intimate communication with God. Many respondents see their mother tongue as the basis of their identity: if you do not know the language, you cannot identify yourself with that nationality; mother tongue is the basis of human culture and self-consciousness; it's the language of human mentality. The 32-year-old respondent of the Cities and Languages project conveyed this idea very accurately: If my parents had not taught me Russian, I would probably have lost the sense that I am Russian. Lithuanian Russians and Russian-speaking people describe themselves as follows: after living in Lithuania for so many years, you are already half Lithuanian; half of two nations live in me; I am a Russian-speaking Lithuanian, growing up in a Russian family; Russian from Lithuania; Russian Lithuanian/ -ė; Lithuanian Russian. A.Lichachiova. 257 It is interesting that until the question is asked whether it is possible to have two mother tongues, a person does not even think about it. And when they answer that they have two native languages, that explains that those languages are the most attractive, the most beautiful, the most suitable for communication. Respondents identify these languages as the languages of school and after-school life; it is their own language; languages of the closest cultures. This shows the semantics of the actualization of the notion of the own language, and it is also obvious that the contradiction “own – foreign” characteristic of the monolingual society often forms two equal sides of oneself in the consciousness of Lithuanian Russians and Russian-speaking people. Thus, the answers of the respondents show that for the younger generation of Lithuanian Russians and Russian-speaking Lithuanian becomes a potential native language because next to one native language (early, preschool stage of life) another (other than home) language of learning, also related to intensive knowledge of the world, appears. This language is perceived as a second mother tongue. What is important here is that the language of learning, in which a young person acquires new knowledge, acquires the status of second mother tongue. In such cases, a high level of linguistic competence is formed, fluent use of two languages, the ability to speak two languages as if it were their mother tongue (Karaliūnas 1997: 326). The changing geopolitical and sociolinguistic situation not only in Lithuania but also in other countries makes the definition of the concept of mother tongue more precise, taking into account the increasingly dual nature of this category. However, a more detailed analysis shows that the bilingual personalities’ morphological differences do not form a simple arithmetic equation, and this should be the subject of separate studies. LITTERACY Active study dictionary of English, London: Longman group limited, 1983. Gaivenis K., Keinys S. 1990: Dictionary of Language Terms, Kaunas: Šviesa. 1997: Language and Society. Psychosociological and communicative features of language use, Vilnius: Lithuanian Language Institute. The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Tom McArthur, Oxford University Press, 1992. Беликов В., Крысин Л. 2001: Социолингвистика, Москва: Рос сий - с кий государственный гуманитарный университет. Залевская А. 1999: Введение в психолингвистику, Москва: Российский государственный гуманитарный университет. ЛЭС 1990: Лингвистический энциклопедический словарь. Гл. ред. В. Н. Ярцева, Москва: Советская энциклопедия. 258 LANGUAGE CULTURE | 82 СМТ 1999: Э. Азимов, А. Щукин. Словарь методических терминов (теория и практика преподавания языков), Санкт-Петербург: «Златоуст». Gauta 2009 10 19 THE CONCEPT OF NATIVE LANGUAGE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF RUSSIANS OF LITHUANIA AND NATIVE SPEAKERS OF RUSSIAN Summary The paper discusses definitions of the concept native language and different national concepts of the notion concerned with one’s mother tongue as well as its ambiguity arising in different research areas. The paper also includes some responses and reflections on a native language provided by Russian language speakers of Lithuania; the data has been extracted from the survey recently conducted in Lithuania. These reflections could be treated as naïve definitions of the above notion. Further in the paper, the key factors determining the respondents’ definitions of the native language are given. The spreading binary character of the category is also taken into consideration: more frequently, alongside one native language (of an early, pre-school period of life), there emerges another language (other than the one spoken at home, language of instruction), which is closely related to human cognition. The latter language becomes an individual’s second native language. The results of the survey have shown that the opposition between ‘own’ and ‘other’ language often characteristic of a homogenous monolingual society in the understanding of Russian speakers of Lithuania is replaced by two equally important ‘own’ halves. ALA LICHAČIOVA Vilniaus universitetas Universiteto g. 3, LT-01513 Vilnius, Lithuania [email protected]