"A bang" and "a loud sound" instead of an explosion, "a surge of water" instead of a flood, "temporary difficulties" instead of an economic crisis and many other words and expressions became part of the Russian media vocabulary even before the start of the war in Ukraine. „Information euphemisms, designed to cover up unpleasant phenomena, processes or decisions of the authorities, became a fact even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. For example, back in 2008-2009, journalists on state television were advised not to use the word "crisis" but to replace it with "temporary difficulties," philologist Ksenia Turkova told DW.
Linguist Kirill Kharatyan, in turn, notes that euphemisms such as "crash" or "submersion" are used only in Russian official language. "If the Ganges River, for example, overflows its banks, we are already talking about a flood. But in Russia things are called differently - i.e. nothing bad can happen on the territory of our great homeland."
Russian state institutions, for example, regularly talk about "falling debris from an unmanned aerial vehicle," when in fact they are talking about a direct hit on a Ukrainian drone. And the Ukrainian authorities are increasingly being called the “Kiev regime“.
The New Explanatory Dictionary of the State Russian Language
However, the changes in the language are not only related to the war - they reflect the narratives of the current Russian authorities, writes the Barents Observer, analyzing the Explanatory Dictionary of the State Russian Language. For example, authoritarianism is defined there as “the most effective form of government in difficult times for the country“, and democracy is defined as follows: “In the practice of political life in Western countries, this is a form of government in which citizens have certain rights and freedoms, and state institutions act in the interests of the most influential persons who influence decision-making on issues related to the political, economic and social life of society“.
When it comes to “unity“, the compilers write about “the historical unity of Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians“, and the word “regime“ is explained by the “Kiev regime“: “It has existed in Ukraine since 2014: a type of political rule that poses a threat to the fundamental rights and interests of the Russian-speaking population“.
How the Russian language is changing against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine
Kirill Kharatyan divides the changes in the Russian language since wartime into two categories: imposed “from above“ and those that came “from below“ - from the combat zone. When it comes to the Russian government and its allies, for example, “the statement cannot exist by itself – but must necessarily be full of ideological pathos“. That is why Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is called the “dove of peace” by the Russian media close to the government. “Presenting Orban in this way, which has no connection with reality, is intended to deceive public attention. Orban did not “fly in“ with a peacekeeping mission, but is simply a Russian satellite and supporter“, explains the expert.
Words like “bird“ (instead of a Russian drone) enter everyday life directly from the front. “This means, not least, that the front-line jargon receives approval from the Russian people. Because if they did not approve of it, they would not accept this “fashion“.
Creating an “alternative reality“
According to Ksenia Turkova, the “new“ Russian language is needed to “form a new, alternative reality“. “An important part of this alternative reality is the romanticization, and then the banalization and trivialization of death, turning it into something everyday. The abbreviation SVO - – “special military operation“, which is the official Russian name for the war against Ukraine, also serves the same purpose. It fits into the series of other abbreviations that Russians use daily.“
The expert also gives an example with the word “yaderka“ (meaning nuclear war), where through the diminutive suffix “ka“ the word is placed among harmless words such as “squirrel“, “sister“ or “banichka“, i.e. seems banal and innocent.
Will the wartime changes in the Russian language last?
Ksenia Turkova believes that the changes brought about by the war in the Russian language will be difficult to reject. “We know, for example, how alive the words from the Stalinist era are to this day. The created “anti-language“, crystallized during the war, will be very difficult to overcome.“
Kharatyan, on the other hand, points out that the changes imposed on the language “from above“ will remain in it at least until the power in Russia changes. “When the language speaks of something with additional pathos, with archaic words and memories of the thousand-year history of Russia, it is definitely a matter of misleading the audience. That is, as long as the lying regime rules the country, the false pathos will be preserved.“ The question is how long this will last.
Author: Alexey Voloshinov