Language behavior of Kyiv youth during the Russian-Ukrainian war

Ivanna Tsar, PhD in Philology, Researcher in the Department of Stylistics, Language Culture and Sociolinguistics
Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
4 Mykhailo Hrushevskyi St., Kyiv 01001, Ukraine

E-mail: tsar.ivanna5@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9764-5758

Heading: Young Scholars Articles
Language: Ukrainian

Abstract: The article analyzes the changes in language consciousness and behavior of Kyiv youth during the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war based on young Kyiv residents` language biographies. The paper characterizes the current language situation in the Ukrainian capital from the point of view of young Kyiv residents. It also examines the influence of the language environment on youthʼs language behavior formation. Changes in the language behavior of young people are manifested not only in the switching to Ukrainian in everyday communicative situations but also in many other processes, the general trend of which is the rejection of everything Russian: young people gradually or radically stop consuming information from Russian-language resources, start using social networks in Ukrainian, change the language settings in phones and other gadgets in favor of Ukrainian, try to care more about the purity of their language, get rid of surzhyk, replace Russian-language information sources with English-language ones.

The study identified the factors that deter young people from switching to Ukrainian in times of war: lack of national consciousness, narrow social circle of communication, stereotypes about the language situation in the city, lack of knowledge of Ukrainian, lack of practical skills in communicating in Ukrainian; and general level of education.

The Kyiv youth language behavior clearly illustrates a nationwide linguistic shift toward increased use of the Ukrainian language in a bilingual society in all social spheres amid the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. Changes in Kyiv youthʼs language behavior are closely tied to changes in the language consciousness of young people, their attitude to the Russian language, culture, and everything related to Russia.

Keywords: language behavior, language situation, Kyiv youth, language environment, language biography.

LEGEND

Концепція – On the approval of the City Concept of the confirmation of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of public life of the city of Kyiv for 2023–2025 (project). (2023).  Retrieved July 1, 2024 from http://surl.li/jakzik (іn Ukrainian).
Опитування, 08.02.2023 – In the capital, the results of a survey on the use of the Ukrainian language, which was conducted in the “Kyiv Digital” application, were presented. (2023). Retrieved July 3, 2024 from http://surl.li/kebuly (іn Ukrainian).
Русифікація – Russification in Kyiv. Why do schoolchildren speak Russian? (2023). Retrieved July 7, 2024 from http://surl.li/aqhuss (іn Ukrainian).

REFERENCES

Burda, Т. (2002). The language behavior of an individual in the context of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism (youth environment of Kyiv) [diss. … candidate filol. sciences]. Kyiv (іn Ukrainian).
Danylevska, O. (2019). The Ukrainian language in the Ukrainian school at the beginning of the XXI century: sociolinguistic essays. Kyiv: Vydavnychyi dim “Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia” (іn Ukrainian).
Hontar, M. (2021). The language policy of Ukraine in the retail and services sphere. Ukrainian language, 1(77), 20–35 (іn Ukrainian).
Kiss, N., & Shumytska, H. (2023). Sociolinguistic method of language biography and the practice of its application in Transcarpathia. In Social in language and language in society: a monograph in honor of Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor Larisa Masenko (pp. 83–133). Kyiv: Vydavnychyi dim “Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia” (іn Ukrainian).
Kulyk, V. (2024). Language shift in time of war: The abandonment of Russian in Ukraine. Post-Soviet Affairs, 40(3), 159–174.
Matveieva, N.R. (2023). Bilingualism in the contemporary communication space of Kyiv. Kyiv: Vydavnychyi dim “Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia” (іn Ukrainian).
Onyshchenko, V. (2023). Derussification and decommunisation of names: how Ukrainian cities are changing.  Retrieved July 7, 2024 from http://surl.li/biintq (in Ukrainian).
Selihei, P. (2012). Language consciousness: structure, typology, education. Kyiv: Vydavnychyi dim “Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia” (іn Ukrainian).
Sokolova, S., Trub, V., Masenko, L., Danylevska, O., & Ruda, O. (2013). Types of language behavior in a modern Slavic bilingual metropolis. Ukrainian horizons: reports of the XV International Congress of Slavists, 6(1), 173–196 (іn Ukrainian).
Sokolova, S., & Zalizniak, H. (2018). Peculiarities of the contemporary linguistic situation of Ukraine in the reflection of sociology and sociolinguistics. Ukrainian language, 2, 3–19 (іn Ukrainian).
Tkachenko, О. (2014). Ukrainian language. Present and historical perspective. Kyiv: Naukova dumka (іn Ukrainian).
Tsar, І.М. (2020). Language adaptation of young migrants from Donbas and Crimea in the bilingual environment. Ukrainian language, 1(73), 113–128. https://doi.org/10.15407/ukrmova2020.01.113 (іn Ukrainian).
Tsar, I.M. (2021). Ukrainian Everyday Language in the Urban Youth Environment. Kyiv: Naukova dumka (іn Ukrainian).
Zalizniak, H.M., & Masenko, L.T. (2001). The language situation of Kyiv: today and tomorrow. Kyiv: Vydavnychyi dim “Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia” (іn Ukrainian).
Zalizniak, H.M. (2023). Language as an indicator of Ukrainian national identity and the civilizational choice of Kyivans. Ukrainian language, 2(86), 72–83 (іn Ukrainian).