Acceso usuarios
Kenneth Zuercher
On the basis of data collected from September 2002 to June 2003, this article examines the influence of sex, language of instruction in secondary school, and age on overall reported Russian use by speakers in Azerbaijan. Russian-educated subjects reported higher Russian use than those educated in Azerbaijani, and women reported higher Russian usage than men. The latter is attributed to prestige assigned to Russian, the association of Azerbaijani with a rural/agrarian lifestyle, and with cultural values tending toward the limitation of women's choices. Competing forces account for the changes in Russian use with age: Azerbaijani linguistic nationalism, the breakdown of Russian-speaking friendship networks acquired through Russian language education, and a shift in female gender roles shortly after graduation from university.
Through a close analysis of survey data and a review of the sociolinguistic literature, building on an extensive discussion of this data (Zuercher, Language choice in Azerbaijan: A Soviet legacy, University of Texas M.A. thesis, 2004), this article suggests a four-dimensional model for language choice in Azerbaijan, with prestige/formality, cultural traditions, and socioeconomic factors interacting. It also demonstrates that women's language choices change over time as Russian-speaking friendship networks deteriorate and women take on the role as keepers and purveyors of Azerbaijani cultural traditions.
