Changes in the Language Behavior and Language Attitude of Residents of the Black Sea coast of Ukraine after February 24, 2022

Abstrakt

CHANGES IN THE LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR AND LANGUAGE ATTITUDE OF RESIDENTS OF THE BLACK SEA COAST OF UKRAINE AFTER FEBRUARY 24, 2022

The article presents the results of a sociolinguistic study conducted in 2020-2021 and 2023 among residents of the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions of Ukraine. The main focus is on the trends of changes that occurred in the language behavior and attitude towards the languages used in everyday communication among the residents of the southern region of Ukraine after the large-scale Russian invasion of the country. The results of the research testify to the formation of a collective Ukrainian identity in the south of Ukraine. This is reflected in the attitude of all citizens to the issue of the status of the state language: in 2023, 100% of respondents expressed the opinion that Ukrainian should be the only state language in Ukraine. At the same time, Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism began to be perceived by the vast majority in a distinctly negative way. The activation of Ukrainian-language behavior models and the decrease in the frequency of using the Russian language are observed. The change in the attitude towards Suržyk, which acquired some new functions during the war, is also observed: it became a marker of a “friend”, as well as a conditional code for the transition from the Russian-speaking to Ukrainian-speaking behavior.