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Open AccessArticle

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

by Yan Kapranov, Anna Verschik, Liisa-Maria Lehto and Maria Frick

Languages 2025, 10(10), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10100254 - 30 Sep 2025

Viewed by 2160

Abstract

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. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language Attitudes and Language Ideologies in Eastern Europe)

16 pages, 1749 KB

Open AccessArticle

Evolution of Tourism in Natural Destinations and Dynamic Sustainable Thresholds over Time

by Hördur V. Haraldsson and Rannveig Ólafsdóttir

Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4788; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124788 - 15 Dec 2018

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 9738

Abstract

Tourism is a complex industry involving numerous types of activities that can have adverse environmental impacts and, over time, gradually change the way tourists experience tourist destinations and their choice of particular tourist destinations. The overall aim of this study is to examine the impact of tourism destination exploitation upon the perceived attractiveness of a particular destination to different types of visitors using the Purism Scale coupled to the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC). The study uses the system dynamics Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) approach, to analyse feedback loop behaviour and causal loop impacts over time. The results show that the different visitors’ types, as defined by the Purist Scale, affect the attractiveness of the tourist destination in different ways over time. The results further show that different visitors’ types cannot exist at their own optimum level at the same time in a destination. The concept tourism carrying capacity should thus be defined through the maximum site attractiveness,-based upon the optimum size of infrastructure that ensures low visual effect, low crowding effect, and low environmental impact. This enables better understanding of the different evolution phases of the tourist site during its push for infrastructure development. Full article

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33 pages, 9720 KB

Open AccessArticle

Floating Away: The Impact of Hydroelectric Power Stations on Tourists’ Experience in Iceland

by Anna Dóra Sæþórsdóttir and C. Michael Hall

Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2315; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072315 - 4 Jul 2018

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 8089

Abstract

It is of vital importance that nature-based tourist destinations maintain their natural resources in a sustainable way. Nature and wilderness are the main attractions for tourism in Iceland. The Central Highlands are uninhabited with little visible evidence of human influence except for some huts, gravel roads, and a small number of hydroelectric power plants. However, there are plans for further hydroelectric power development in the area. The Blanda Power Station was constructed in 1991 at the edge of the North Central Highlands. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among tourists in the area in the summer of 2016 with a total of 1078 answered questionnaires. The objective was to estimate the impact of the power station on the experience of tourists and to assess whether their attitude differs from that of tourists in locations where power plant construction has been proposed. The results show that the power plant infrastructure at Blanda, with the exception of transmission lines, does not seem to disturb the experience of the majority of tourists. Tourists at Blanda are also more positive towards power plants than at locations where there are no power plants but where they have been proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydropower Production)

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