INTERFAMILY COMMUNICATION OF UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN BILINGUALS

Abstract

The aim of the article is to model the situation of oral communication of UkrainianRussian bilinguals within a family by its parameters: topic, place, time, participants. For the purpose of the analysis, the descriptive method and the method of discourse analysis are employed. The paper studied audio recordings of oral interfamily communication among Ukrainian-Russian bilinguals and surzhyk speakers from town and village in the Sumy region. By interfamily communicative interaction we understand a type of everyday communication in which members of different families are involved, who are related by blood (provided they live separately), by marriage or by being godparents. Communication within a family circle is predominately cooperative. However, compared to communication within a wider circle of friends it is more prone to conflict; the interlocutors are, therefore, more likely to follow formal rules for polite conversation. Interfamily speech interaction can be both phatic and informative; it manifests itself through oral (dialogues and polylogues) and written (letters, including emails) communication. However, both forms are characterized by non-codified speech. We have identified the main features of communicative behavior of members of different families taking into account such extralinguistic factors as social role, status, age and gender of interlocutors. We have singled out the specific features of interfamily communication in the context of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism. We have established, in particular, that both the choice of the language means and the code switching are determined by the following: changes in the topic of conversation, its duration, the birthplace of speakers and the region where they live as well as their respective status and role. In their speech behavior, men employ the tactics of assertiveness, seek to conform to the stereotypes of masculinity. Women, especially the older ones, employ the tactics of transferring their life experience and family values and seek to maintain communicative balance. The older generation is more communicatively active than the young. Further research will test the obtained results against a larger body of empirical data.