Factors of difference in the language behavior of rural and urban Mari

The paper elucidates the factors of difference in the language behavior of rural and urban Mari, a Finno-Ugric people, living in the Mari El region (Russia). All conclusions are based on the results of fieldwork done in Mari El in 2016–2022. This included eight interviews (face-to-face, telephone) in the city of Yoshkar Ola and in villages in the Sovetskiy, Orshanka, and Novyi Toryal districts (Mari El). All factors were conventionally grouped into objective factors, i.e. those that do not depend on the participants themselves, and subjective factors, in which they make individual choices. Both groups of factors are strongly intertwined and mutually influence one another. The conclusions were supported by presumptions from previous research projects.