The Pridnestrovian is an established category of regional and national identity, said Sergey Oleynikov, an associate professor of the journalism department, on Radio 1. He added that the characteristic feature of Pridnestrovians as a nation is the bilingualism resulting from a high level of ethnic diversity. Sergey Oleynikov underscored that this determines a special mentality of Pridnestrovians.
«World outlook and disposition are juxtaposed, when you speak two languages. These are two worlds, two cultures that combine and provide the so-called 3-D effect," he said.
According to him, both bilingualism and polylingualism are chiefly met at the mundane level rather than official where Russian still dominates. He said that this high level of ethnic integration generates the problem of local dialects that employ words from several languages. «The assimilation is so strong that there are 'Slobodzeya' and 'Karagash' languages," said Oleynikov.
«Is it bad or good? For person-to-person communication, for ethnic integration it is undoubtedly good. For language purity it is undoubtedly bad," he continued. According to him, it is the literary forms of Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian languages that the state should cultivate to overcome this trend.
He underscored that, owing to polyethnicity and use of several languages, the national identity of Pridnestrovians is based on the integrity of consciousness and mentality. «In the contemporary political world this, seems to me, is the most important criterion," said Sergey Oleynikov.
