ABSTRACT
The chapter on Sociolinguistics in Ukraine revolves around the main social aspects that have been determining the characteristics of Ukrainian linguistic dynamics, primarily manifested in the Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism, from its origin to the present day. The present overview of Ukrainian sociolinguistics addresses three fundamental questions: the origin of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism in Ukraine and the linguistic phenomena it has generated (for example, Surzhyk); the sociolinguistic features of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism considering geographical, social, gender, generational, and contextual variation; as well as the effect of historical language policy and planning on the resolution of language dynamics. The chapter particularly focuses on the attitudes of the Ukrainians towards the functionality and ideological value of Ukrainian and Russian, and comments on the most important aspects of language identity.
