Russian Journal of LinguisticsRussian Journal of LinguisticsRussian Journal of Linguistics2687-00882686-8024Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba (RUDN University)1678910.22363/2312-9182-2017-21-3-515-529ArticlesСтатьиArticlesResearch ArticleTHE ROLE OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN INDIA’S HEALTHCARE SECTORРОЛЬ РУССКОГО ЯЗЫКА В СФЕРЕ МЕДИЦИНСКИХ УСЛУГ ИНДИИSuryanarayanNeelakshiСурьянараянНилакшиNeelakshi Suryanarayan, Phd, Professor, Head of the Department of Slavonic and Finno-Ugrian Studies, Delhi University, India. A graduate of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, she teaches Russian language, literature and cultural studies. She is a member of the international scientific network of ENIEDA and other professional and scientific associations, as well as the editorial boards of scientific journals, including the “The Russian Journal of Linguistics”. Research interests: comparison of speech etiquette in Indian languages, Russian and English, pragmatics, commodification of the Russian language in the 21st century.Нилакши Сурьянараян, кандидат филологических наук, профессор, заведующая кафедрой славянских и финно-угорских исследований Делийского университета, Индия. Выпускница РУДН. Преподает русский язык, литературу и культурологию. Является членом международного научного сообщества ENIEDA и других профессиональных и научных ассоциаций, а также редколлегий научных журналов, включая «Вестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Лингвистика». Сфера научных интересов: сопоставление речевого этикета в индийских языках, русском и английском, лингвопрагматика, коммодификация русского языка в XXI в.neelakshi55@yahoo.co.inUniversity of DelhiДелийский университет15122017213Commodification of russianКоммодификация русского языка51552916092017Copyright ©; 2017, Suryanarayan N.Copyright ©; 2017, Сурьянараян Н.Copyright ©; 2017, Suryanarayan N.2017Suryanarayan N.Сурьянараян Н.Suryanarayan N.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0https://journals.rudn.ru/linguistics/article/view/16789The last few years have seen the influx of a new kind of tourist to India - medical tourists, coming in search of good quality and affordable treatments for a variety of medical procedures. With a large number of patients coming from Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, the demand for local people with knowledge of Russian is steadily rising. Through ethnographic field work, which includes par-ticipant observations and interviews, this paper traces the development of the use of Russian in large private hospitals in Delhi, which have started attracting patients from the former Soviet Republics for medical services. The aim of the present paper is to introduce a pilot study of a relatively new sphere of economic activity where commodification of Russian language is acquiring a prominent place in India. My goal is to examine how Russian provides an added value to these hospitals in terms of the clientele they attract and how well it works for the clients themselves. In addressing these issues the paper aims to reveal the specific conditions and processes that characterize the use of Russian in ‘medical tourism’ in India and the motivation of the personnel involved. The results of the study indicate that commodification of the Russian language in India is an expanding phenomenon.На протяжении последних лет можно заметить приток нового вида туристов в Индию - медицинских туристов, которые приезжают с целью получения достаточно качественного и доступного лечения и медицинских услуг. С увеличением количества пациентов из России и стран бывшего Советского Союза неуклонно растет спрос на специалистов и местных жителей со знанием русского языка. В рамках этнографической полевой работы, включающей наблюдение и интервью, в этой статье прослеживается тенденция роста использования русского языка в крупных частных больницах Дели, которые начали привлекать пациентов из бывших советских республик для оказания медицинских услуг. Цель данной статьи - представить экспериментальное исследование относительно новой сферы экономической деятельности, в которой наблюдается коммодификация русского языка. Задача состояла в исследовании того, как русский язык повышает привлекательность тех больниц, где предоставляются сопровождающие, в той или иной степени говорящие по-русски. В статье показаны конкретные условия и процессы, которые характеризуют использование русского языка в «медицинском туризме» в Индии и повышают мотивацию к изучению русского языка для этой цели. Результаты проведенного эксперимента убедительно свидетельствуют о том, что коммодификация русского языка в Индии становится ярко выраженным явлением.medical tourismIndiacommodificationRussian languagelanguage workersмедицинский туризмИндиякоммодификациярусский языкрусскоязыч-ные услуги1.Babu, P. G., and Anjaneya Swamy, G. (2007) Medical Tourism: An analysis with special reference to India. Journal of Hospitality Application and Research, 2, 1: 31-48.2.Chuang, T. C., Liu, J. S., Lu, L. Y. Y., & Lee, Y. (2014) The main paths of medical tourism: From transplantation to beautification. 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