Suržyk as a Transitional Stage from Russian to Ukrainian: The Perspective of Ukrainian Migrants and War Refugees in Finland

This article examines how Ukrainian migrants and war refugees in Finland perceive and use Suržyk, a cluster of intermediate varieties between Ukrainian and Russian, as a transitional stage facilitating the shift from Russian-dominant to Ukrainian-dominant speech. Drawing on 1615 survey responses collected between November 2022 and January 2023, the study reveals that 42 respondents view Suržyk as a bridge that supports the gradual acquisition of standard Ukrainian. Qualitative content analysis of open-ended responses shows repeated references to Suržyk as a “stepping stone”, “temporary means” or “bridge”, highlighting its role in maintaining intelligibility and fluency for speakers who are not confident in standard Ukrainian. Although some respondents acknowledge the stigma associated with mixed speech, they also stress Suržyk’s practical advantages in contexts shaped by the 2022 full-scale war and heightened purist discourses. Speakers report pressure to adhere to purist language norms in formal settings, whereas in informal spaces, they consider Suržyk a natural outcome of bilingual backgrounds. These findings illuminate the interplay between language ideologies, sociopolitical dynamics, and individual agency, suggesting that for many Ukrainians in Finland, Suržyk serves as a temporary yet functional means to align with Ukrainian identity under rapidly changing circumstances.