Paul Goble
Staunton,
June 2 – Language change in the regional and local media in Ukraine is proceeding
in a single direction, the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting
Reports. More than 200 publications are shifting either from Russian to
Ukrainian entirely or issuing Ukrainian-language editions in addition to the
Russian ones.
The
committee reports that as of June 1, 209 publications (196 local and 13 state)
had shifted either into Ukrainian entirely or into two editions, one of which
was Ukrainian. “Not one” moved in the direction
of issuing only a Russian-language edition, the Kyiv agency continued (qha.com.ua/ru/obschestvo/v-ukraine-stalo-bolshe-ukrainoyazichnih-smi/193038/).
While
this number is a relatively small proportion of all publications at that level,
it is important for three reasons. First, it means that Kyiv’s declarations
about language change are being carried out rather than ignored as some have
assumed. Ukraine is becoming a Ukrainian
language country.
Second,
it represents a return at least for a transitional period to the Soviet
practice of putting out such publications not in a single language but in both
the predominant local language and Russian, a pattern that when the editions
are identical otherwise, will promote Ukrainian language knowledge among
non-ethnic Ukrainian citizens.
And
third, it suggests that those publications which have tried to remain
Russian-only are not in a position to compete with those that are either
bilingual or Ukrainian-language, a measure of popular attitudes about language
even more than the result of any directive from the central government.
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