Surschyk
Surschyk ( Ukrainian суржик , flour mixture ' , scientific transliteration Suržik ) is the slang term for a mixed language based on Ukrainian and Russian .
Reasons for the emergence of the surschyk
The emergence of the Surschyk is on the one hand a result of the preference given to Russian in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic , on the other hand a result of migration within the Ukrainian SSR at that time. As early as the 1930s, and even more so after the Second World War, many western Ukrainians emigrated to the industrial cities of eastern Ukraine. When trying to speak Russian, the Western Ukrainians, who mostly had hardly any command of the Russian language, produced a language variety that was based on Ukrainian in terms of sound and sometimes also in grammar, but whose vocabulary consisted mainly of Russian words. Ukrainian vocabulary in Russian can also be observed, e.g. B. "rok" for "rik". In western Ukraine , which only belonged to the Soviet Union from 1921 and partly only from 1945, Ukrainian always had a much stronger position, which is why the appearance of Surschyk was rare there.
Surschyk taboo
At the time of the Soviet Union, the surschyk was not the subject of scientific research, but was only mentioned occasionally as a phenomenon of language contact . After Ukraine gained independence, it was considered a phenomenon to be fought.
Latest development
Since the independence of Ukraine, the classic surschyk has declined in eastern Ukraine because the use of Ukrainian is encouraged by the state. On the other hand, phenomena comparable to Surschyk are now also appearing in western Ukraine, especially in the urban language of Lviv .
See also
Web links
- Project of the European University of St. Petersburg on Surschyk (in Russian)
- Project of the University of Oldenburg on Surschyk
- Bilaniuk: Speaking of Surzhyk: Ideologies and Mixed Languages, in: Harvard Ukrainian Studies XXI (1/2) 1997: 93-117 (6.2 MB!)