Linguistics of the Soviet Union

The Soviet Union actively tried to incorporate Marxist ideals into the study of linguistics.

Linguists had important positions in the early Soviet state, as they were needed to develop alphabets for languages that previously had never been written.^[1]

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.^[1]

The leading linguist of the early Soviet era was Nicholas Marr, known for his Japhetic theory. The theory suggested that the Kartvelian languages had a common origin with the Semitic languages. He also applied the idea of class struggle to the development of language. After Marr died, a likely ghost-written article credited to Stalin 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, which Japhetic theory argued against. This theory was never accepted outside the Soviet Union.^[2]

See also

• List of Russian linguists and philologists

References

1. Craig Brandist; Katya Chown (eds.). Politics and the Theory of Language in the USSR 1917–1938. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
2. THOMAS JOHN SAMUELIAN, "THE SEARCH FOR A MARXIST LINGUISTICS IN THE SOVIET UNION, 1917-1950" (January 1, 1981). Dissertations available from ProQuest. Paper AAI8117848.