Comments for Central Asian Borders

Comment on ETHNICITY ≠ LANGUAGE: IN SEARCH OF IDENTITY, OR ON HOW TAJIKS BECAME UZBEKS by Uzbek from Gijduvan, Bukhara

Uzbek from Gijduvan, Bukhara — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:16:47 +0000

I grew up in an Uzbek-speaking family in outskirts of a small town, Gijduvan, Bukhara region. As noted above they were Tajik-speaking villages not far from where I grew up. After taking some classes of Uzbek grammar, literature and learning the history of the language I found out some interesting things about how I use my own language. It is true that in formal Uzbek language we tend to use some Persian/Tajik and Arabic words. In fact, my Uzbek teacher back in village school told me that approximately 40% of Uzbek vocabulary has Persian/Tajik and Arabic roots. These loanwords are mostly used in formal Uzbek. When I speak Uzbek for example I use very few or no Persian/Tajik words but when I am writing I use some Persian/Tajik words to give my writing some academic aura. One theory that tries to explain this phenomenon is that is that prior Uzbek language became the medium of communication for scientific, cultural, and religious information in Central Asia; it was Persian/Tajik and to some extend Arabic, that played this role. So Uzbek was spoken at home but scientific achievements were published in Persian/Tajik or even Arabic and religion was studied in Persian/Tajik or Arabic. That old association has survived to this day which is why our formal language differs from our spoken language. To make it easier to understand: you can see the same dynamic between written English and spoken English. Before English Latin was the language of science and religion for English-speaking peoples. That history still lingers in modern formal English vs spoken English. When speaking native English speakers tend to use less or no Latin words like when they say “my eyesight is getting bad.” However, when using formal English such as in academic writing the same speakers tend to use words with Latin roots and write “My vision is deteriorating”. The meaning is the same in both sentences but the first one uses all Germanic words and the second sentence 2/3 of words have Latin roots. The same exact thing happens to native Uzbek speakers when it comes using the Uzbek language as a medium of communication.

Comment on clothing culture in Samarkand by http://andcarinsurancequotes.com

http://andcarinsurancequotes.com — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 23:18:53 +0000

Deference to article author, some wonderful information.

Comment on Defining Central Asia… by Mathew Ferenz

Mathew Ferenz — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:28:06 +0000

I’m not sure why but this website is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.

Comment on clothing culture in Samarkand by Mariam

Mariam — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:42:19 +0000

I love this informational site. Thanks

Comment on Why doesn’t Central Asia explode? by neweurasia.net » Киберчайхана: Религия

neweurasia.net » Киберчайхана: Религия — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:29:54 +0000

[...] Меня более волнует, что запугивание идет со стороны местных правящих элит, которые обосновывают этим свою легитимность. Заставляя людей верить в то, что именно их усилиями поддерживается мир, они остаются у власти. В Узбекистане это означает больше власти в руках армии. Многие в стране жалуются на экономические и политические проблемы, но всегда под конец добавляют: «…хотя, слава Богу, нет войны. Посмотрите на Таджикистан, Афганистан, на все, через что они прошли. Вокруг столько войн, хуже этого нет ничего. Каким бы плохим не был наш президент, он дает нам мир. Никто другой бы не мог так сплотить народ». —Nafisa [...]