It’s a question we get asked from time to time here at Caravanistan: what’s the most useful language on the Silk Road: Russian or Turkish? It’s worth a discussion. While in the past the standard answer was Russian, the Soviet Union has disappeared out of people’s lives for more than 20 years now.
So is Russian still as useful as it once was? Short answer: more or less yes. Long answer: read on.
Russian language skills in decline
The newly independent republics where once Russian was the lingua franca are increasingly promoting their own language. The most radical ones, like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, banned Russian from the education system early on. This means that many young people without higher education have had little contact with Russian and speak only their native language.
In big urban areas and capitals of the former Soviet Union, most of the elite and their children are still heavily russified (or plain Russian). Remote areas are different: little villages in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have more or less forgotten about the Russian language. It’s only the labour migrants who bring back some knowledge of Russian. In Kazakhstan Russian is still the main language, as many people don’t understand or speak proper Kazakh. In the Caucasus, Russian is still widely understood, especially by the older generation.
The large spread of Turkic languages
Countering the dominance of the Soviet Union is the huge geographic spread of Turkic languages, from Gagauz and Turkish in the west to Uyghur and Yakut in the east. For a traveler in this area who wants to get a simple message across/endear himself to the locals, learning a Turkic language could prove to be useful.
Of course there are many differences between all these languages, but often the basic vocabulary is similar. Water for instance is su in Turkish, Tatar, Azeri, Kazakh and probably many more. Then again it’s ab in Uyghur and Ui in Yakutia. So…
Persian perhaps?
At first sight, Farsi or Persian seems to be only interesting for those Persophiles wishing to spend most of their time in Iran. But remember that Tajik and Dari (in Afghanistan) are 2 languages very close to Farsi, and that Tajik is still widely spoken in the main culture cities of Uzbekistan like Bokhara and Samarkand. Furthermore, Uzbek, as the odd man out of Turkic languages, also contains a lot of loan words from Persian and Tajik.
And Uzbek in turn is also spoken in the south of Kyrgyzstan, which is, for now at least, still majority Uzbek. And let’s not forget Russia’s metropolises and Kazakhstan’s southern cities, where millions of Uzbeks work as builders, cooks and taxi drivers, giving Persian words a much wider geographical reach than one would initially imagine.
Conclusion
Although Russian-language skills are in decline throughout the region, it is still the language understood by most people in the countries of the Silk Road. Turkic languages are spoken all over the Silk Road, but their great diversity means you cannot really learn 1 language and be done with it.
Persian, Tajik and Dari are very close to each other, and if you’re planning to spend some time in these countries and would like to talk to people, we recommend you pick up some Persian, since Russian is useless in this area.
Update: A debate broke out on Twitter after publishing this post, and I would like to share some comments that add more insight to the discussion. You are welcome to add your voice too in the comments section.
@joannalillis @caravanistan I’d go with a Turkic language. If you learn one, it’s easier to learn the others. W/Uzbek u get Farsi words too.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) January 9, 2013
@joannalillis @sarahkendzior @caravanistan Hmmm. I think Russian still more useful, but a good Turkic language is a pleasure. +1 to Uzbek
— Nate Schenkkan (@nateschenkkan) January 9, 2013
@joannalillis @caravanistan @sarahkendzior If it’s just for travel, I’d still reco studying Russian. Depending on your location, it’s still
— Theodore Kaye (@theodorekaye) January 9, 2013
@theodorekaye @joannalillis @caravanistan I agree for travel Russian is most useful, esp if you’re only sticking to major cities.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) January 9, 2013
@joannalillis @sarahkendzior @caravanistan uncool to speak certain langs. Uzbek is either endearing or raises suspicion re: S. Kyrgyzstan
— Theodore Kaye (@theodorekaye) January 9, 2013
@theodorekaye @joannalillis @caravanistan But disadvantage of studying Russian – it can lead to colonial perspective on Central Asia
— Joanna Lillis (@joannalillis) January 9, 2013
@joannalillis @caravanistan Russian. Uzbeks and others claim they understand Turkish, but no one understood me when I tried speaking Turkish
— solmstea (@solmstea) January 9, 2013
@joannalillis @caravanistan If you want to order espresso in Almaty, you should go with Russian but for the rest of the CA world, Turki/c/sh
— Yörük Işık (@YorukIsik) January 10, 2013
@yorukisik @joannalillis @caravanistan Recent road trip from Ashgabat to Almaty – spoke 90% Russian-10% Turkish. Didn’t order an espresso.
— Andrew Segars (@ARSegars) January 10, 2013
@caravanistan @sarahkendzior As someone who studied Turkish for 2 years, thing is it doesn’t then make you able to speak Uzbek/Kyrgyz/etc
— Nate Schenkkan (@nateschenkkan) January 11, 2013
@caravanistan @sarahkendzior Turkish-Azeri works OK, and Uighur-Uzbek I think. I can understand some basic Kyrgyz convos, can’t speak a lick
— Nate Schenkkan (@nateschenkkan) January 11, 2013
6 Comments
Let us know what you think
Sponsored by
Caravanistan supports
Good post! I’ve studied all three language families, and although I love Kazakh most, I find that I couldn’t survive without Russian in urban areas of Kazakhstan. As you say, that may change in the next few years. And I’d love to use more Persian, but I find the countries in which it’s spoken rather inaccessible.
I advise temporary expats to learn Russian (as it’s most easily transferable) BUT to learn a good handful of phrases in Kazakh. Taking the time to learn something in the local language always goes a long way.
Well done to you to not rely solely on Russian and to study Kazakh as well! Persian-speaking countries are rather inaccessible for Americans, that’s true…unless you join the army!
A great rant without the least idea of such linguistic basics as lingua franca and koine. Especially strong passage on the usefullness of Farsi in Osh, I really impressed by the depth of reasoning. Let me pick up the method: as English has a lot of French borrowings (about the same quater as Uzbek from Persian), French would be of great value not only in Australia but in Hong Kong too. And well, as German and English are languages of the same family (what’s the problem for an Englishman to understand the word ‘wasser’?), you may freely use German (or Swedish) through all the English-speaking world. Good luck!
A bit exaggerated, but yes, that’s more or less the point. I think my knowledge of French helps me greatly when I travel in Spain, Romania and Italy, and my knowledge of Russian in the Balkans and my German in Scandinavia. As you noticed (but chose to ignore), this article is aimed at travellers, not at people wanting to be fluent in a language.
Nope, the question wasn’t “is Turkish or Persian of any use in CA?” but “should I learn them instead of Russian to travel all over CA?” Of course the good knoledge of French is useful in any Roman country etc. Good Turkish (or being Turk) helps to read signs and get through bazaar if you don’t know local languages – and the same for Farsi in Tajikistan. But to learn Turkish to travel through the Turkic world is a crooked idea and for Farsi it’s flawed twice. If it goes on CA and you intrinsically hate Russian but still don’t want to learn 5 languages, any local Turkic language will be of greater use than Turkish, with obvious leadership of Uzbek (more speakers, double alphabet, close affinity to Uighur).
I think we agree then. The controversy and debate makes it obvious that there is no easy answer, and it really depends on where you’re going. I admit that writing that studying Farsi will help you in any place where Uzbeks live is a bit of a stretch, but stretching one’s imagination is important sometimes.