UDMURT LANGUAGE IN VIRTUAL SPACE

This paper focuses on the presence of the Udmurt language in the virtual space, especially on the popular Russian social network site called Vkontakte. Unlike other endangered languages, the Udmurt language has a lot of materials online, and is one of the most active minority languages on SNS (Social Network Sites) in Russia [1]. There are factors that might add to the popularity of the Udmurt language, for example there is a famous music group, called «The Grannies of Burenovo», who participated in the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, and their success improved the Udmurt language's prestige [2]. Bilingual studies show there is correlation between the choice of language and the topic of the message [3]. The Udmurt language is usually considered to be mostly a family language, like many of the minority languages of Russia. The tendency of strong russification leaves no or very few other domains for minority language use: the language of instruction in schools, the language of bureaucracy, the language of legislation, even the language of everyday life is usually Russian [4]. The study shows no correlation between the topic and the choice of language, even the source of the information is irrelevant from this perspective. The research also shows that judging by the number of posts on Vkontakte and the activeness of the community, the Udmurt language is not endangered, at least not digitally. However, it is unclear how Udmurt users are using the language outside their online communities.