Language Situation in Ripky (Chernihiv): Results of Focus Group Research

Abstract

This article highlights the results of recent focus group interviews about language use carried out in the small town of Ripky and in nearby rural villages. Ripky and environs are situated in the northwestern part of the region of Chernihiv in central northern Ukraine. This research complements a more extensive study devoted to the analysis of the language situation of this area that attempted to obtain a deeper understanding of the language attitudes (including covert ideology) of this administrative district. This territory is interesting from dialectal and sociolinguistic viewpoints, as several language varieties coexist. This is also a consequence of the geographic proximity of the three main east Slavic countries: Ukraine, Belarus, and the Russian Federation. The qualitative data obtained from four focus groups in the local secondary school of Ripky are of particular significance because they clarify the language/dialect selection of the speaker, thus adding information to the previously outlined framework of the peculiar language situation in this district.