Shughnani, one of the Pamiri languages of Tajikistan, is a minority language, and has no written script. Socio-economic and political changes in the lives of language speakers have affected the functioning of this small language, which was previously devoid of social significance. In the late 1980s, ideas began to emerge about the expansion of its functions, and attempts were made to use it in print media, television and radio. Observation of the functional development of Shugnani in these media led to the hypothesis of the emergence of a public sphere discourse, where it is possible to raise problems of social importance, and discuss them to search for eventual solutions. The main purpose of the article is to study attempts to create a discourse of the public sphere for Shugnani, in media and on the Facebook social network. The theoretical and methodological approaches of the study are based on the concept of the pub-lic sphere of Habermas, using the Critical Discourse Analysis paradigm (Fairclough). The data for the study were taken from Shughnani print media, from speeches on television and radio, and from postings by members of Shughnani Facebook groups. The findings reveal that the Shughnani presence in the media is limited, and construction of public opinion is more successfully carried out via Shughnani groups on Facebook. Analysis of the discursive practices involved shows that, despite the slow development of a media presence, the establishment of public discourse occurs through the creation of verbal units which have a journalistic character. Shugnani-speaking groups on Facebook contribute to the strengthening of the posi-tion of the language, through the formulation and discussion of issues relevant to members of the language community and the creation of language units that enhance confidence in the use of non-written Shugnani in the public sphere.

Shughnani, public sphere, Media, Shughnani language groups, Facebook, public dis-course