Language loyalty, ideologies, attitudes and practices among Mountain Jewish communities in the Moscow region

The author conducted a sociolinguistic survey among the Moun‑ tain Jewish diaspora in the Moscow region using in-depth semi-struc‑ tured interviews. The purpose of the survey was to determine the func‑ tioning and viability of the Juhuri language in the diaspora for the purpose of better understanding what measures need to be taken to preserve the language. Survey questions concerned the language bi‑ ographies of respondents and their ancestors, the current use of vari‑ ous languages across domains and functions, and especially the re‑ spondents’ loyalty to their heritage language. 100 % of respondents from both diaspora generations, regardless of their age and level of proficiency in the Juhuri language, highly value their language and want it to be passed on to future generations. However, a high level of linguistic loyalty in the community is not by itself a sufficient condition for language revitalization; language ideologies and attitudes aimed at preserving the language are also needed to achieve success. The sociolinguistic survey revealed the prevailing “avoidance strate‑ gies” in the Juhuri community: the failure to see a connection between language use and transmission, the shifting of responsibility for pre‑ serving one’s language and culture to others without any personal ef‑ fort and personal involvement, etc. The survey exposed this problem and outlined ways to solve it. Now it is necessary to begin the painstaking work of changing the community’s mentality so as to achieve Positive Attitudes towards Multilingualism, without which language revitalization is impossible.