The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

actively tried to incorporate Marxist ideals into the study of

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

. Linguists had important positions in the early Soviet state, as they were needed to develop alphabets for languages that previously had never been written. In the 1920s, language began to be seen as a social phenomenon, and Russian and Soviet linguists tried to give a sociological explanation to features of language. At the same time, Soviet linguists sought to develop a "Marxist" linguistics, as opposed to the early theories that were viewed as bourgeois. Based on this, linguists focused more on the spoken forms of the language, and devoted more time to the study of non-standard dialects than previous linguists had done. This can be seen in the work of Boris Alexandrovich Larin and Lev Petrovich Iakubinskii. The leading linguist of the early Soviet era was

Nicholas Marr Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr (, ''Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr''; , ''Nikoloz Iak'obis dze Mari''; — 20 December 1934) was a Georgian-born historian and linguist who gained a reputation as a scholar of the Caucasus during the 1910s before embarking ...

, known for his

Japhetic theory In linguistics, the Japhetic theory of Soviet Union, Soviet linguist Nicholas Marr, Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr (1864–1934) postulated that the Kartvelian languages of the Caucasus area are related to the Semitic languages of the Middle East. ...

. The theory suggested that the

Kartvelian languages The Kartvelian languages (; ka, ქართველური ენები, tr; also known as South Caucasian, Kartvelic, and Iberian languagesBoeder (2002), p. 3) are a language family indigenous to the South Caucasus and spoken primari ...

had a common origin with the

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...

. He also applied the idea of class struggle to the development of language. After Marr died, a likely ghost-written article credited to

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

blasted Marr's theory, stating "Soviet linguistics cannot be advanced on the basis of an incorrect formula which is contrary to the whole course of the history of peoples and languages." Politically, World War II caused a rise in

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

, which Japhetic theory argued against. This theory was never accepted outside the Soviet Union.THOMAS JOHN SAMUELIAN, "THE SEARCH FOR A MARXIST LINGUISTICS IN THE SOVIET UNION, 1917-1950" (January 1, 1981). Dissertations available from ProQuest. Paper AAI8117848.

Historical linguistics

In stark contrast to the " splitters" of mainstream Western

historical linguistics Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include: # to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages # ...

, the majority of prominent Soviet historical linguists were "lumpers" belonging to the

Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics The Moscow School of Comparative Linguistics (also called the Nostratic School) is a school of linguistics based in Moscow, Russia that is known for its work in . Formerly based at Moscow State University, it is currently centered at the (Institut ...

. These linguists, who were all staunch proponents of the

Nostratic Nostratic is a controversial hypothetical macrofamily, which includes many of the indigenous language families of Eurasia, although its exact composition and structure vary among proponents. It typically comprises Kartvelian, Indo-European and U ...

theory, included

Vladislav Illich-Svitych Vladislav Markovich Illich-Svitych (russian: Владисла́в Ма́ркович И́ллич-Сви́тыч, also transliterated as Illič-Svityč; September 12, 1934 – August 22, 1966) was a Soviet linguist and accentologist. He was a fo ...

Aharon Dolgopolsky Aharon Dolgopolsky, also spelled Aron ( he, אהרון דולגופולסקי, russian: Арон Борисович Долгопольский; 18 November 1930 – 20 July 2012) was a Russian-Israeli linguist who is known as one of the modern fo ...

, and

Sergei Starostin Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin (russian: Серге́й Анато́льевич Ста́ростин; March 24, 1953 – September 30, 2005) was a Russian historical linguist and philologist, perhaps best known for his reconstructions of hypothet ...

.Старостин Г. С. и др. К истокам языкового разнообразия. Десять бесед о сравнительно-историческом языкознании с Е. Я. Сатановским. — Москва: Издательский дом «Дело» РАНХиГС, 2015. — С. 244—252. — 584 с. — , УДК 81-115, ББК 81.

References

{{Soviet Union topics, expanded Education in the Soviet Union Linguistic research Marxist theory

Historical linguistics

See also

References