LANGUAGE CONSCIOUSNESS AND LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR OF UKRAINIANS IN THE FULL-SCALE WAR: DISCUSSIONS AND LANGUAGE ACTIVISM

Oleksandra V. Malash, darmodej@ukr.net

PhD. (Philology)

O. O. Potebnia Institute of Linguistics of the NAS of Ukraine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/StudLing2023.22.99-115

PDF (UKRAINIAN)

ABSTRACT

The paper concerns the discussion around the place and role of the Ukrainian language in the life of Ukrainians after the full-scale invasion in 2022. The research is based on the participant observation method. The case study of debates on social media, and interviews with non-public representatives of the society outline a piece of the reality related to the language issue. The comments to the posts on topical subjects, diverse situations concerned with the implementation of language rights and performance of language duties demonstrate that the key attention in discussing the further development of Ukraine is paid to the importance of the Ukrainian language and moving on it by Russian-speaking Ukrainians. The debates also deal with the relevance of Ukrainization, feasible ways of its implementation, and problems the people face аt their language shifting.

The output of the recent poll at the Institute of Sociology of Kyiv organized by the Ukrainian political experts in December 2022 is analyzed. It is defined that according to the poll for Ukrainian/Russian proportion in the life of Ukrainians, a positive trend toward speaking Ukrainian or increasing the Ukrainian share in the informational space of the respondents is detected.

The results of the research witnesses the substantial impact of the Russian-Ukrainian full-scale war on the language behaviour of Ukrainians – social media users. The prospects envisage an in-depth study of the language-behavioral reactions of Ukrainian society and further following the changes in its language consciousness.

Keywords: language consciousness, language behaviour, language activism, Ukrainization, the Ukrainian language, language identity, language shifting, social media.

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