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The languages of the national minorities of Transcarpathia in the Ukrainian media discourse during the war

Journal Ukrainian Language – № 2 (86) 2023

DOI: doi.org/10.15407/ukrmova2023.03.035

UDC 070(477):81’272-054.57(477.87):355.01

Vasyl Sharkan, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of Journalism
Uzhhorod National University
14 Universytetska St., Uzhhorod 88000, Ukraine

E-mail: vasyl.sharkan@uzhnu.edu.ua
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9162-5756

Heading: Articles
Language: Ukrainian

Abstract: The article analyzes the peculiarities of discussing the issue of languages of national minorities of Transcarpathia in Ukrainian online media between April 25, 2019 (after the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law “On Ensuring the Functioning of Ukrainian as the State Language” in the second reading) and December 2022. It has been traced that in Ukraine, the level of interest in Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, and Polish languages during this period (according to Google Trends) was heterogeneous and increased significantly after the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Publications on the languages of national minorities in Transcarpathia mainly concern the Hungarian community (75 %), with only a tiny part covering the Romanian (3 %), Slovak and Roma (2 % each), and German (1 %). 17 % of publications cover the issues of several national communities simultaneously. “Karpatskyi Objektyv” and “Zakarpat- tya online” are the media that most often cover this issue. The analysis led to the conclusion that before Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine, online media covered the prospects for the functioning of the Hungarian language in educational institutions in Transcarpathia most of all. However, after the beginning of Russia’s post-wide invasion, this issue was relegated to the background, and more attention was paid to the functioning of the Russian language in Ukraine, the discussion of the law on national minorities, and the creation of new opportunities for learning Ukrainian, including for representatives of national minorities. Taking into account the observed content trends in media publications, it is suggested that the language issue has been a pretext for Hungary to obstruct Ukraine’s integration with NATO rather than a reason.

Keywords: language of national minorities, Transcarpathia, media, Hungarian language, Romanian language, Slovak language, Ukrainian language.

LEGEND
ГК — Voice of the Carpathians. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from http://goloskarpat.info/ (in Ukrainian).
Главком — Glavcom. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://glavcom.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
Ecпpeco — Espreso.TV. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://espreso.tv/ (in Ukrainian).
ЄП — European Truth. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
ЗО — Transcarpathia Online. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://zakarpattya.net.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
KO — Carpathian Lens. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from http://ko.net.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
024 — Education24. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://education.24tv.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
Сусп — Suspilne. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://suspilne.media/ (in Ukrainian).
Сьогодні — Today. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://ukraine.segodnya.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
УІ — Ukrinform. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://www.ukrinform.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
УК — Government Courier. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://ukurier.gov.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
УНІАН — UNIAN. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://www.unian.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
BBC — BBC News Ukraine. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian (in Ukrainian).
Bigmir — Rating by Media and Periodicals Group. Rating Bigmir)net. Retrieved November 30, 2021 from http:// top.bigmir.net/show/mass_media/0/?u=6&t2=1&o= h& (in Russian).
DW — Deutsche Welle. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://www.dw.com/uk/ (in Ukrainian).
GN — Google News. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://news.google.com/ (in Ukrainian).
GT — Google Trends. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://trends.google.com.ua/trends/?geo=UA (in Ukrainian).
IP — Infopost. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://infopost.media/ (in Ukrainian).
KIS — Karpati Igaz Szo. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://kiszo.news/ (in Ukrainian).
MN — Mukachevo.net. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from http://www.mukachevo.net/ (in Ukrainian).
MV — Media Vista. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://mediavista.com.ua/ (in Ukrainian).
Opendatabot — NGO “TUKZ-KMKS”. EDRPOU code 20440111. Opendatabot. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://opendatabot.ua/c/20440111 (in Ukrainian).
Uaspectr — Rating of the Most Popular Media in Transcarpathia (2021). Ukrainian Spectrum. Retrieved November 30, 2023 from https://uaspectr.com/2020/09/07/ rejtyng-najpopulyarnishyh-zmi-zakarpattya/ (in Ukrainian).
Ukr — Ukrainer. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://ukrainer.net/ (in Ukrainian).
Varosh — Varosh. Retrieved January 2, 2023 from https://varosh.com.ua/ (in Ukrainian).

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