Czech lexis in the online communication of Ukrainian refugees: a linguistic analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17721/um/56(2026).120-142Keywords:
language contact, bilingualism, code-switching, lexical borrowings, internet communication, Czech language, Ukrainian language, language adaptation.Abstract
Background. The article is devoted to a linguistic analysis of the functioning of Czech words and phrases in the online communication of Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic following the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The relevance of the study is обусловлена the intensity of contemporary processes of language contact in the context of forced migration and the growing prevalence of internet communication. The aim of the study is to identify the types of Czech lexical elements in the speech of Ukrainian refugees, to determine their functions, and to examine the peculiarities of their adaptation within a Ukrainian-language environment.
Methods. The study is based on a corpus of 400 textual units selected from social media, messaging platforms, and thematic online communities of Ukrainians in the Czech Republic. A comprehensive sampling method was employed, along with lexical-semantic and functional analysis, to interpret the linguistic material and to determine the role of Czech lexical elements in the internet communication of Ukrainians.
Results. It was found that Czech vocabulary is actively integrated into Ukrainian speech in the form of code-switching and partially adapted borrowings. The highest frequency is observed in units related to the administrative and legal domain, which is due to the frequent interaction of Ukrainians with state institutions. In the process of social adaptation of Ukrainians in the Czech Republic, the use of Czech words expands to communication on everyday, professional, educational, and medical topics. Czech elements perform nominative, informative, and identificational functions. Processes of phonetic-graphic and morphological adaptation were identified, including the transcription of certain Czech words into Cyrillic and their incorporation into the Ukrainian grammatical system.
Conclusions. Internet communication serves as a key environment for recording linguistic changes in the speech of Ukrainian refugees and for the formation of a hybrid Ukrainian-Czech communicative code. The language practices of Ukrainian refugees are characterized by dynamism, variability, and functional appropriateness. The use of Czech vocabulary is not only a result of language contact but also an important indicator of sociocultural adaptation in the context of migration.
About the author:
Olha Doloh – Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor, Research Fellow at the Department of Slavic Linguistics and Lexicography, Slavic Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9305-2453
e-mail: olha.doloh@slu.cas.cz
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ольга ДЬОЛОГ, канд. філол. наук, доц.
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