LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL IDENTITY BILINGUAL (ON THE BASIS OF THE2022 SURVEY)

Abstract

Background. Much research has been devoted to the problem of language situation in Ukraine. But in this study it has been analyzed on the basis of the newest sociolinguistic survey in 2022. The article “Language and national identity bilingual (on the basis of the 2022 survey)” deals with the problem of Ukrainians’ attitude to the Ukrainian and Russian languages and their identity. Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to identify the attitude of Ukrainians to the language problems after the war and analyze their thoughts on the Ukrainian and Russian identity and usage Languages within bilingual population. Methods. The research was conducted by analyzing the results of surveys that were distributed among 2005 respondents across the whole country, except for the territories that are out of control of Ukrainian government. Results. Political processes shape the relevant discourses, which, in turn, has an impact on linguistic and national identification. People increasingly call themselves Ukrainians precisely because they live in Ukraine, regardless of their origin, and transfer this civic identity to the category of nationality, which has traditionally been ethnic. The bloody war, which was started by the aggressor-country in Ukraine, influenced the choice of language and national identity of Ukrainians. The results of the survey have shown that bilingualism exist in Ukraine. However, the main problem is that most people do not understand the nature of not only language conflicts but also the political ones. The paper considers the fact that now people do not resist the legislative consolidation of various provisions regarding the Ukrainian language. So the task of Ukrainian language policy is to increase the amount of the Ukrainian language. We can conclude that the Ukrainian language will become the main one in all spheres of communication in the future if society and government understand the essence of language problems and try to force out the Russian language of formal and informal communication. Ukrainians associate the Russian language with the language of the attackers and consider it “toxic”, consciously choosing Ukrainian as their language of communication. As a result, Ukrainian will replace it as it must be the state language. Extralinguistic factors led to changes in the language situation in the country, where the overwhelming majority already understands the need to speak Ukrainian. Axiological and emotional components in the definition of national identity have led to a decline in the status of the Russian language and its low level of influence on the national identification of bilingual citizens of Ukraine.