BILINGUALISM AND DIGLOSSIA IN THE CAPITAL OF UKRAINE

Background. Much research has been devoted to the problem of language situation. But in this study, we have focused on the capital and analyzed its situation in the terms of bilingualism and diglossia. The article “Bilingualism and diglossia in the capital of Ukraine” deals with the problem of functioning of the Ukrainian and Russian language in formal and informal communication of Kyiv inhabitants. Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomena of bilingualism and diglossia in the capital of Ukraine on the basis of several sociological surveys. Methods. The research was conducted through analyzing the results of different sociolinguistic investigations: 2000, 2007, and 2013. Wae have also studied the data of the annual research of the organization “Prostir svobody” and experiments of the “1 1” channel. Results. The problem of Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism and diglossia in Ukraine is difficult and contradictory. Because of the fact that in one country two languages exist together, language and cultural unity of people is broken. This situation can be observed in Kyiv, because bilingualism and diglossia are widespread phenomena here. For that matter, the Ukrainian and Russian language in Kyiv are differentiated depending on formal or informal communication, that is the main feature of diglossia. Different studies have shown that Ukrainian as the official language is limited to use only in formal spheres, whereas Russian often dominates in everyday life. Discussion. So we can conclude that the amount of the Ukrainian language is increasing nowadays, but it still remains less popular in the spheres of nonofficial communication.