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Balachka (Ukrainian: балачка=babble) borrowed from Ukrainian into (Russian. It originally was a derogitory term used for the Ukrainian dialect that is spoken in the traditional Cossack regions in Russia such as the Kuban, Stavropol and Don areas. It is a hybrid based on Ukrainian with numerous borrowings from standard Russisms, with certain Circassian borrowings.
Balachka varies considerably from one region to the other. For example in the Mountanous regions of the Northern Caucasus, such as Karachayevo-Cherkessia and Stavropolye, contain many borrowed Circassian (mostly Adyge and Cherkess) volcabulary, and also demonstrate a strong Caucasus accents. As such local dialects are usually grouped and from there collective terms such as the Don Balachka (Донская), Kuban Balachka (Кубанская), Mountain Balachka (Горская) arise.
Formation
Before the 20th century, literacy rates were low. During the Russian Empire Census of 1897, such as the Kuban-Black Sea (Кубанско-Черномрская), was recorded as Little Russian dialect instead of Great Russian.
Modern Usage
It is questionable on how widespread the Balachka is, the education and strict requirements of the Russian Academy of Sciences mean that local press such as TV and radio rarely use anything other than standard Russian, with a notable exception for historical films (particularly those involving Cossacks) and Folk music groups and ensembles. In such conditions, there has been a gradual erosion of Ukrainian language use, authentic dialects and accents, with unique terms being slowly replaced by standard Russian ones, particularly amongst the younger generations. At the same time, the recent re-awakening of the Cossacks was often done with enthusiasm to old traditions. It is thus not surprising that many Cossacks are reintroducing Ukrainian language (or some of its elements) in their speech to punctuate their Cossack heritage and/or affiliation.
Balachka as an ethnopolitical issue
In Soviet times the usage of Ukrainian in Russia was gradually decreasing, particularly at times, where the policies of Russification intensified (1930s and late 1970s to early 1980s) and thus a sizable portion of ethnic Ukrainians have a better knowledge of formal Russian than of the formal Ukrainian language.
Example and comparison to Ukrainian
Linguistic forum discussion about Balachka and comparison to Ukrainian
Example of Balachka:
- "А грэць його зна! У нас в станыци на нэй кажэ багато людэй, хоч потрошкы йийи и забувають. Ось и я вжэ нэ вмию дужэ швыдко балакать, так, дви-тры фразы кажу, нэ бильш, писля на русскый пэрэстрыбую, бо и в Краснодари дужэ довго вчився, а колы в станыцю вэрнувся, багато позабував."
The same paragraph in contemporary Ukrainian:
- "А грець його зна! У нас в станиці на ней каже багато людей, хоч потрошки її й забувають. Ось и я вже не вмію дуже швидко балакать, так, дві-три фрази кажу, не більш, після на русский перестрибую, бо і в Краснодарі дуже довго вчився, а коли в станицю вернувся, багато позабував."
(Non standard Ukrainian words are in bold font.)
The most striking difference is that Balachka uses Russian orthography for transliterating the language rather than using the common orthography used in Ukraine. Ocassionally, the speaker may use a Russian term for words they may not know in Ukrainian and may use msre common Russian spellings rather thatn directly transcribing from speach. The reason for this is the fact that all Ukrainian language schools in Russia were closed in 193 and as a result Ukrainians in Russia have never learned to write in Ukrainian.
Externals Links
- How Do Ukrainians communicate ?
- Surzhyk and national identity in Ukrainian nationalist language ideology (Niklas Bernsand in Berliner Osteuropa-Info, Vol. 17 - page 41 -, Freie Universität, Berlin)
Externals Links
See also
- Surzhyk - the use of Russian words on a Ukrainian grammar matrix.
- Russenorsk - a pidgin language that compines elements of Russian and Norwegian
- Diglossia - a situation of parallel usage of two closely-related languages, one of which is generally used by the government and in formal texts, and the other one is usually the spoken informally