Cover not available
Part of
Language Endangerment: Disappearing metaphors and shifting conceptualizations
Edited by Elisabeth Piirainen and Ari Sherris
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 7] 2015
► pp. 175–200

9. A nation without a language is a nation without heart

On vanishing Tatar idioms

The Tatar language has been exposed to significant transformations under the pressure of the Russian language. The nature of this pressure has been characterized as political, social, and cultural by different disciplinary traditions, with no small part being played by globalization. The purpose of this chapter is to explore endangered Tatar idioms along two revealing lines of enquiry. The first line of enquiry analyzes culture-specific Tatar idioms; the second line interrogates borrowed idioms from Russian sources. The paper argues that Russian idiom-adoption leads to loss of Tatar-specific knowledge as well as loss of Tatar-specific encodings of that knowledge otherwise found in traditional idioms. This indelibly transforms Tatar history and culture.

Keywords: culture, endangered metaphors, Tatar, unique idioms
Published online: 14 October 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.7.08giz
References
Anderson, B
(1983) Imagined communities. New York: Verso.Google Scholar
Bakhtin, M
(1981) The dialogic imagination. Austin and London: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Biedermann, H
(1994) Dictionary of symbolism. New York: Meridian.Google Scholar
Birikh, A., & Mokienko, V.M
(2005) Русская фразеология. Историко-этимологический словарь (Russian Phraseology. Etymological dictionary). Moscow: Astrel.AST.Luks.Google Scholar
Bukharaev, R
(1999) The model of Tatarstan. London: Curzon Press Limited.Google Scholar
(2000) Historical anthology of Kazan Tatar Verse. London: Curzon Press Limited.Google Scholar
Campbell, L., & Muntzel, M.C
(Eds.) (1989) The structural consequences of language death [Investigating obsolescence: Studies in Language Contraction and Death]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cavaluzzi, M
(2013) Promoting cultural and linguistic diversity: Supporting bilingualism in the early childhood classroom. Texas Child Care Quarterly. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
Chevalier, J., & Gheerbrant, J
(1996) Dictionary of symbols. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Coulmas, F
(1992) Language careers: Economic determinants of language evolution. In F. Coulmas (Ed.), Language and economy – Economic aspects. Sociolinguistics (p.153). Oxford/New York: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Devlet, N
(2009) Russian government policies pose threat to Tatar language. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
Dobrovol’skij, D., & Piirainen, E
(2005) Figurative language: Cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perspectives. Amsterdam: Elsevier.  MetBibGoogle Scholar
Dobrovol’skij, D
(2007) Cognitive approaches to idiom analysis. In H. Burger, D. Dobrovol’skij, P. Kühn, & N.R. Norrick (Eds.), Phraseology. An international handbook of contemporary research (Vol. 2, pp.789–818). Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Figes, O
(2002) Natasha’s dance: A cultural history of Russia. London: Penguin Books Limited.Google Scholar
Fuks, K
(1844) The Kazan Tatars in statistical and ethnographic profile. Kazan [No Publisher].Google Scholar
Gorenburg, D
(2005) The failure of Tatar language revival. PONARS Policy Memo, 379, 77–82.Google Scholar
Gurevich, A
(2003) Толковый словарь средневековой культуры (Dictionary of medieval culture). Moscow: Rossijskaja politicheskaja entsiklopedija.Google Scholar
Idström, A., & Piirainen, E
(2012) Endangered metaphors. Introduction. In A. Idström & E. Piirainen (Eds.), Endangered metaphors (pp.15–19). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Isanbet, N
(1990) Татар теленен̧ фразеологик сɣзлеге (Dictionary of the Tatar Phraseology). Kazan: Tatknigoizdat.Google Scholar
Karimullin, A
(1988) Tатары. Этнос и этноним (Tatars. Ethnos and Ethnonym). Kazan: Tatknigoizdat.Google Scholar
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M
(2003) Metaphors we live by. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Lovick, O
(2012) Walking like a porcupine, talking like a raven. In A. Idström & E. Piirainen (Eds.), Endangered metaphors (pp.103–121). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Makhmutov, H
(1999) Канатлы сɣз – хикмәтле сɣз (Aphoristic words are magic words). Kazan: Magarif.Google Scholar
Mühlhäusler, P
(2012) Prologue. In A. Idström & E. Piirainen (Eds.), Endangered metaphors (pp.1–14). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Piirainen, E
(2012) Metaphors of an endangered Low Saxon basis dialect. In A. Idström & E. Piirainen (Eds.), Endangered metaphors (pp.339–357). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Rorlich, A.-A
(1986) The Volga Tatars. A profile in national resilience. Stanford CA: Hoover Institution Press.Google Scholar
Rosch, E
(1978) Principles of categorization. In E. Rosch & B.B. Lloyd (Eds.), Cognition and categorization (pp.27–48). Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Roshal’, V
(2007) Энциклопедия символов (Encyclopedia of symbols). Moscow: AST.Google Scholar
Rossijskaja Gazeta
(2011) December 16, pp.14–15. Retrieved from [URL].
Selbach, C
(2001) E-book The Volga Tatars under Russian domination. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar
Sibgatullina, A
(1998) Суфичылык серләре (Mysteries of Sufizm). Kazan: Zaman.Google Scholar
Wertheim, S
(2002) Language “Purity” and the de-Russification of Tatar. Berkeley, CA: University of California.Google Scholar
Yusupov, R
(2010) Теория и практика перевода (Theory and Practice of Translation). Kazan: Tatar State Humanitarian University Press.Google Scholar
(2013) The Tatar Republic or Province? Zvezda Povolzhija, 40(2).Google Scholar
Zakiev, M
(1995) Татары. Проблемы истории и языка (The Tatars. Problems of History and Language). Kazan: Institute of Language, Literature and History Press.Google Scholar
(2003) Происхождение тюрков и татар (Origin of the Turks and Tatars). Moscow: Insan.Google Scholar