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Article published In: Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict: Online-First Articles

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Contesting spaces

An examination of the prepositional phrases v/na Ukraine and iz/s Ukraine in Russian X discourse

ORCiD logo with link | Oklahoma State University, USA
ORCiD logo with link | Southeastern Oklahoma State University, USA
Published online: 27 August 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.00121.jun
Abstract
In this study, we investigate the use of two pairs of Russian prepositions—v‍/‍na (‘in/on’) and iz/s (‘from’) with the noun Ukraine in X discourse. Since Ukrainian independence in 1991, v Ukraine and iz Ukraine have been used to indicate Ukrainian sovereignty and na and s used as their unmarked counterparts as defined by Russian linguistic tradition. Using a web-based set of tools called TWIG, we examine how posts containing the prepositional phrases construct stances toward the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Specifically, we examine the frequency of the prepositional phrases, their collocations, and the semantics conveyed by the collocational patterns. Our findings show notable differences in the collocational patterns of posts using v Ukraine versus na Ukraine. Analysis of these collocations suggests that posts using v Ukraine have a proximation effect to the conflict, while those using na Ukraine have a distancing effect.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Russian-Ukrainian language conflict
    • 2.1Prepositions v/na and iz/s
  • 3.X
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Theoretical framework
    • 4.2Procedure
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1Frequency
    • 5.2Collocation
      • 5.2.1Prepositions v/na (location) collocation analysis
      • 5.2.2Prepositions v/na (direction) collocation analysis
      • 5.2.3Prepositions iz/s (genitive) collocation analysis
    • 5.3Semantic prosody and stance
      • 5.3.1Proximal positioning
      • 5.3.2Distance positioning
      • 5.3.3Temporal positioning
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
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