Nation-Building in Central Asia Through Language Legislation

In the short space of one year, from July 1989 to May 1990, all five Central Asian republics passed legislation making the national languages state languages and Russian the language of inter-ethnic communication. This was preceded in the Soviet period by frequent discussions and complaints in the republican press over the deplorable state of the national languages – one of the few politically acceptable expressions of national self-identity at that time. This paper will examine the significance of language legislation to the nation-building process in Central Asia as an important factor in the moves of these republics towards sovereignty and finally independence from the center and in asserting national awareness among the people.