Abstract This paper explores how Circassians in Türkiye construct and negotiate language ideologies in the context of ongoing language shift within an assimilationist national regime. The study is based on in-depth interviews with elder Circassians in Samsun, a city widely recognized both for its strong Circassian presence and its high degree of assimilation. The analysis identifies three interrelated ideological patterns. The first is an inevitable loss ideology, in which language decline is narrated as natural and irreversible, with responsibility often internalized and broader structural factors erased. The second is dual ideologies of politicization and depoliticization, reflecting interdependent orientations toward whether Circassian survival requires political engagement or should remain a non-political, unifying cultural project. The third is ideological substitution, whereby cultural codes emerge as alternative markers of identity as communicative use of the language recedes. These findings highlight the ways in which language ideologies shape how language shift is experienced and contested. By situating the Circassian case within Türkiye’s assimilationist language regime, the study contributes to understanding the policy–ideology interface in contexts where official recognition is absent but language ideologies remain consequential.
Yasemin Oral-Saribaş (Thu,) studied this question.