Ten Percent of Languages in Russian Federation ‘On Brink of Extinction,’ Mari Writer Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Feb. 14 – Ten percent of the languages spoken by peoples of the Russian Federation are “on the brink of extinction,” and another 60 percent are “approaching” that status, according to Anatoly Radygin, an ethnic activist who says that the government is not entirely to blame.
    Instead, he suggests, it represents at least in part a moral failing on the part of members of these groups who for one reason or another did not learn their national languages in childhood and aren’t insisting that their children be taught those languages now (vk.com/wall674825577_374 reposted at mariuver.com/2025/02/15/aktivist-bjot-trevogu/).
    Were these parents to do so, they would by their choice be helping their languages to survive; and consequently, they need to face up to their role in the demise of their native languages rather than as is all too often the case now placing all the blame on the Kremin and its Russifying policies.