Surzhyk

Surzhyk is a mixed, impure speech that arises from the spontaneous, unsystematic combination of elements of the Ukrainian and imperial languages with a violation of the norms of both. The term derives from the name of a mixture of grain of different crops. Surzhyk is a consequence of prolonged assimilation processes and linguistic interference in Ukrainian society and is regarded by the culture of language as a phenomenon requiring to be overcome. At the same time, in literature surzhyk becomes an expressive stylistic means: it individualises a personage's speech, attests to their social and cultural level, reproduces the linguistic situation of a certain milieu, often with a comic, ironic or exposing effect. The deliberate, artistically motivated use of surzhyk must be distinguished from linguistic carelessness. Surzhyk is an important subject of sociolinguistics, the culture of language and the stylistics of artistic speech.