Conflicting epistemologies in the study of mixed languages

Bilaniuk, Laada. 2014. Conflicting epistemologies in the study of mixed languages. In Trasjanka und Suržyk - gemischte weißrussisch-russische und ukrainisch-russische Rede. [Trasjanka and Suržyk – Mixed Belorussian-Russian and Ukrainian-Russian Speech], Gerd Hentschel, Oleksandr Taranenko, and Sjarhej Zaprudski. (eds.). Pp. 27-30. New York: Peter Lang.

The study of mixed languages has drawn the attention of scholars from various backgrounds.  Sometimes interdisciplinary dialogue is hampered by the fact that scholars use the same terms to refer to their subject matter, but approach it from different epistemologies of language.  Here I consider how approaches to the study of the mixed Ukrainian-Russian surzhyk relate to major trends in linguistics, examining the differing underlying beliefs and inherent assumptions about the nature of language.

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