A typology of surzhyk: Mixed Ukrainian-Russian language

Abstract

A typology is developed that systematizes the various linguistic phenomena in Ukraine that are commonly referred to as surzhyk—a Ukrainian term meaning `impure, mixed language'. The term surzhyk has become frequently used in public discourse and the media since Ukrainian was elevated to the status of official state language and Ukraine declared its independence. A heightened purist ideology has led to broad use of the term, which tends to have pejorative connotations. The typology is based on the historical, social, and ideological factors that have shaped language use. Five major categories of surzhyk are defined: (1) urbanized peasant surzhyk, (2) village dialect-surzhyk, (3) Sovietized-Ukrainian surzhyk, (4) urban bilinguals' surzhyk, and (5) post-independence surzhyk. These five prototypes are further characterized according to the typology of bilingualism proposed by Auer (1999), by considering the degree of pragmatic salience and the grammaticalization of language alternation. This case study presents a paradigm for the analysis of mixed languages.