The Impact of the 2022 War on Attitudes Toward Languages in Ukraine: A Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis.

The article examines how the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 influenced axiological attitudes toward the Ukrainian and Russian languages within Ukrainian society, using corpus-based critical discourse analysis of 800 evaluative utterances from online media in 2021–2022 drawn from the General Regionally Annotated Corpus of Ukrainian (GRAC). It identifies 21 criteria for language evaluation, correlating them with Schwartz's typology of 10 core values, revealing a shift from a 2021 focus on the legality and legislative regulation of language use (Power value) toward a 2022 emphasis on personal, conscious language choice (Self-Direction value) and concerns about security. The study finds that while Ukrainian language evaluations remained predominantly positive and linked to state identity and security, Russian language evaluations became more negative, especially regarding its association with threats to state security, though discussions about Russian language identity persisted. Overall, the research highlights evolving sociopolitical and cultural dynamics reflected in media discourse on language attitudes amid ongoing linguistic decolonization and conflict in Ukraine.