"We can speak...": Why did the Don Cossacks remember about a special language

After all, the genetic connection, which is important for the people, is already quite difficult to establish due to the turbulent history of the 20th century.

Daria Voznesenskaya

Don Cossacks are trying to defend their language. Recently, at a virtual conference, a resolution was presented, which speaks of the recognition of the Cossack language, which has dialects - gutor, balachka, etc. Allegedly, those who neglect the study of their language cannot be considered full-fledged Cossacks, socially adapt to the environment and will be considered to have lost touch with people. The process of preserving the language considered in the context of the fact that Cossacks is the people, said the publication RostovGazeta.ru writer, founder of the school of literary Gutor Vyacheslav Bubleyev.

He explained that most of these people are bilingual or trilingual. “We speak Russian, we can gut. This is from our childhood: at school they studied in Russian, at home they spoke in gutar", - the writer noted.

As proof of the existence of the Cossack language, Bubleyev gave an example: in 1812, according to him, Kutuzov demanded to send an interpreter to interact with the Cossack units in the provinces, because he simply did not understand them.

At the same time, the Cossacks never had their own written language. It appeared only in the 21st century and is based on 40 thousand original words, which were partially forgotten due to assimilation. Bubleyev said that now activists are creating works in the Cossack language, preparing the first national collection for release. “Every nation stands firmly on its feet when it has a literary form of language, literary works, that is, written sources”, - he said.

The writer also added that any culture needs investment. But now the Cossacks are forced to promote themselves. A group of enthusiasts is working on the issue of preserving the language.

But there is no talk of any separate management now. The thing is that modern Cossacks grew up in the current society, according to its concepts, therefore, if they get to power, they will begin to "grab", Bubleev believes. In his opinion, a generation of Cossacks, brought up according to Cossack customs, should first grow up.

In the meantime, it comes to the point that many in the census indicate the nationality "Cossack". “What is our grievance - no one asks whether the Georgian is a Georgian or he is of the Georgian class, whether the Russian is Russian. But to our people - the greatest injustice has been committed , ”Bubleev emphasized.

According to political scientist Alexander Dzhadov, the Don Cossacks "have every right from any point of view to present themselves in this way. "He noted that Russia is still exaggerating the imperial discourse in terms of national education, so everyone can call himself whoever he wants. “That is, Russian citizenship, nationality - a Cossack or any other of those present here”, - the expert explained.

Jadov also noted that the Cossack language is one of the regionalects. Along with the regionalects of the Pomors, Perm and others. But in this case it is impossible to talk about a special isolated language. “What are the Cossacks? It was formed from different people who at different times for different reasons came to the Don. What language can we talk about when these people always brought something from the outside with them? " - says the political scientist. For example, according to him, the Kalmyks were “attributed” to the Don Cossacks, and there is also a Turkic element.

Dzhadov believes that at present the question of the nationality of the Cossacks does not have a vivid political character. He believes that the separation of the Don Republic can only be supported by "marginal elements." “The population of our region is completely unprepared for the Cossacks in general, and even more so for some kind of separatism. And he even takes this idea wildly”, - the expert added.

Director of the Institute of Regional Problems Dmitry Zhuravlyov agrees that legally the Cossacks can call themselves anyone. “Another question - there is an idea, coming from General Krasnov, that the Cossacks are not Russians. It's not ordinary Cossacks who invented that the Cossacks are a separate people that arose almost from the time of the Neanderthals. These ideas were really popular on the Don. That is why there were so many traitors there. Because at the same time the Don Cossacks fought heroically, and, on the other hand, there was also the idea that the Cossacks are a separate Aryan people who are going to fight the Russian conglomerate , ”he said in a conversation with Novye Izvestia.

Zhuravlev believes that the Cossacks just want to respect themselves. “There are few reasons for this, so they prefer to respect themselves because they belong to such a great, ancient, mighty, genius nation that either pulled out the sea or dispersed the Neanderthals. This desire - to respect yourself for free, sorry for my French, and generates such outbursts in the Cossack people”, - says the source.

Of course, the Cossacks have their own culture, traditions, history. Yes, the Cossacks have existed for more than one century, but Zhuravlev asks questions: what to do with genetics and why should the Cossacks be a separate people?

“As far as I know, even the old Cossacks did not have the habit of asking: 'Who is your father?' They asked: “Do you believe in God? Do you drink vodka? " If so, then a Cossack. Therefore, God knows how the current Cossacks are genetic Cossacks. Everything is mixed up there, this is the outskirts, people flocked there who could not come to terms with the life of the state in which they lived. Remember how Sholokhov described Grigory Melekhov - he is a pure Turk - hunchbacked, black-eyed, black-haired ”, - Zhuravlyov said.

Currently, according to the expert, there is a register of Cossacks recognized by the state. But not that many people are included. “And in general it is difficult to say, even the registered Cossacks - are they generally Cossacks? If you call yourself a people, then you need to look for a genetic link. And here you will not find the ends. The history of the Don was too turbulent in the 20th century. The last one hundred percent Cossack was Budeny, ”added the director of the Institute for Regional Problems.

“Will this aspiration of the Cossacks have political consequences? It all depends on the number: if there are a lot of people and they are good propagandists, then this can have political consequences of a regional nature. But this is unlikely to benefit the Rostov region. They would now deal with the economy, and not invent their own people, language and state", - concluded Zhuravlyov.

The language issue has been acute for several years in Tatarstan. Recall that in August 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the study of national languages should be voluntary and instructed the Prosecutor General's Office to conduct an audit. According to its results, violations were identified in Tatarstan. The result of the "language scandal" was the reduction of the hours of studying Tatar in schools to two a week and the resignation of the Minister of Education of the Republic Engel Fattakhov. According to Inkazan, he lobbied for an increase in the number of Tatar hours to five or six per week. Also, under him, a division of the subject into language and literature appeared.

Later, Putin signed amendments to the legislation, according to which the subject "native language" was included in the compulsory part of the school curriculum, in which Tatarstan schoolchildren studied either Tatar or Russian.

So, in 2018, Tatarstan parents for the first time chose which language their child would learn as a mother tongue. As a result, 65% chose Tatar, and 35% - Russian. But here, too, there was a scandal: the parents stated that the teachers forced them to rewrite their statements when choosing Russian as their native. “The teachers also cite the following arguments: “The birth certificate indicates that the mother is Tatar, which means that the child must be in the Tatar group”, - writes Inkazan.

Once again, the language issue arose with the support of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Fears in the State Council of Tatarstan were caused by the provisions on the "state-forming people". “No amendments should nullify the equality of peoples! For such a multinational country as Russia, it is fundamentally important to ensure the guarantees of equality of all nations and nationalities, especially on language issues", - said then the chairman of the Tatarstan branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Hafiz Mirgalimov.

“Any person of his nationality must, must know the mother's language. Well, there are national republics. I think that peace, harmony is when we know each other's subtleties”, - said the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov in August this year.

The language scandal has not spared Udmurtia either. In September 2019, during a picket for the preservation of the Udmurt language, scientist Albert Razin set himself on fire at the entrance to the State Council building, writes Udm-Info. In his hands was a poster with the inscription: "If tomorrow my language is forgotten, I am ready to die today". After the incident, Razin was hospitalized, and later died in hospital. On the eve of the incident, the scientist sent a petition demanding to protect his native Udmurt language to the State Council of Udmurtia.