Аnalysis of the name of Ukraine forms in English-language media discourse
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31548/philolog2019.01.109
Abstract
The article deals with a problem of correct use of the name of Ukraine in modern English-language media discourse. Strengthening the position of Ukraine as an independent state in the world community requires its broad informational presence in different regions of the world. The purpose of this article is to analyze the forms of the name of Ukraine as a state (both with and without the definite article) in the English-language media discourse from the grammatical and geopolitical points of view.
The frequency of use of these forms in foreign media at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries is compared. An increasing in the frequency of use of the form without the article after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and ensuing independence of Ukraine is shown. The history of progressive dropping of the article in references to Ukraine in English-language press (“The New York Times”, “The Daily News”, “The Washington Post” and “Associated Press”) is presented. Some examples of the incorrect use of the form “the Ukraine” by modern political and public figures of the highest echelon and leading mass media reaction to this misuse are given. The impropriety of use of the definite article with the name of Ukraine is explained both from a grammatical and geopolitical points of view, since such form could have a derogatory connotation of regionality, non-sovereign territory or outskirts. According to experts, the use of the name of Ukraine without an article is very important for Ukrainians, because it is stated in the Ukrainian Declaration of Independence and Constitution and marks a kind of “linguistic political independence”.
The grammatical aspect of the issue is illustrated by the general rules for using the definite article with country names in English, which are governed by geographic and political principles, and examples of the names of states in which the use of the article is still debatable (such as Lebanon, Sudan et cetera) are given. The version of the possibility of using the article on a geographical basis is disproved. It is shown that the use of the article in the name of Ukraine can be permissible only for a specific stylistic purpose. Such as it is used in the new book “The Ukraine” by Ukrainian writer, reporter and traveler Artem Chapai, where the definite article emphasizes the paradoxical and ironic situation and the name itself means “Here is exactly this Ukraine”.
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