In a Manner of Speaking

I have written a number of times in the past about Ukraine’s long-standing language issue, particularly in the context of how Russified certain parts of Ukraine have become and the dominance of the Russian language in Ukraine’s media and publishing sectors.  However, Russian is not the only language assaulting Ukraine’s cultural space.  Since independence, Ukraine has become inundated with Western influences and English is increasingly intruding into everyday usage and supplanting many traditional Ukrainian words and phrases.

When a new bar opens up in most major Ukrainian cities, one increasingly sees the words “bar” or “pab” attached to the name rather than the more time-honoured korchma, shynok or knaipa.  Ditto for a coffee house, which in the past used to be known as a kavyarnia but now is more commonly tagged a kafe.  People go do “shopping,” have a “biznes lanch,” are greatly influenced by “marketing,” want to be a successful “manadzher” in a “biznes” of some kind, and often relax with a “kokteil” after work.  Last weekend, one of my young Ukrainian cousins was telling me about her new “boifrend” and how she would like to study “dezain” when she finishes high school.

Most of the younger generation of Ukrainians have a strong fascination with the Western world and all the materialistic and consumerist pleasures they have been exposed to in the media, so it is no surprise that they have picked up on the jargon and consider it fashionable to inject as many English-isms as possible into their conversations.  Now it is perfectly normal for a language to evolve and absorb foreign words, however, the post-Soviet culture shock and the rapid opening of Ukrainian society to foreign influences have accelerated linguistic mutation and adaptation.

Whether this should be an area of concern is open to debate.  Certainly, our own English language is constantly evolving and new words and phrases are added at a rapid pace. Some of these words are internally generated, some adopted through global interaction in a world where geographic barriers are constantly shrinking.  However, English is as well established as any language can be, and in no danger of being supplanted by any other.

Ukrainian, unfortunately, is a little more vulnerable.  For many centuries it has been subjected to concerted efforts of linguistic genocide, primarily by the Poles and the Russians.  The Russians continue to put the Ukrainian language under pressure by swamping the Ukrainian cultural space with Russian music, newspapers, books, films and TV shows.  Through concerted government efforts over the past decade, the Ukrainian language has started to reassert itself. Yet, aside from having become the official language of government and increasingly the educational system, it is still on shaky knees, figuratively speaking, and needs continuing government support and action to re-establish itself as the primary national language of Ukraine.  This is why some linguistic experts in Ukraine are also getting increasingly concerned with the new threat emerging from the English-speaking world.

Ukraine, of course, is not the first or only country to become concerned with creeping Anglo intrusion into its cultural environment. The French government and the Academie Francaise have had a long-running battle with the invasion of English and, particularly, American words and phrases, into common usage by the younger generations in particular.  Virtually all their efforts to stem the tide, however, have failed.  One can no more easily impose linguistic dogma than religious dogma.  In an age of increasing literacy, global communication and recognition of individual human rights, people will reject imposed rules and regulations that intrude into what they consider their personal freedoms and right to choose.

The only way to address this issue is to increase people’s consciousness and pride in their cultural and linguistic heritage. Large-scale use of foreign words and phrases is an expression of a cultural inferiority complex, an indirect admission of the lack of respect for one’s own inherited linguistic and social legacy.  When Ukrainians can stand tall in their own eyes on the world stage, they will not feel the need to borrow from other languages or cultures to the extent they do now. This will likely continue to be an issue until Ukraine succeeds in achieving its proper place within Europe and the world at large.