Language Tenacity of Ukrainians in the 20th Century as a Means of National Self-Assertion
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Date
2021
Authors
Pidkuimukha, Liudmyla
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Abstract
The goal of this article is to analyze language tenacity of Ukrainians in the first half of the twentieth century as well as geographical and historical factors that have influenced language behaviour and language choice. The data set used for the analysis comes from a collection of interviews "Unusual Fates of Usual Women. Oral History of the 20th Century" (Vynnytska, 2013). These texts are chosen as they represent demonstrative samples of women’s language practices and interviewees’ reflections on the language situation in Ukraine in the first half of the 20th century. The women-interviewees explain their language choices and define how it has influenced national identity of the individuals and groups. In total, 21 interviews, which I view as discourse (text in context), are studied. The analysis is informed by critical discourse studies and reveals that the concepts of language stability and language tenacity describe the language situation studied. Language attitudes are also shown to be instrumental in creating the sociolinguistic conditions which support language stability. The discussion focuses on the concept of language tenacity as the most relevant notion in preserving or maintaining a language in a society.
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Keywords
language tenacity, language behaviour, language stability, memories, Ukrainian language, article
Citation
Pidkuimukha L. Language Tenacity of Ukrainians in the 20th Century as a Means of National Self-Assertion / Liudmyla Pidkuimukha // Journal of Belonging, Identity, Language, and Diversity. - 2021. - Vol. 5 (1). - P. 187-207.