Ukrainian Interpretations of “Ridna Mova”

Abstract

In the Post-Soviet countries, the results of how the term “ridna mova” (Ukrainian for “mother tongue”) is categorized in the National Census are used for determining the language policies in each country. The 2001 All Ukrainian National Census also includes the question of “ridna mova”, and the results of the census show that 69% of Ukrainian citizens regard the Ukrainian language as their “ridna mova”. However, it is still unclear exactly what meaning is attached to the expression of “ridna mova”, and how each citizen of Ukraine interprets the notion of “ridna mova”.Arel explains the concept of “ridna mova” as being interpreted more as the language of one's nationality (referred to by Arel as “native language”) than as the first language spoken in early childhood or as the language which the person commands best (defined as “mother tongue” by Arel) . Using Arel's sub-classification this paper aims to demonstrate how Ukrainian respondents interpret “ridna mova”.The present thesis analyzes the results of surveys conducted in Kiev in 2006. In addition to the question of “ridna mova”, respondents were asked about their first language using the categories of “the language spoken in childhood”, “the language in which the respondent speaks with parents” and “the language which the respondent commands best”. The results of these three questions differ from the results of the question about “ridna mova”. To examine the connection between these four categories, their coefficient connection (Cramer's V) was calculated. The results show that the connection among “the language spoken in childhood”, “the language in which the respondent speaks with parents” and “the language which the respondent commands best” is very strong, but the connection between “ridna mova” and other categories is comparatively weak. This means that respondents have different interpretations of “ridna mova” and other categories. As Arel states, it seems that the respondents interpret“ridna mova”as the language of one's nationality. But strong connection among “the language spoken in childhood”, “the language in which the respondent speaks with parents” and “the language which the respondent commands best” reveal the possibility that respondents additionally interpret ridna mova as a covert “mother tongue”, not only overt “native language”.In addition, an analysis of “contradictory answers” was conducted concerning the question of “ridna mova” as well as the question, “Which language (s) can you speak other than your “ridna mova”? ” Classifying the respondents who had “contradictory answers” by their“ridna mova”, the respondents who regarded the Russian language as their “ridna mova” tended to give a “contradictory answer”. And the respondents who answered Russian language to the question of first language exhibited the same tendency. The analysis of the “contradictory answers” shows that only respondents who regard Ukrainian as their “ridna mova” and answered only “Ukrainian language” to the question of first language can interpret “ridna mova” without contradiction, because their “native language” and “mother tongue” are same-the Ukrainian language.