Doukhobor Russian
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Doukhobor Russian, also called Doukhobor dialect and Doukhoborese ("D'ese" in short), is a dialect of the
Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
spoken by Doukhobors, spiritual Christians from Russia, one-third of whom (about 8,300) were the largest mass migration to Canada (1899-1930). They spoke Southern Russian dialects, which slowly changed under the influence of
Canadian English Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA) encompasses the Variety (linguistics), varieties of English language, English used in Canada. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 2016 census, English was the first language of 19.4 million Canadians or ...
and neighboring Ukrainian Canadians settlers in
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
. At its peak, there were as many as 30,000 speakers, but now, there are only a few hundred. Over several generations, their original dialect has been mostly lost, as descendants are educated and immersed with Canadians, and when they do speak Russian, it is more modern
Standard Russian Russian is an East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is the native language of the Russians. It was the ''de facto'' and ''de ...
with a Canadian accent.


History

It is reasonable to assume that the formative period for the speech of the Doukhobors was the first four decades of the 19th century. It was in 1802 that many heterodox groups, self-labeled as spiritual Christians including Doukhobors, were encouraged to migrate to the Molochna River region, around
Melitopol Melitopol is a city and municipality in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River, which flows through the eastern edge of the city into the Molochnyi Lyman estuary. Melitopol is the second-largest city ...
near
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
's
Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...
coast, where they could be controlled, isolated from contaminating Orthodox Russians with their heresies, and converted to Orthodoxy. Over the next 10–20 years, thousands arrived, most speaking a Southern Russian dialect. Now concentrated, they were exposed to a variety of somewhat similar people who could learn the other's dialect koiné, based on Southern Russian and Eastern Ukrainian dialects. Starting in 1839, Spiritual Christians tribes were enticed to resettle to
Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
to further isolate them from Orthodox, and to establish a Russian presence in the conquered non-Russian-speaking territory. The invading villages from Russia were surrounded by mostly indigenous non-Russian-speaking peoples. Here, in relative isolation from the rest of the Empire, their dialects and singing distinctly evolved. With the migration of some 7,500 Doukhbors from Transcaucasia to Saskatchewan in 1899, and some smaller latecomer groups (both from Transcaucasia and from places of exile in Siberia and elsewhere), the dialect spoken in the Doukhobor villages of
Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
was brought to the plains of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. From that point on it experienced influence from the English language of Canada and, during the years of Doukhobor stay in
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
, the speech of Doukhobor's Ukrainian neighbors. A split in the Doukhobor community resulted in a large number of Doukhobors moving from Saskatchewan to south-eastern
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
around 1910. Those who moved (the so-called "Community Doukhobors" – followers of Peter Verigin's
Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood (CCUB) () was the main spiritual and economic organization of the majority of Doukhobors from Russia in Canada, followers of Peter Verigin, Peter V. Verigin, from its incorporation in 1917 until its bankr ...
– continued living a communal lifestyle for several more decades, and preserved their Russian language more the "Independent Doukhobors", who assimilated by staying in Saskatchewan, most as individual farmers. By the 1970s, most Russia-born died along with their language Their English speech is not noticeably different from that of other English-speaking Canadians of their provinces. Russian is used primarily during religious meetings and psalm singing. Practising Doukhobors are declining, about 3,800 counted in the
Canada 2001 Census The 2001 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This w ...
. It was reported that only a few hundred elderly speakers of Doukhobor Russian remained by 2019.


Features

According to Gunter Schaarschmidt's survey article ("Four norms..."), research into the Russian spoken by Canada's Doukhobors has not been extensive. However, a number of articles, mostly published in the 1960s and 1970s, noted a variety of features in Doukhobors' Russian speech that were indeed characteristic of Southern, and in some cases
Central Russian dialects The Central or Middle Russian dialects () is one of the main groups of Russian language, Russian dialects. Of Northern Russian origin, it has nonetheless assumed many Southern Russian features. The official dialect (Russian language, Standard Ru ...
, e.g. use of the Southern, where Standard Russian has Features characteristic of a number of locales in the East Slavic language space were noted as well, reflecting perhaps the heterogeneous origin of the Doukhobors' settlements in Molochna River after 1800; e.g., similarly to
Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...
, Doukhobor speakers do not palatalize in "редко" (''redko'', 'seldom'). Remarkable was the dropping of the final -t in the 3rd person singular form of verbs. This can be considered a Ukrainian feature, and it is also attested in some Russian dialects spoken in Southern Ukraine (e.g., Nikolaev, not too far from the Doukhobors' old homeland on the Molochna). As with other immigrant groups, the Russian speech of the Doukhobors uses English loanwords for some concepts that they had not encountered until moving to Canada.


Spelling of Doukhobor surnames in English

* Denisoff * Kalesnikoff * Malakoff * Saprikin * Poznikoff * Chernenkoff * Stoochnoff * Salekin * Postnikoff * Planedin * Plotnikoff


Main source

* Makarova V. 2012. The use of Russian in contemporary Doukhobor prayer service. In: International scientific research Internet conference "Current issues in philology and methods of teaching foreign languages"., 1–29 February 2012, Novosibirsk, Russia. Международнaя научно-практическая Интернет-конференция «Актуальные проблемы филологии и методики преподавания иностранных языков», 1 февраля - 29 февраля 2012 года; http://ffl.nspu.net/?p=144 * Makarova V. A., Usenkova, E.V., Evdokimova, V.V. Evgrafova, K. V. 2011. The Language of Saskatchewan Doukhobors: Introduction to analysis. Izvestija Vysshix uchebnyx zavedenij he News of Higher Schools Serija Gumanitarnyje nauki umanities Razdel Lingvistika inguistics section Vol 2 (2), pp 146–151. http://www.isuct.ru/e-publ/gum/ru/2011/t02n02/philology-and-linguistics * Schaarschmidt Gunter(University of Victoria, Canada
Four norms – one culture: Doukhobor Russian in Canada
* Schaarschmidt, G. 2012. Russian language history in Canada. Doukhobor internal and external migrations: effects on language development and structure. In: V. Makarova (Ed), Russian Language Studies in North America: the New Perspectives from Theoretical and Applied Linguistics. London/New York: Anthem Press.pp 235–260. www.anthempress.com


References


Additional references



by Jonathan J. Kalmakoff (Doukhobor Genealogy Website)

– Original artwork depicting their culture, heritage, and spirit {{Languages of British Columbia Russian dialects Doukhobors Languages of Canada Slavic languages spoken in North America