Perceptions of the Ukrainian language amongst national minority representatives in Chernihiv

Abstract

The article discusses the current state of the Ukrainian language in Chernihiv city from the perspective of national minority representatives. It is based on the 9 language biographies, collected via in-depth interviewing in summer-autumn, 2021, among the representatives of 6 minority communities: Russian, Chuvash, Jewish, Belarussian, Azerbaijani, and Polish. The research presents not only the respondents’ attitudes towards Ukrainian as a state language, but also its perception during soviet times and times of Ukrainian independence. Additionally, the study outlines issues arising from the coexistence of Ukrainian and minority languages in Chernihiv. The results of this research demonstrate that the linguistic situation within the national minority representatives is rather bilingual than multilingual. Firstly, it implies that mainly Ukrainian and Russian languages coexist in Chernihiv citizens’ daily routine leaving heritage languages far behind or completely eliminating them from the linguistic landscape of the city. Secondly, Russian keeps dominating over Ukrainian in private sphere, especially in interpersonal communication. Although the process of de-russification in Chernihiv is moving forward, yet it is not expected to progress rapidly. Thirdly, based on the collected materials, the younger generations of the aforementioned ethnic groups are actively leaving Chernihiv while the senior generations ideologically and emotionally often maintain sentiments towards Russian language, culture, sometimes soviet past. Obviously, from that perspective language situation of Chernihiv is not exclusively the domain of sociolinguistics. More importantly, it is the fight of different historical memories and prospects for the future, which is crucial for the borderland territories like Chernihiv. Keywords: bilingualism, language situation, language attitude, code-switching, the Ukrainian language, national minority languages.

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