Trassyanka

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Trassjanka ( Belarusian трасянка , scientific transliteration Trasjanka ) is a form of mixed speech in which Belarusian and Russian elements and structures alternate in rapid succession. In Ukraine there is a comparable phenomenon, a Ukrainian- Russian mixed speech called Surschyk .

Origin of the term

In Belarusian, the term originally referred to poor quality hay that was created when fresh grass was mixed with dried hay from the previous year. Its second meaning ("language mixture of inferior quality") it received in the second half of the 1980s, as a series of publications in the state literary newspaper " Litadela i mastaztwa " ( Belarusian Літаратура і мастацтва ) developments in the use of the Belarusian language under Soviet rule criticized. The Belarusian, nationally oriented politician and publicist Sjanon Pasnjak is often named as the one who popularized the use of the term for the Belarusian-Russian mixture of languages ​​(cf. Pozniak, 1988).

history

The mixed speech in the pre- and early Soviet times

In today's Belarusian area, mixed speech has a relatively long history. The reason for this is that the Belarusian (and, in a comparable way, Ukrainian) territories were for a long time border regions in which the local dialects were in contact with the closely related and at the same time socially dominant languages Polish and Russian . Whether the term "Trasjanka" should also refer to such older forms of Belarusian-Russian mixed speech is controversial, since mixed speech was not passed on from generation to generation at the time. The Belarusian-Russian mixed speech first became the subject of a journalistic debate in the 1920s.

After the Second World War

The phenomenon, to which the term "Trasjanka" has been referred to since the 1980s, has its origins in the fundamental socio-demographic changes that occurred in Soviet Belarus after the Second World War, and in eastern areas of Belarus even before the Second World War. The industrialization of the Belarusian Soviet Republic (BSSR) led to massive labor migration from the countryside to the cities. In 1959, 31% of the population lived in cities, in 1990 the proportion of the urban population was already 66%. At the same time, ethnic Russians from other parts of the Soviet Union moved to the BSSR and in many cases took on leadership roles in the Belarusian Communist Party, in public administration and in state-owned companies. Thus, the former rural population was forced to adapt their language usage from (mostly dialectal) Belarusian to the standard Russian language, which, however, rarely succeeded completely. As a result of this effort to adapt the language, the so-called Trasjanka was created in its current form. In addition, the children of this generation of speakers acquired Belarusian-Russian mixed speech as their first language.

Linguistic status

Because of the negative connotation of the term "Trasjanka", it has been suggested that it should not be used in the linguistic debate and that the term "Belarusian-Russian mixed speech" should be used instead. The scholarly discussion of the Belarusian-Russian mixed speech began in the first half of the 1990s. Well-known Belarusian researchers have since emphasized the spontaneous, individual, unsystematic or even “chaotic” character of mixing Belarusian and Russian. However, the “early” debates about mixed speech were mainly based on informal observations, as corresponding corpora were lacking. A first empirical case study on the phenomenon was only carried out in the capital Minsk in the early 2000s . Between 2008 and 2013 a research project by linguists and social scientists at the University of Oldenburg (in collaboration with partners at the Belarusian State University in Minsk) resulted in two corpora with oral texts in the mixed speech. The linguistic results confirmed the view that the Belarusian-Russian mixed speech cannot currently be described as a relatively stable, nationwide homogeneous “ fused lect ”. On the other hand, the project studies found relatively stable patterns across the country at all levels of the language structure, in which the mixed speech corresponds to one or both of their “donor languages” (Belarusian and Russian). In the lexicon and the morphosyntax the Russian elements and features clearly dominate. The inflectional morphology is hybrid, and even the pronunciation is influenced by Russian. Overall, the research project currently classifies the Belarusian-Russian mixed speech as a complex of regional sociolects. Other studies maintain the description of mixed speech as a “chaotic” and “spontaneous” form of language mixing.

Sociology of Mixed Speech

The sociological and sociolinguistic part of the Oldenburg research project on the use of mixed speech in Belarus produced the following results, among others: When asked about their "mother tongue", around 38% of around 1200 respondents mentioned the Belarusian-Russian mixed speech, 49% the Belarusian and 30 % Russian (more than one answer was allowed). On the other hand, around 50% said their “first language” was mixed speech, 42% Russian and 18% Belarusian (again, more than one answer was allowed). Finally, around 55% named Russian, 41% mixed speech and 4% Belorussian as their “main language used”. The results of the research project contradict the popular belief that the use of Belarusian-Russian mixed speech is an indication of a low level of education and a lack of command of the standard Russian or Belarusian language . Mixed speech is common among Belarusians of all formal educational levels and all age groups; it is used alongside the standard language; H. for the vast majority of speakers alongside Russian. The degree to which the speakers approximate “their” mixed speech to the Russian or Belarusian standard language depends on factors such as the conversation partners, the place and situation of the conversation, the topic of conversation, etc. Among young Belarusians, the proportion of mixed speech used is decreasing in favor of Russian.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Hentschel, G. (2014): Belarusian and Russian in the Mixed Speech of Belarus. In: Besters-Dilger, J. et al. (eds.): Congruence in Contact-Induced Language Change: Language Families, Typological Resemblance, and Perceived Similarity. Berlin / Boston, 93–121.
  2. ↑ Генадзь Цыхун: Крэалізаваны прадукт ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / arche.bymedia.net
  3. ↑ a b Zaprudski, S. (2014): On the public discussion of Belarusian language culture, on the emergence of the term Trasjanka and on modern Trasjanka research. In: Hentschel, G. et al. (Eds.): Trasjanka and Suržyk - mixed Belarusian-Russian and Ukrainian-Russian speech. Linguistic incest in Belarus and Ukraine? Frankfurt / M., 119–142.
  4. ^ Marples DA (1996): Belarus. From Soviet Rule to Nuclear Catastrophe. Basingstoke / London.
  5. ↑ Zaprudski, S. (2007): In the grip of replacive bilingualism: the Belarusian language in contact with Russian. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 183, 97-118.
  6. ↑ a b Хентшель, Г. (2013): Белорусский, русский и белорусско-русская смешанная речь. Вопросы языкознания 1, 53–76.
  7. ↑ a b Hentschel, G. & Zeller, JP (2012): Mixed speech, mixed discourse, speaker types: Belarusian, Russian and mixed speech in the communication of Belarusian families. Vienna Slavic Almanac 70, 127–155.
  8. ↑ Bieder, H. (2014): The Belarusian-Russian mixed language (Trasjanka) as a research problem. In: Hentschel, G. et al. (Eds.): Trasjanka and Suržyk - mixed Belarusian-Russian and Ukrainian-Russian speech. Linguistic incest in Belarus and Ukraine? Frankfurt / M., 91–118.
  9. ↑ Мечковская, Н. Б. (1994): Языковая ситуация в Беларуси: Этические коллизии двуязычия. Russian Linguistics 18/3, 299-322.
  10. ↑ Cychun, HA Sociolinguistic, socio-cultural and psychological foundations of mixed speaking. In: Hentschel, G. et al. (Eds.): Trasjanka and Suržyk - mixed Belarusian-Russian and Ukrainian-Russian speech. Linguistic incest in Belarus and Ukraine? Frankfurt / M., 163–172.
  11. ↑ Liskovets, I. (2009): trasianka: A code of rural migrants in Minsk. International Journal of Bilingualism 13, 396-412.
  12. ^ Oldenburg corpus on the Belarusian-Russian mixed speech - University of Oldenburg - Institute for Slavic Studies :: Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
  13. ↑ Мячкоўская, Н. Б. (2014): Трасянка ў кантынууме беларуска-рускіх ідыялектаў: ​​хто і калі размаўляе на трасянцы? Веснік БДУ 1 серыя 4.
  14. ↑ a b Hentschel, G. & Kittel, B. (2011): Belorussian trilingualism? On the linguistic situation in Belarus on the basis of judgments by Belarusians about the spread of their languages ​​in the country. Vienna Slavic Almanac 67, 107–135.

literature

  • Hentschel, G. (2014): Belarusian and Russian in the Mixed Speech of Belarus. In: Besters-Dilger, J., et al. (eds.): Congruence in Contact-Induced Language Change. Berlin / Boston, 93–121.
  • Hentschel, G. & Kittel, B. (2011): Belorussian trilingualism? On the linguistic situation in Belarus on the basis of judgments by Belarusians about the spread of "their languages" in the country. Vienna Slavic Almanac 67, 107–135.
  • Hentschel, G. & Zeller, JP (2012): Mixed speech, mixed discourse, types of speakers: Belarusian, Russian and mixed speech in communication between Belarusian families. Vienna Slavic Almanac 70, 127–155.
  • Hentschel, G. et al. (Eds.): Trasjanka and Suržyk - mixed Belarusian-Russian and Ukrainian-Russian speech. Linguistic incest in Belarus and Ukraine? Frankfurt / M., 119–142.
  • Ioffe, G. (2003): Understanding Belarus: Questions of Language. Europe-Asia Studies 55/7, 1009-1047.
  • Kittel, B. (2010): Mixed Language Usage in Belarus. The Sociostructural Background of Language Choice. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 206, 47-71.
  • Sender, N .: Language setting for the mixed Belarusian-Russian language Trasjanka in Belarus, Frankfurt / Oder, Univ., Master's thesis.
  • Woolhiser, C. (2001): Language ideology and language conflict in post-Soviet Belarus. In: O'Reilly, CC (ed.): Language, Ethnicity and the State, vol. 2. London, 91-122.
  • Калита, И. В. (2010): Современная Беларусь: языки и национальная идентичность. Ústí nad Labem (URL - http://kamunikat.org/Kalita_Ina.html ).
  • Лисковец, И. В. (2002): Трасянка: происхождение, сущность, функционирование. Антропология, фольклористика, лингвистика 2, 329–343.
  • Лисковец, И. В. (2003): Проект 'Новые языки новых государств: явления на стыке близкородственных языков на постсоветском пространстве' Европейский Университет в Санкт Петербурге.
  • Мечковская, Н. Б. (1994): Языковая ситуация в Беларуси: Этические коллизии двуязычия. Russian Linguistics 18, 299-322.
  • Мечковская, Н. Б. (2002): Язык в роли идеологии: национально-символические функции языка в белорусской язциковой сит. In: Gutschmidt, K. et al. (Ed.): Possibilities and limits of the standardization of Slavic written languages ​​in the present. Dresden, 123-141.
  • Мечковская, Н. Б. (2006): Белорусская трасянка и украинский суржик: суррогаты этнического субстандарта в их отношениях к массовой культуре и литературным языкам. Проблемы зіставної семантики 7, 109–115.
  • Мячкоўская, Н. Б. (2007): Трасянка ў кантынууме беларуска-рускіх ідыялектаў: ​​хто і калі размаўляе на трасянцы? Веснік БДУ 4/1, 91–97.
  • Позняк, З. (1988): Двуязычие и бюрократизм. Радуга 4, 36–50.
  • Хентшель, Г. (2013): Белорусский, русский и белорусско-русская смешанная речь. Вопросы языкознания 1, 53–76.
  • Цыхун, Г. А. (2000): Крэалізаваны прадукт (трасянка як аб'ект лінгвістычнага даследавання). ARCHE - Пачатак 6 ( memento of July 19, 2002 in the Internet Archive ).

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