Immersing oneself in cultural identity as way to preserve endangered languages: researchers “map” cultural codes of Russia’s peoples

According to linguists’ estimates, of the one and a half hundred languages spoken by the peoples of Russia, approximately two-thirds are at risk of extinction. To preserve them, staff at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences set out on expeditions: they spend months living amongst native speakers, recording the pronunciation of words and compiling dictionaries, as well as teaching the younger generation. 

What methods do they use? How does passing on this knowledge help to ‘preserve’ a people’s cultural code?

Watch our report.

TV BRICS reporters: Tatyana Likhachyova, Darya Petrachkova

TV BRICS cameraman: Artyom Pogorelov

Translated and voiced by Artificial Intelligence.