The us / them opposition in the linguistic space of L’viv Cover Image

Опозиція СВІЙ – ЧУЖИЙ (ІНШИЙ) у мовному просторі Львова
The us / them opposition in the linguistic space of L’viv

Author(s): Natalia Hobzej
Subject(s): Anthropology, Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Cognitive linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: us vs. them/other; the linguistic space of Lviv; Lvivians; non-Lvinians

Summary/Abstract: The us / them opposition in the linguistic space of L’viv, Ukraine, is manifested in a number of ways. The town, founded by the Ukrainian prince Danylo Halytskiy, has always been multilingual and in the language of its inhabitants one finds borrowings from German, Polish, Yiddish and other languages. The most stable opposition is that between a Lvivite and a non-Lvivite, which, it seems, goes back to the beginnings of the town and is still maintained. Within the city boundaries, there are oppositions between its districts. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the linguo-cultural space of L’viv was dominated by the opposition based on national awareness, only partly upheld by the religious feeling of being a Greek Catholic or a Roman Catholic, which feeling contributed rather to the opposition between a “conscious Ukrainian” and a “Polonized Ukrainian”. Social relationships were also responsible for the emergence of an opposition peculiar to L’viv: that between a batiar (one of “us”) and frajer (non-batiar, a dupe, i.e. one of “them”). Apart from that, there are also other local and partial oppositions, characteristic of all towns with a long history.

  • Issue Year: 20/2008
  • Issue No: 20
  • Page Range: 297-309
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Ukrainian