ABSTRACT
The leading tendency of ethnolinguistic processes in our country is the formation and functioning of the type of bilingualism in which the non-Russian population learns Russian. The adaptation of the Russian population to the languages of the native populations of the union republics is a constituent part of contemporary national processes, including as an important aspect the adaptation of Russians to a non-Russian environment. People in a bilingual situation in the union republics who react positively to the bilingualism of Russians also receive additional convincing evidence of the equality of languages, and the equality of all types of bilingualism. The example of Russian-national-language bilingualism indirectly stimulates the further development of all other types of bilingualism. Uneven rates of development of bilingualism among Russians in different republics has led to certain changes in the distribution of cohorts of bilingual people of Russian nationality.
