Linguistic consciousness and linguistic identity of Ukrainians: problems and paradoxes of transformation during the war

Halyna Siuta, Doctor of Sciences in Philology, Professor, Leading 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: siutagalia@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3273-1644

Heading: Discussions
Language: Ukrainian

Abstract: This article examines the sociopolitical and sociocultural catalysts of changes in lingual consciousness and lingual behavior and, more broadly, the formation and strengthening of the lingual identity of Ukrainians during the period of the full-scale invasion. The study demonstrates the dynamics of the Ukrainization of national language practices and establishes a clear interdependence between shifts in language code and the declaration of a Ukrainocentric civic stance.

The analysis of the lexical and semantic development of the concepts lingual consciousness and lingual identity, as well as the reconsideration of the identity–language nexus, reveals a significant expansion in their combinability with lexemes carrying a strong publicistic connotation, such as code, marker, sign, symbol, basis, foundation, principle, cornerstone, bearer, and instrument.

The study also identifies inhibiting factors that impede the transformation of an emotionally motivated impulse toward the use of Ukrainian into a conscious and stable norm of Ukrainian-language behavior. These factors include lingual compromise, lingual inertia, lingual fatigue, lingual-related fear, lingual insecurity, lingual mimicry, the commercialization of language, and the stigmatization of Russian speakers. The findings suggest that effective instruments for overcoming these challenges are the so-called «grassroots language initiatives».

The article concludes that the changes identified and analyzed indicate both a radical renewal of lingual consciousness and lingual identity and the persistence of earlier lingual habits. Nevertheless, the overall vector of these transformations is clearly Ukrainocentric: societal lingual mobilization is gradually becoming a norm of language behavior, while a situational and emotionally motivated impulse is evolving into a conscious need. If this process is supported by a consistent state lingual policy and education, Ukrainian lingual identity will be able to effectively withstand the challenges posed by the realities of war.

Keywords: lingual consciousness, lingual identity, lingual choice, lingual compromise, lingual inertia, lingual fatigue, lingual-related fear, lingual insecurity, lingual mimicry, commercialization of language, stigmatization of Russian speakers.

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Received 24.02.2026   Аpproved 19.03.2026  Рublished 00.04.2026