La situació lingüística a Ucraïna

Abstract

More than 100 different ethnic groups coexist in Ukraine. An account of the origins of the Ukrainian language is followed by a description of the five historical regions into which the country is divided, and which have given rise to its present ethnic, cultural, political and economic diversity. Ukraine has undergone a long process of Russianization resulting in the disuse of Ukrainian, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the region. Under the generic title "Bilingualism", the second part of the work covers the main ethnolinguistic groups (Ukrainians and Russians) in Ukraine. In addition to these, 6% of the population of the country belongs to a variety of ethnic minorities, mostly peoples of Slavic origin. These minorities have been educated in Russian, and consequently for them Russian is the main priority language. The new Law on Languages in the Republic of Ukraine came into force on 1 January 1990. It aims to create the necessary legal framework for the various languages spoken in the country to coexist peaceably. According to the Law, citizens are free to choose the language of secondary education, and schools can be set up to cater for ethnic minorities. Subsequent directives have been issued in an attempt to increase schooling in Ukrainian and encourage the normalization of the language in higher education. The author also provides data on two cultural indicators (press and religion) concerning the use of the languages spoken in Ukraine. Today, although Ukrainian is the official language of the country, Russian continues to command great social and cultural prestige. According to the author, the normalization of Ukrainian should aim at a situation of bilingualism capable of maintaining the other languages that form part of the culture and history of Ukraine.