ABSTRACT
In Ukraine and in Belarus, the Russian language enjoys a very different status and reach. While in Belarus it is formally the “second state language”, being de facto the only one used in most spheres, and spoken by the majority of the population in both cities and small towns, in Ukraine it has a very limited use in public settings and is predominantly spoken by urban dwellers and only in some parts of the (admittedly large) country. What makes the situation of Russian similar in both countries is that it finds itself in competition with a closely related standard language, i.e. Belarusian or Ukrainian. Moreover, both have widespread substandard forms of mixed speech (so-called Trasyanka in Belarus and Suržyk in Ukraine). In daily life, most speakers to some degree make use of all three codes.
Both countries exemplify the notion of Russian as a pluricentric language, as the Russian language in Ukraine and Belarus features a considerable number of specific traits. Some of these are of a contact-induced or substrate nature, and others are related to some dialects of Russian proper. These traits are observed on different levels, including phonetics, lexicon, morphology, and syntax. There is no codified “national norm” of Russian in either country; however, some of the local traits, mainly phonetic and lexical ones, are clearly perceived as different from those used in the metropolis and are discussed by the speakers. In the first empirical part, the chapter is concerned with data from recent sociodemographic surveys in Belarus and central Ukraine (1400 informants each) and addresses questions of assessed language use, language proficiency, as well as some symbolic dimensions of the languages. The second part deals with patterns of actual language use in Belarusian and Ukrainian families in which all three codes are present. Data stem from two corpora containing 400 000 words each.
In both parts, we demonstrate the connection of language use with the sociodemographic characteristics of the speakers. In conclusion, we will point out the similarities and differences in the situation of Russian in both states.
