Ukrainian-Russian Bilingualism Research Articles

Ukrainian–Russian bilingualism in the war-affected migrant and refugee communities in Austria and Germany: a survey-based study on language attitudes

IntroductionThis paper provides an initial exploration of Ukrainian–Russian bilingualism in the context of the war-affected migration from Ukraine to Austria and Germany. While extensive research exists on various aspects of Ukrainian– Russian bilingualism in relation to Ukraine itself, thus far no studies have been conducted on this bilingualism in the diasporic context, i.e., as a language of the first and subsequential generations with a migrant background in Austria and Germany.MethodsTo address this research gap, our paper examines the language attitudes of two respondent groups with a Ukrainian background in the two countries: migrants and refugees who left Ukraine after 2014 and those who left after Russia’s invasion in February 2022. In the framework of a sociolinguistic survey, we describe their current attitudes regarding the use of Ukrainian and Russian, among others, in relation to the actual and intended use of the language(s) in the multilingual context of migration. The survey eliciting information on demographic information, language proficiency, language attitudes and language use was conducted on 406 Ukrainians in two host countries (Austria: n = 103; Germany: n = 306). First, we compared self-rated proficiency in Ukrainian and Russian as well as attitudes and use of these languages. Second, we applied a network modelling analysis to determine the nature of relationships between these variables.Results and discussionThe results indicated that proficiency in Ukrainian and in Russian were the strongest nodes in the model affecting language use and language attitudes toward the respective languages. Our data analysis focused on the pragmatic and symbolic value of Russian and Ukrainian playing a crucial role in the language vitality in multilingual settings. The paper discusses the imbalanced correlation of the symbolic and pragmatic value of Ukrainian and Russian in the diasporic Ukrainian communities. While Ukrainian has gained a higher symbolic status, Russian maintains a better pragmatic one, despite its negative symbolic status. However, we anticipate that the increasing symbolic value of Ukrainian and the diminishing value of Russian will lead to an increase in the use of Ukrainian also in Russian-dominant bilingual groups of Ukrainian migrants and refugees, even as an insider-code in hermetic minority groups.

Sociolinguistic phenomena in contemporary Ukrainian dictionaries

The article deals with the problem of interaction between sociolinguistics and lexicography focusing on the relationships between sociolinguistics and the Ukrainian academic lexicography, sociolinguistics and Ukrainian folk lexicography, and briefly considering the problem of interaction between academic and folk lexicography. Sociolingual information, its perception and awareness have a significant impact on the Ukrainian academic lexicography, which is directly revealed in the macro- and microstructure of dictionaries and their metalanguage. The analysis of the ideologically and socially marked lexicon demonstrates the capabilities of academic lexicography to record and adequately interpret linguistic units, taking into account the rapid changes in the sociocultural space of Ukraine and the world, and the facts of the social biography of speakers. The use of sociolinguistic methods contributes to the formation of a scientifically balanced vocabulary register, ensures the collection of various empirical material capable of reflecting the richness and diversity of the Ukrainian vernacular. Observations of the folk lexicographic practice exercised by Facebook users tells us they resort to lexicography unconsciously, directly responding to events in the socio-political, economic and spiritual life of society. However, behind the external “carnival” of folk lexicography lies an effective tool ordinary Facebook users successfully use in the information war against the Russian aggressor. For a comprehensive study of the linguistic situation and language policy in Ukraine, the value orientations of Ukrainian society, Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism, diglossia, language competence, language variation, etc. both materials from academic and folk lexicography can be used, but it is quite clear that the objectivity and impartiality of the results obtained directly depend on how the dictionaries are compiled – in a scientifically sound, methodologically balanced manner or in a chaotic, unsystematic and emotional way. Keywords: Ukrainian sociolinguistics, academic lexicography, folk lexicography, ideologically marked vocabulary, socially marked vocabulary.

THE PHENOMENON OF BILINGUALISM IN UKRAINE THROUGH THE PRISM OF LINGUISTIC INTERFERENCE

The phenomenon of bilingualism is the main component and result of the interaction of different language systems, which may be related. This phenomenon contributes to the emergence of language contacts, which are manifested through the phenomenon of linguistic interference. The real language situation in Ukraine today is active Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism, which is due to long cultural and political ties between the countries. The long period of Ukraine’s stay, first as part of Russia, and then in the Soviet Union, led to the presence of bilingualism on its territory. Today, regardless of the place – on the street, in institutions, organizations, enterprises or even within the boundaries of the same family, you can hear both Ukrainian and Russian languages. Most citizens of Ukraine are bilingual, that is, people who speak both languages well. The linguistic situation in which two languages function in the same territory has both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, such language contact contributes to the mutual enrichment of language systems, which leads to an increase in the vocabulary of each of them. However, on the other hand, the lack of conscious use of specific national words can lead to a violation of literary norms and negatively affect the quality of speech communication. The article considered the concept of bilingualism in Ukraine and its connection with linguistic interference. Examples of linguistic interaction occurring under conditions of bilingualism are given, as well as the consequences of this phenomenon for the linguistic culture and ethnic identity of the population are described. The article also analyzed the historical prerequisites for the phenomenon of bilingualism. There are ways to overcome the negative consequences of linguistic interference in the conditions of bilingualism, which include the development of speech culture, support of the Ukrainian language, the use of bilingual methods, the development of speech selfawareness and the reduction of interlingual informational competition. In addition to preventing the negative consequences of bilingualism, these ways can help preserve the literary purity of the Ukrainian language. It was determined that the state should stimulate the use of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of life, ensure its protection from the excessive influence of other languages, and promote its development.

MILITARY DIARY OF OLES HONCHAR: SOCIOLINGUISTIC AND INTERTEXTUAL DIMENSIONS

The article is devoted to the analysis of O. Honchar’s military diary discourse, which documents the experience of military life in a specific time series «actually June 1943, and retrospectively June 1941 – November 1945» on the wide geographical space «Ukraine – Europe America». The relevance of the investigated problem is substantiated in view of the complex current situation in Ukraine. Particular attention is paid to clarifying the specifics of the war narrative of the writer's diary, including its inclusion in the category of literary ones, which are an indisputable fact of good writing in its form, through the prism of sociolinguistics (primarily Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism), linguopragmatic and linguoxiological potential. The process of linguistic self-identification of the warrior, master of the word, citizen O. Honchar is revealed, the result of which is the transition to principled Ukrainianism, an open struggle with the cynical officially and unofficially legitimized practice of Russification in the Soviet era. It is proved that the interpreted author's discourse is Russian only in form, and in content it is Ukrainian-, Euro-, and human-centric, since it promptly and consistently reflects the mental-cognitive response to the challenges of time, the tests of ethnicity, the world community, and the prospects of social progress. The phenomenon of linguistic, cultural, national identification and self-identification as a cognitive-discursive mechanism is systematically described. The intertextual content of the examined diary notes is characterized in detail, with the identification and sequential marking of differential features and verbalization specifics of intratextual (poetic and epistolary self-reflection) and extratextual [historical, family, humorous, slave songs, Ukrainian and borrowed paremias, proverbs, anecdotes, soldiers' folklore, aphoristic sayings, linguistic interspersions (elements of speech, sayings, borrowings from other languages), fragmentary letter communication] of dialogic connections with the semiotic universe of national and world culture, as well as the linguistic picture of the world as the most important objectifier of it.

THE PRESTIGE OF THE UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS BILINGUALISM IN THE ASSESSMENTS OF DIFFERENT-AGE-GROUP SPEAKERS

Introduction. Contemporary language situation in Ukraine is characterized as bilingual one. However, despite the mass character of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism, the bilingualism in Ukraine is not balanced: less than half of the respondents, who assessed their language competence as fluent ability to use Ukrainian and Russian, possess, during the use of the two languages, the same feeling of easiness, while the other respondents gave advantage of the one over two languages. The difference in amount of people in Ukraine who use language and what they think about their language behaviour and the behaviour of others, is the indicator that points at the distortion of language situation in Ukraine.Purpose. The paper aims at defining the position of different-age-group speakers towards Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism on the basis of the results of sociolinguistic studies and examining the changes in speakers' assessment of language prestige.Methods.Analytical and statistical analyses of sociolinguistic and sociological investigations’ results, published after 2000 and showing the position of respondents to bilingualism and language prestige regarding the age parameter, comprise the main methods of the research.Results. The comparison of the results of sociolinguistic studies from 2006 and 2017 confirmed the growth of the prestige of the Ukrainian language. With regard to the attitude towards the bilingualism, Ukrainian speakers are not of equal opinion. The fact that most of the speakers understand the information in Ukrainian and Russian without any problems does not explicate that many of them are considered to be bilingual. Also, there is no consensus on the assessment of language environment: 44,6 % of respondents consider the inhabitants of their city/town to be bilingual (the „no“ response was chosen by 45,3% of them); the inhabitants of their region – 46,5 % („no“ – 37%); according to almost 53 % of respondents, the inhabitants of Ukraine are bilingual (23% of them do not agree with that opinion). There is a tendency according to which the inhabitants speak Ukrainian, as opposed to those who speak Russian, in relation to self-identification, and they strongly define themselves as monolinguals. Such self-identification is different from the conclusions resulted in previous studies, when larger language stability was more visible in speakers who spoke Russian. The more defined position, when it is about the national language self-identification, is more significant for the youth.Conclusion. The basis for a different assessment of language situation in Ukraine regarding the age, can be found in the attitudes towards language and culture, widespread in the society, that is, the attitude towards the language which is seen as the language prestige. The results of the recent studies have shown a constant tendency of the growth of the prestige of the Ukrainian language.

Formation of the language identity of the residents of Central and Southern Ukraine in the conditions of tricodalism (Ukrainian Language – Russian Language – Ukrainian-Russian mixed speech)

This article aims to analyze the features of linguistic socialization and formation of the language identity of the residents of central and southern regions of Ukraine, which are normally considered as a territory of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism and Ukrainian-Russian code-mixing, i.e., so-called Surzhyk. The relation between the dominant language of the respondents and the factors of formation of their speech competence is described in four contexts as follows: 1) a parent’s language and communication in a family; 2) a close environment language; 3) a school language; 4) a language of books, television, and the Internet. Being conducted on the basis of sociolinguistic data obtained from the 2014—2020 survey in the region and semi-structured in-depth interviews with mixed-language speakers, the research combines quantitative and qualitative research methods. In families, respondents mostly use their main language with their children. In Ukrainianspeaking families, there is a partial shift toward mixed speech (Central Ukraine) or Russian (Southern Ukraine). In Russian-speaking families, this shift is toward Ukrainian with respect to mixed speech. The influence of the school language on respondents’ speech shall be differentiated. While the school language is quite significant for the skills formed during school education, e.g., reading and writing, it much less determines the choice of the respondents in their everyday speech. The peer environment also defines the development of children’s/teenagers’ speech competencies. According to the respondents, Ukrainian prevails in peer groups. This is determined by a number of factors, e.g., the spread of Ukrainian-language education and preschool education, the increasing number of books in Ukrainian, television products and Internet content in Ukrainian, the increasing use of Ukrainian in culture, and public services. Keywords: language socialization, language identity, Ukrainian-Russian code-mixing

Державна мовна політика: сучасні виклики

The article considers the peculiarities of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism in modern Ukraine in the transformation of national priorities, which requires sociolinguistic research in temporal, spatial and personal dimensions and mandatory control and response by the state, because even a slight loss of the state language with imperial (already even hostile) Russian can lead to the same loss of position in the hybrid war with Russia, in particular in the information sphere. It is determined that the criteria for characterizing a language situation are quantitative (assuming the total number of speakers in a given situation, the number of speakers of each of the languages operating in this situation, the number of communicative areas where each of these languages operates); qualitative (indicate the nature of each language – a component of bilingualism, structural and genetic links between them, the functional significance of these components); evaluative (studied through the assessment of native speakers of a certain language and other languages of its communicative significance) – are involved in factors of language choice (which language is native, ethnic, language of communication in the family, team, region, the need to master it, language prestige) . It is concluded that the vast majority of respondents have a positive attitude to the Ukrainian language as the state and dominant language in Ukraine, have an understanding of its functioning in public communication, media space and education, do not experience difficulties in using it. However, the danger to the Ukrainian language is the oral sphere of communication in the city (except Western Ukrainian), as well as increasing the share of those who predict official bilingualism, and not vice versa, as it was in the early 90's and as it should be in a reasonable public policy.

INTERFAMILY COMMUNICATION OF UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN BILINGUALS

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.

THE LINGUISTIC PICTURE OF THE WORLD BY V.G. KOROLENKO (BASED ON THE WRITER’S STORIES)

The research deals with the concept of «world view». The subject matter of this paper is the Russian language picture of the world presented in the V. G. Korolenko’s stories, or more specifically, the study investigates basic peculiarities of the language picture of the world in two stories by V. G. Korolenko, the «Makar’s Dream» and «Without a Language». The article studies the linguistic worldview of the V. G. Korolenko in the context of the evident changing the realities, which are described in his stories. The author shows how the writer’s worldview changed influenced by the political, historic and cultural events of those days.He shows the Siberian land with its vast expanses, fierce winter, its own unique traditions and laws in the short story «Makar’s Dream». We can clearly see and feel this picture of the world thought the language prism, particularly in its bilingualism, in the lifestyle description, customs, characters of the heroes, etc.Another story «Without a Language» offers us an invaluable opportunity to compare Russian and American language picture of the world. The first one was shown by V. G. Korolenko as the homeland with its well-established, traditional way of life and old religion. And at the same time, the author has depicted America with its specific features, which differs from the Russian language picture of the world. According to his point of view, an American language picture of the world has a range of characteristic that differentiates it from the Russian. It has freedom, civilization, faith, and morals. V. G. Korolenko has skillfully used dialogues, descriptions, analyzes of the main characters, the Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism, foreign language inclusions in Russian speech, etc. In addition to this, some typical structures for both languages were found out which show national identity.It has been appealed to special linguistic methods and techniques, including the comparative historical method for comparing the facts of the modern language and the language of V. G. Korolenko, as well as the comparative method for comparing the Russian, Ukrainian, Yakut and English languages.The paper concludes that language is an integral part of the culture of the people, its basic tool of communication and socialization. It must be noted, that the culture is verbalized in the language. Each language is a unique code, which contains culturally marked information.This study proves the idea of the unbreakable link between language and culture. This is, in our opinion, the main value of the given research.

Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism in Ukraine: Inside and outside perception

This article examines the main approaches to the study of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism in Ukraine in research of Ukrainian and foreign scholars. Though Ukrainian and Russian are language codes represented by a large number of speakers, due to cognation and diffuse nature of bilingualism the number of communicative deviations between members of different language com- munities is quite low. Language situation after reestablishing Ukraine’s independence in 1991 shows a shift in status of the two languages towards Ukrainian. Nevertheless, strong support of the status of Russian from the Russian Federation cannot be excluded alongside a postcolonial mentality factor which complicates the already difficult process of nationalizing the Ukrainian language. Fragmentation of information, varying degrees of reliability and non-compliance with the historical approach, the difference in views on the function of the state language in Ukraine and Russia and minor errors in information about Ukraine may cause a distortion of the ob jective picture in one’s research. All this brings up an idea of adjusting the functional load of languages in Ukraine towards strengthening the position of the Russian language. At the same time, comprehensive studying of the language situation in Ukraine enables the most objective evaluation of the bilingual situation placing it under different parameters and tracing its dynamics in or der to determine the features of regional bilingualism. Keywords: bilingualism, native language, Ukrainian language, Russian language, language of everyday communication, functional load of languages, language situation.

The development of the language situation in the field of e-commerce in Ukraine

This article examines the current development of the language situation in the field of electron- ic commerce (e-commerce) in Ukraine being impacted by the language legislation which regulates the use of languages in e-commerce. The study focuses on two time periods of the use of Ukrainian and Russian languages in online stores, that is, 2018 — the 1st half of 2019 and 2021. The language used in the field of e-commerce is regulated by the On E-Commerce Law (2015) and the On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language Law (2019), and the language situation in e-commerce is characterized by the Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism with a predominance of the Russian language. There is a large number of on-line stores in Russian which websites will not feature in the official language. The exceptionsencompass the most popular and most visited online stores aiming for customers from all regions of Ukraine and, therefore, supporting bilingual websites. The Ukrainian language is mostoften used by online stores whose products refer either to the national idea, e.g., embroidery shops, patriotic and national symbols clothing or to the owners’ civic pro-Ukrainian position manifested. The predominance of Russian was established as an outcome of the long-term non-interference language policy of the state in the e-commerce sector. However, the analyzed data reflect some positive changes in the online stores’ linguistic representation, e.g., Ukrainian-language versions added to the significant number of the websites in 2021 and the numbering is rising. Imposing the e-commerce websites in the Ukrainian version, the language law is a major cause of the e-commerce language situation change. Keywords: sociolinguistics, bilingualism, linguistic situation, e-commerce, Ukrainian, Russian

Alien—Different—One’s Own. North-east ethnic and lingual cultural frontier of Ukraine (Kharkiv, Donbas)

In the article, which continues the discourse of ethnocultural frontier, the attention is focused on the facts and problems referring to the Ukrainian-Russian cultural frontier of Eastern Ukraine. Polyethnic character of the society initially, since the mid 17th century, determined the presence of two culture-forming components in the region, namely Ukrainian and Russian ones, the dynamics of their correlation in various historical periods, the motion of transitive forms and ambivalent conditions. (The Jewish element acquired the essential function in the ethnocultural system of the region later, mainly in the 20th century.) In the frames of the so-called Kharkiv school of romantics a unique linguocultural situation, not deprived of paradoxicality, was formed, in which Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism objectively performed as one of the factors shaping the development of the Ukrainian literature. From this perspective, the article conducts the diachronic analysis of the main stages of the literary process in Ukrainian Slobozhanshchyna, mainly in its center, Kharkiv. The researcher focuses on such issues and phenomena as the role and signiƗ cance of Kharkiv University founded in 1805; Kharkiv periodicals and collections in the Russian and Ukrainian languages; the activity of such influential figures as H. Skovoroda, H. Kvitka-Osnovianenko, P.Hulak-Artemovskyi, I. Sreznevskyi, M. Kostomarov, O. Potebnia, etc.; contradictory and dramatic literary life in Kharkiv of the national cultural Renaissance epoch in the 1920s and early 1930s (‘Executed Renaissance’) and during the subsequent periods. The ‘Donbas segment’ of the eastern ethnocultural frontier, with its history being much shorter than the Kharkiv one though also abundant with contradictions, is considered in the synchronic aspect, in comparative contrast of the diferent writers’ fates and creative phenomena, including the background of the modern dramatic situation in the region.

SOCIOLINGUISTIC PECULIARITIES FOR CHILD SPEECH DEVELOPMENT IN UKRAINE

The essay explores into factors for shaping a linguistic identity at an early childhood age in the context of massive Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism. Child speech is characterized on the level of primary social environment, which enables representation of the nation-wide linguistic situation; and helps identify trends and challenges. The correlation is studied between the parents’ mother tongue, a language spoken at home, and the Ukrainian language competence of children. The objective of the research is to consider sociolinguistic peculiarities for shaping child speech at an early age, on the basis of a large-scale survey of representatives of the child’s primary social medium. The aim is to address specific tasks, such as to describe a theoretical aspect of the problem on the basis of foreign research; to represent the findings of survey among adult population in the context of shaping a child’s linguistic identity; to trace a correlation between the parents’ mother tongue, a language spoken at home, and the Ukrainian language competence of children. The object of the research is child speech shaped in the settings of massive bilingualism. The subject matter of the research covers factors for shaping child bilingualism in Ukraine. The materials for research are represented by the data of large-scale survey of adult population conducted in May-July, 2019. The survey covered a broad geography as it was administered via Internet and reached over 100 places in Ukraine. Quantitative indicators of interaction between Ukrainian and Russian languages, both among adult population, and among children, indicate to a mass nature of the contact-based bilingualism in Ukraine, and its various forms in particular. It is the most important feature, among others, with a direct impact on the development of Ukrainian child speech. Despite the fact that many respondents consciously choose a strategy of non-developing UkrainianRussian bilingualism with their children, at least on the level of primary social environment (dominant Ukrainian language in families), the fact does not affect further spontaneous learning of the Russian language on a rather high communicative level in direct contact with native speakers, which is evidenced by the data on switching linguistic codes. The survey findings prove the negative effect of mass Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism on Ukrainian language competence of children. The latter fact is related to frequent switching of linguistic codes and leads to interference-caused mistakes, widespread mixed speech forms among bilingual children.

Language conflict and language discrimination in the field of retail and services in Ukraine

Background. The linguistic situation in Ukraine is characterized by Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism. The way of the coexistence of these languages is an important factor in Ukrainian society’s life.Purpose. To study language conflict and discrimination based on language in the field of retail and services.Methods. The research is based on the analysis of mass survey data and focus groups discussions conducted in 2017, electronic media publications, forum and social networks posts, that describe language discrimination and language conflicts in retail and service institutions.Results. The study found that issues of language conflict and language discrimination are debatable, with differing opinions from ordinary Ukrainians and language professionals. Analysis of the 2006 and 2017 surveys demonstrated that Ukrainians are not aware of the potential conflict of coexistence of the two languages in society. At the same time, experts point to the existence of social tension in the society related to the language issue. The results of an expert survey in 2000 showed a high level of discrimination against Ukrainian-speaking citizens in Kyiv, and the focus group discussions in 2017 contained examples of discrimination against representatives of Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking population in the retail and services sector, numerous discrimination situations were described on social networks. Such results testify to the contradictory nature of mass consciousness.Discussion. From the results, it is clear that there is a sufficiently high level of conflict of language issues and that the problem of language discrimination is real and it is experienced most by Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians. There are several preconditions for resolving these issues: an effective language policy and the formation of a high level of national and linguistic consciousness among citizens.Article received 27.08.2019

SURZHIKIZATSIYA OF MODERN UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE

The purpose of the study is to analyze the peculiarities of surzhikization of the modern Ukrainian language. To solve the tasks set in the work, a comprehensive research methodology was used. The main methods of analysis of the surzhik in the texts is a complex contrastive-pearl analysis with the involvement of elements of contextual, component, transformational analysis, as well as the method of vocabulary definitions.The object of the study is the peculiarities of the process of surzhikization of the modern Ukrainian language. The subject of research is the surzhikizm of modern Ukrainian language.Taking as a basis for the delineation of the "higher" competence of the bilingual, we divide cases of use of surfers in the conditions of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism on: a) connected with language competence; b) connected with communicative competence; c) are related to cultural competence. The assignment of the cases of use of surfers to one or the same type is considered conditional, because in communication we observe only the relative autonomy of purely linguistic and pragmatic components. Classification characteristics of each described situation of unsuccessful communication overlap and overlap. The question of overcoming the situations of the use of surzhik in interpersonal communication lies in the plane of socio-psychological interaction and requires the involvement of developments such disciplines as practical psychology, sociology, conflictology. Optimization of communication, in our opinion, is possible in the condition of attention to idiolk by each person - improving the knowledge of each language, adherence to the postulates of cooperative communication, raising their own level of development. The path of non-conflict lies through communicative empathy, a guideline for mutual understanding, self-reflection of speakers, as well as a rejection of ethnocentrism in intercultural communication. The problem of surzhikization of the modern Ukrainian language is promising for further research, namely: the development of new research methods, the study of the influence of the surzhikization of modern Ukrainian language on the formation of public opinion.

Some aspects concerning the language situation in Chernihiv (based on a survey conducted among pupils in 2018)

Background. The article focuses on the current language situation in Chernihiv, the center of the borderland region in Northern Ukraine. The research shows some specific features of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism among secondary school pupils of the city.Purpose. The objective of this study is to investigate the results of the survey conducted in 2018 among 677 pupils. The study aims to present the current situation, issues, and perspectives of the Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism among young citizens of Chernihiv.Methods.The research made use of 10-minute sociolinguistic questionnaires as well as observations on pupils’ language behavior. Additionally, a comparative analysis was applied to reveal the dynamics of the language situation in the city within the assigned time.Results. The findings of this study showed an asymmetric character in the bilingualism among pupils. In particular, they emphasized the domination of Ukrainian within the educational sphere, while Russian proved to be the main language of use in the respondents’ everyday life. A long-running process of russification resulted in youths’ unwillingness to code-switch during the communication with Ukrainian speaking people, which is also typical of the cities in Southern and Eastern Ukraine. The language situation in schools is diglossic: Ukrainian is used mostly as the language of classroom instruction, whereas Russian is spoken in the intervals between the classes.Discussion. Despite the domination of Russian in their everyday life, local pupils expressed positive attitudes towards the Ukrainian language and recognized it as one of the elements of the Ukrainian statehood. Nevertheless, the language situation of Chernihiv requires more investigation due to its demographic issues and increasing population ageing.Article received 11.11.2018

The Issue of Bilingualism in Ukraine: Sociocultural Aspect

언어 상황에 관한 연구는 언어 정책의 개발과 시행에 반드시 필요한 전제조건이다. 오랫동안 나라가 존재하지 않는 상황에 처해 있던 우크라이나에서는 많은 부분에서 언어 상황의 변화가 이루어졌기 때문에 이에 대한 연구의 중요성이 대두되고 있다. 우크라이나에서 나타나는 현대 언어 상황의 특징은 다양한 형태의 우크라이나어-러시아어 이중언어와 더불어 우크라이나어와 러시아어가 두 언어영역에서 공존한다는 것이다. 우크라이나어-러시아어 이중 언어는 우크라이나가 역사적으로 독재 전제군주제와 공산주의로 이어 지는 러시아제국에 편입되었던 시기에 발전하였다. 러시아제국은 그들이 지배하던 모든 영토에 거주하던 비러시아국민들을 대상으로 언어 및 문화 동화정책을 강제적으로 시행하였다. 우크라이나어는 동슬 라브어에 속하기 때문에 러시아화에 대한 압박이 더욱 강했다. 결과적으로, 우크라이나는 상당히 왜곡된 언어 상황을 지닌 채로 독립을 맞이하였다. 이전 제국에서 널리 사용되었던 러시아어는 우크 라니아의 광대한 영역에서, 특히 대규모 산업 중심지에서 우크라이나 어를 대신했다. 우크라이나어를 사용하는 지역은 우크라이나 동부와 남부, 그리고 이보다는 덜하지만 중부 지역으로 제한적이다. 우크라이 나의 영토는 (언어의) 동질성과는 거리가 멀다. 우크라이나어의 사용 감소와 러시아어의 강력한 간섭으로 인해 우크라이나에는 소위 수르 지크(surzhyk)라고 하는 일상언어 형태로서의 우크라이나어-러시아어 혼합 언어가 발생했다.The studies on language situation make a necessary precondition for language policy elaboration and implementation. In Ukraine there studies have been gaining more importance because during long historical period of statelessness the language situation in Ukraine underwent considerable deformations. A characteristic feature of contemporary language situation in Ukraine is a coexistence on its territory of two languages, Ukrainian and Russian, along with various forms of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism. Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism developed during the preceding historical period when Ukraine was incorporated into the Russian empire in its two forms, autocratic tsarism and communism. On all of its territories the Russian empire inculcated a forced language and cultural assimilation policy towards the non-Russian population. Ukrainians were exposed to even greater pressure of Russification due to their language belonging to the Eastern Slavic language group. Consequently, Ukraine came to its independence with a considerably distorted language situation. Russian as a language spread throughout the former empire ousted the national language on the vast territory of Ukraine, primary in the large industrial centers. Ukrainian-speaking communities in the Eastern and Southern regions of the country and to a lesser extent in the Central regions are limited to rural localities. The territory of Ukraine is far from being homogeneous. Narrowing down the spheres of use the Ukrainian language and the strong interferential influence of Russian have led to the emergence of the hybrid of Ukrainian-Russian forms of the everyday language known as surzhyk.

Features of the adaptationof educational migrants in the bilingual environment

The authors of the article examine the most significant issues that are related to the peculiarities of the manifestation of interference in the closely related languages – Russian and Ukrainian. Despite the fact that official Ukrainian Studies usually consider Ukraine a single-level and monolingual state, it must be admitted that the Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism is a system-forming feature of the linguistic situation in most Ukrainian regions. The authors describe and analyze the types of difficulties that are caused by the peculiarities of interlingual interference of closely related languages, and give linguistic and methodical recommendations for overcoming such issues. Interlingual interference covers all language levels and is especially pronounced at the phonetic level since there are significant differences in the systems of vocalism and consonantism. At the phonetic level, interference appears at the early stage of developing listening and pronunciation skills. At the grammatical level, there are differences between similar Russian and Ukrainian nouns in their gender and number. Another difficulty lies in the fact that some lexical units in these two languages sound the same but have different meanings. The inability to distinguish such words causes multiple errors. Differences in the characteristics of closely related linguistic systems are also observed in speech etiquette, which is especially important when teaching a language to educational migrants. One of the possible props for overcoming interference is an active learner’s vocabulary, which should become an assistant in mastering a language. The authors hope that the recommendations outlined in the article will help to overcome the arising difficulties and make the process of teaching foreign students a second non-native language easier and more successful.

МОВНА ПОЛІТИКА: ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКІ КРИТЕРІЇ І УКРАЇНА

The article discusses a much debated in Ukraine issue: what are the principles of language policy that can be labelled European, what are the major sources for the deduction of these principles and to what extant they could be implemented in Ukraine’s current language policy. It is argued that these principles can be deduced from the following major sources: national constitutions and legislative acts on language issues, international legal instruments (The European Charter of regional or Minority Languages), international declarations (The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights) that are not legal instruments at the moment, expert opinions of international committees and other bodies like the Venice Commission, OSCE, etc, scientific publications on language policy and language planning. The analysis of these sources gives justification to the following principles as reflecting the mainstream European conception of language policy and language planning: 1) maintaining the leading role of the official state language as the backbone of national unity, 2) protection of endangered languages and preservation of language diversity, 3) promotion of the bilingualism with sufficient competence in the state language, 4) effective management of the enforcement mechanism. The ratification by Ukraine of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages called attention to its implementation in Ukraine. The comparison of Ukraine with most European countries shows that in terms of linguistic rights the country’s main language (Ukrainian) is in a rather underprivileged position. There is growing awareness in the society that the idea of official or semi- official Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism was designed as an instrument of Russian foreign policy and became one of the key factors that provoked political instability in the country. Nowadays Russian is associated with the annexation of Crimea and justification of further aggression and the official upgrading of its status is perceived as a jeopardy for the Ukrainian national identity and statehood. The change of the popular attitude to the idea of the official bilingualism has modified the positions of the major political players.

Choice of the language of communication in the situation concerning Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism

Background. The issue of protecting the state language remains unresolved after the declaration of independence of Ukraine. Actually, Ukrainian society remains bilingual as in the times of the USSR, where the Russian language was able to replace the state language without any legal and practical difficulties. The language consciousness has appeared only after the Revolution of Dignity and with the beginning of Russian aggression in Ukraine. However, the issue of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism is more often a subject of debate than an in-depth sociolinguistic research.Purpose. The aims of this article are to show the motivation of choosing the language in a particular communication situation and to identify causes of language acquisition of non-state language, which has an important position in the state.Methods. Fragments of own sociolinguistic studies on multilingualism in Ukraine, where the author is interested only in answers related to the Russian and Ukrainian languages, their places of languages learning/ acquisition, places of use of these languages, as well as linguistic behavior during verbal and non-verbal communication with the surrounding environment.Results. Almost every third respondent chose two languages to be used on the radio and television, as well as non-verbal forms of communication. This tendency is observed in Ukrainian and Russian-language questionnaires, which suggests that the language selection can be corrected through the state policy.Discussion. Ukraine should establish a state policy of the Ukrainian language dominance in all spheres to provide its comprehensive development. Particular attention should be focused to those citizens who want to learn the Ukrainian language. In order to achieve this, special programs should be created and appropriate textbooks should be published.