DUSHANBE, August 3, 2016, Asia-Plus – AFP reports Tajikistan is going to start fining reporters caught using words not known to regular readers.

“There are cases when journalists use as many as 10 words in one day that the simple reader, viewer or listener cannot comprehend,” said Ms. Gavhar Sharifzoda, the chairperson of the Committee on Language and Terminology under the Government of Tajikistan, in comments. 

“This grossly violates the norms of state language.”

Tajik authorities have recently complained about the growing influence on Tajik, the official state language, of Farsi and Dari, which is spoken in Afghanistan.

Sharifzoda said fines for individuals will range from $75 to $100, while state officials and organizations will have to pay up to $200.

It remains unclear when the new regulations will come into force.

Tajik is the sole state language in Tajikistan although Russian is constitutionally recognized as a language of “inter-ethnic communication” and is widely spoken in the ex-Soviet republic.