Candidate of Philology, Docent Staff scientist of Ob-Ugrian institute of applied researches and developments Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia [email protected]
Abstract:The article is devoted to topical issues of cross-language interaction in a multicultural environment. The paper presents the participation of historical factors in shaping the contemporary language situation in the settlement of compact living of the indigenous small people of the North. The author analyzes the main points of Russian colonization of the lower-Middle Ob region from the second half of the seventeenth century to the mid-twentieth century in their projections on the status of languages of indigenous small people of the North. Conclusions are made about causes of language shift in the environment of the indigenous population.
Keywords: ethnic group, indigenous small people of the North, Ob-Ugrians, Western Siberia, the language situation, language shift.