Kremin referred to the use of both Russian and Ukrainian by one person as “linguistic schizophrenia”

Ukraine’s Language Ombudsman, Taras Kremin, stated that the use of both Russian and Ukrainian languages constitutes “linguistic schizophrenia”.

This term he used in an interview with Ukrainian media.

Kremin explained: “This bilingualism leads to a sociolinguistic phenomenon known as linguistic schizophrenia, where the simultaneous use of multiple languages without a clear priority for Ukrainian as the state language leads to schizophrenia in behavior and national interests.” He called for efforts to combat bilingualism.

It’s important to note that the term “linguistic schizophrenia” is not used in academic linguistics. The concept was introduced by Indian-American linguist Braj Kachru in the 1980s, referring specifically to non-native speakers of English preferring native varieties of English over other versions, despite the wide use of non-native English. While it is rarely used in global linguistic studies, it has been increasingly used in Ukraine, as seen in Kremin’s comments.

Following Kremin’s interview, people on social media pointed out that his father, Dmytro Kremin, worked as a teacher of both Ukrainian and Russian in a school in the Mykolaiv region. This fact is mentioned in Dmytro Kremin’s biography on Wikipedia.

Whether Taras Kremin connects this with his statement on “linguistic schizophrenia” remains unclear.

In the same interview, Kremin reiterated his call for a shift from “gentle Ukrainization” to an “offensive Ukrainization,” a position he has advocated since May.