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The article analyzes the dynamics of beliefs and behavior strategies related to the local language among the Russian-speaking inhabitants of Estonia who settledhere during the Soviel er a. For the Russian-speaking population, Estonian has for about 50 years been a local language of one periphery of their large homeland, but now it has become the official language of the independent state they live in.
The article is basedmainly on comparative surveys carriedout in Estonia in 1995 and 1997, yet the time trend can be drawnfrom 1989 to 1997. The main point ofinterest lies in the interrelation between the iwo roles of language in the society — äs a means of communication and äs a symbol of social group membership. For historical reasons, the symbolic function of the language has been strong for ethnic Estonians. For Russian-speakers language has servedmainly äs a means of communication. During theperiod from 1989 to 1997 the instrumental motivation to learn and use Estonian became stronger. This process was accompanied by the process of strengthening of the symbolic function of the Russian language among the Russian-speaking population of Estonia.
The case of Estonia shows that the symbolic andcommunicative roles ofthe language maypartly compensate each other in order to maintain the group's distinctiveness in general — while the instrumental importance of the language diminishes, its symbolic function is strengthening.
