Dialect and Ukrainian Russian mixed speech ("suržyk"): distinguishing criteria and demarcation lines. Article 1

Abstract

The phenomenon of Ukrainian Russian language mixing, commonly referred to as 'Suržyk', has been extensively studied in both Ukrainian and international scholarship. It is often assumed that further research can only be advanced through statistical and quantitative methods applied to large corpora and computational models, particularly those developed by some research groups. While such approaches are effective for identifying ongoing trends and correlating linguistic and social variables, several fundamental questions remain unresolved. Chief among these are the linguistic validity of the term 'Suržyk', the nature of the phenomenon it denotes, the object of research and the differentiation from other nonstandard Ukrainian varieties. 
Despite significant scholarly contribution, some researchers still interpret the concept too broadly, including virtually any instance of linguistic interference and code-mixing. This broad usage complicates the identification of the research object and creates terminological ambiguity, which limits the comparability and clarity of this field of studies. 
Therefore, the first part of this article aims to clarify the terminological issue, critically assess contemporary approaches, and establish criteria for distinguishing Ukrainian territorial dialects from Ukrainian Russian mixed speech (URMS, 'Surzhyk') and other potential forms of language mixing. In contemporary dialectology and sociolinguistics, systematic attempts to differentiate rural dialects from URMS remain extremely limited, emphasizing the relevance of the present study. 
The results of the linguistic analysis – which will ensue in the second part of this study – will more effectively delineate approximate demarcation lines between traditional dialects and URMS, thus providing a more reliable framework for future research in dialectology, sociolinguistics, and language contact studies.