SLOBIDSKA UKRAINE DIALECT IN THE NORTH OF LUHANSK REGION: BASED ON VIDEO MATERIALS ON RUSSIA’S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE

Abstract

The article examines the Slobidska Ukraine dialect of the Luhansk oblast based on video materials about Russia’s war against Ukraine. With the means of language, a person represents and verbalizes the world reflecting not only objective reality but also the reality that exists in consciousness. Literary language and dialects reproduce the world in different ways: dialect speech reveals other aspects of worldview, explains unique cultural phenomena and features of world perception. Globalization processes affect linguistics, including dialectology, but the latter remains an important component of modern linguistics that protects linguistic identity and national values. The study of Ukrainian dialects remains relevant, particularly in the context of the war with Russia, which provides scientists with valuable material for analysis. The aim of the article is to determine the linguistic features of the Slobidska Ukraine dialect of the Ukrainian language based on video materials on the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The objectives are: 1) to define the concept of dialect; 2) to present the general characteristics of dialects of the Ukrainian language; 3) to present the main features of the Slobidska Ukraine dialect; 4) to analyze the peculiarities of the manifestation of the Slobidska Ukraine dialect in video materials from the north of the Luhansk oblast about the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The research demonstrates that dialects are a territorially limited form of language that exists in oral communication. The Ukrainian language was formed on the basis of the dialects of the southern and southwestern lands. There are three large dialects in the Ukrainian language: northern (Polissia), south-eastern and south-western ones. The Slobidska Ukraine dialect is one of the modern dialects of the southeastern dialect of the Ukrainian language spread in the southeastern regions of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, in the north of Luhansk oblast and adjacent territories of Russia. Activization of dialect speech in the conditions of war is connected with the fact that, in stressful situations, people look for support among interlocutors in the same dialect, which creates a sense of connection and comfort. Dialect is part of identity and cultural heritage providing a sense of stability and support. In stressful situations, people often rely on automatic speech processes, so they can use dialect without conscious intention. Based on video materials from the north of the Luhansk oblast about the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the following most distinctive features of the Slobidska Ukraine dialect were identified, which are revealed even in the simplest expressions: 1) on the phonetic level, the convergence of the sounds [е] – [и], [о] – [а], [и] – [і], palatalization of sibilant consonants щ and ч; 2) on the morphological level, reduction of в- at the beginning of pronouns; 3) on the grammatical level, reduction -o in verbs in the first person plural in the present tense, ending -ть in verbs in the infinitive; 4) on the lexical level, the attraction to Proto-Slavic lexemes, which are less characteristic of other dialects of the Ukrainian language, and Ukrainization of Russian lexemes.