Changes in the attitude of Ukrainians to languages ​​against the background of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

The article presents the results of the analysis of language preferences and language behavior of two categories of Ukrainian citizens — forced migrants from the occupied territories and war zone (mainly from the east and south of Ukraine) and residents of the regions that receive them (mainly from the west), based on the results of an online survey carried out in May — June 2022. In connection with the war, there is a mass movement of the population from the occupied territories and territories where hostilities are taking place to other regions of Ukraine and abroad. As a result, the balance between the functioning of the Ukrainian and Russian languages, which was established before the start of the war, was disturbed, and in places where refugees are accepted, local Ukrainian-speaking and Rus sian-speaking immigrants are in close contact, about a third of both communities faced conflicts on linguistic grounds, but only about 10 % faced often or were their participants. According to the results of the survey, a significant improvement of the attitude towards the Ukrainian language (over 50 %) and a deterioration towards the Russian language (over 70 %) were recorded in both communities. About half of the immigrants started to communicate in the Ukrainian language (another 36 % still used to communicate in it) or at least approve of strengthening its positions (93 %). A comparison of the obtained results with the results of the 2017 survey proved that the basis of these processes was laid earlier, but the active phase of Russian aggression caused their intensification. The current situation is very favorable for strengthening the position of the Ukrainian language as the state language, but there is a problem of conflict between representatives of different language communities, which cannot be underestimated. Keywords: attitude to languages, language behavior, Ukrainian language, Russian language, state language, Russian-Ukrainian war.