Surzhyk: why Ukrainians are increasingly speaking a hybrid language that used to be a marker of rural backwardness

Surzhyk: why Ukrainians are increasingly speaking a hybrid language that used to be a marker of rural backwardness

A Windows translator gives the option of Surzhyk. kpi.ua/surzhikIn Ukrainian dictionaries, the word “surzhyk” originally referred to a mix of grains – rye, wheat, barley and oats – or to flour made from a blend of these that was considered of lower quality. But its meaning morphed to mean a mixed or “impure” language – and today it refers to a blend of Ukrainian and Russian used by millions in Ukraine. Often stigmatised in the past as a marker o…