Ilko Lemko: Language de-Ukrainization in the third year of the great war.

Perhaps the only topic that remains and will always be relevant and interesting in Ukraine over the coming years, decades, or even centuries is the topic of the Ukrainian language. At the end of this year, the language ombudsman Taras Kremin is sounding the alarm about the fact that in 2024, the long-desired Ukrainization has somehow stalled, with the number of students who consider the Ukrainian language their native tongue decreasing by 17%. The ombudsman’s report does not specify whether this refers only to secondary school students or includes those from vocational and technical institutions as well. However, if we consider only secondary school students, of which there are about 4 million in Ukraine, it results in approximately 680 thousand (!) young Ukrainian speakers shifting to the Russian-speaking camp this year.

The situation appears almost entirely schizophrenic, as it is clear to everyone that if a person who is Ukrainian-speaking suddenly becomes Russian-speaking in modern Ukraine, it is nothing short of a fantasy. The reverse process does exist, where Russian speakers one day, month, or year become Ukrainian speakers; this phenomenon is generally rare, but it does happen. However, the opposite is entirely excluded—it simply does not occur. The only conclusion from all this is that these 17% of boys and girls were never truly Ukrainian-speaking; they somehow thought that the Ukrainian language was native to them, but in a completely Russian-speaking environment, under pressures such as mockery, teasing, and derision of the "calf language," as well as the powerful influence of social networks, where communication predominantly occurs "in normal human manner," contributed to these 680 thousand neophytes proving unstable in their beliefs. Additionally, Kremin adds another 11% of parents and 8% of teachers who have failed the test of Ukrainization this year.

This phenomenon of retreating from Ukrainization "back to square one" is perfectly illustrated in the biblical parable of the sower. Christ explains that seeds sown in rocky soil cannot sprout because: “Other people are like seeds sown on rocky places: they hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” (Matthew 13:20-22) Those who have encountered real cases of language Ukrainization, that is, a genuine desire to master the Ukrainian language and use it in daily life in Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, know that this is real dedication, requiring considerable courage, if not bravery, not to mention that speaking Ukrainian in occupied territories can lead to death...

A good acquaintance of mine recounted that her son was brutally beaten by Russian thugs in Ukrainian Crimea at the Kazantip festival simply for addressing them in Ukrainian. Numerous examples can be provided; one that comes to mind is from 2014 during the Revolution of Dignity in Dnipro, when a girl was simply walking down the street talking to her mother on the phone in Ukrainian, and a crazed Russian (it is possible he might have been an ethnic Ukrainian) rushed at her, knocked the phone from her hands, and hit her in the face...

Even now, during this horrific war, Russian still dominates the streets of Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and even Kyiv. People are ashamed to speak Ukrainian because for many uncultured and insufficiently patriotic individuals, speaking Ukrainian carries a stigma of inferiority, ineptitude, and rural identity. However, this has been the case almost throughout our history, and even Lviv was not an exception in this regard.

Lawyer and public figure Yevhen Olesnytsky noted: “In the autumn of 1878, Lviv presented itself to me as almost a purely Polish city... The language everywhere was Polish— in stores, restaurants, and cafes, Ruthenians also spoke Polish. It took great courage to speak to a waiter or merchant in Ukrainian, and such a person was regarded as extraordinary. The small Ukrainian population that existed in the city hid away in corners, and it was not visible on the surface; proportionally, the largest Ukrainian element was among the lowest working classes, between domestic servants and stonewatchers.” This picture from the previous century painfully resembles the modern cities of Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and even Kyiv.

“It takes great courage to speak Ukrainian…” This is why hundreds of thousands (!) of students, their parents, and teachers from non-Ukrainian-speaking regions of Ukraine, as indicated by a survey published by the language ombudsman, have proven unstable in their newly adopted faith in the Ukrainian language in the third year of the great war.

According to the latest research by Taras Kremin, only 37% of students communicate with friends in Ukrainian, and 39% at home, while a study by the NGO “Spilnomova” revealed that on average in Kyiv, only 15% of preschoolers entering the first grade have sufficient proficiency in the Ukrainian language. Among the 85% who do not have adequate proficiency in Ukrainian, 20% do not speak it at all. Let’s reflect on these utterly despairing figures, and this is nothing less than Kyiv!

Research by the sociological group “Rating” shows that in southern Ukraine, 32% of the population are Ukrainian speakers, 16% are Russian speakers, and 51% are bilingual, meaning those who speak both Ukrainian and Russian. In the east, 24% are Ukrainian speakers, 22% are Russian speakers, and 52% are bilingual. It is clear that the majority of people understand that so-called bilinguals in Ukraine are a euphemism for the Russian language. Let’s not deceive ourselves with illusions—speaking both Ukrainian and Russian in Russian-speaking regions means speaking Russian.

A wonderful researcher of the Ukrainian language, Yaroslav Radevych-Vynnytsky, rightly notes: “As for the theory of ‘two native languages,’ the second ‘native’ language is as natural a phenomenon as a second head in Chernobyl mutant calves. One can only speak of two native languages regarding certain mixed families, but science has recorded that by the third generation, only one language remains.”

Any equality of conflicting sides is a temporary balance, for sooner or later, one of the contenders for dominance prevails. Radevych-Vynnytsky further emphasizes: “Linguistic duality has a parallel in the cultural duality of a person. Moreover, neither languages nor cultures are ever symmetrical, and the relationships between them are not equitable. This is explained not so much by the unequal value of national languages and cultures in general, but by the dominant position of some and the dependent position of others. Bilingualism, under such circumstances, takes on a unique diglossia: one language in society is superior, more important, mandatory, associated with categories of power and prestige, while the other is inferior, less important, optional, and marginal. The importance of the language of the dominant nation increases as one climbs the social ladder.” The conclusion from this is that when Ukrainians truly become the “dominant nation” in Ukraine, the language at all “levels of the social ladder” will be Ukrainian, but not out of coercion, not because you are a politician or an official who is simply forced to speak Ukrainian, as is currently the case, but because it is your native language. This process, although slow, is nonetheless beginning.

Summarizing the language ombudsman’s information on the slowing of Ukrainization in 2024, which is passing, we can state not only negative aspects but also somewhat positive moments. The data from surveys about the use of the Ukrainian language in various spheres of public life is more of an advance, a desired outcome, rather than a reality, as for modern, patriotic, and moral individuals, especially the youth, being Ukrainian-speaking or at least considering themselves as such is cool, prestigious, and a significant portion of the responses regarding the use of the Ukrainian language is merely a promise for the future.

The figure of 37% of students who communicate with friends in Ukrainian is likely more optimistic than pessimistic, as is the figure of 39% regarding those students who speak Ukrainian at home with their parents, considering the catastrophic and almost total prevalence of Russian language in large and small cities in the East, South, and even in the Dnipro region. This is even taking into account that over 6 million predominantly Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine are currently abroad, mainly in Europe, and another approximately 6 million of the same population are in temporarily occupied territories and in Russia.

Again, let’s not deceive ourselves for now and get our hopes up with those survey figures showing up to 80% of those who currently consider Ukrainian their native language in Ukraine. One can consider anything, but hearing Ukrainian on the streets of Kyiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv, or even in smaller district towns outside of Western Ukraine is already a significant problem.

The horrific aggressive war of Moscow has provided a tremendous opportunity for the linguistic Ukrainization of our society; in the official