East Slavonic Languages and the Latin Alphabet in the Era of New Technology

Pamiatnik klaviature

This project will study how the increase in computer-mediated communication has challenged the position of the Cyrillic alphabet as the code for writing Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian. I shall explore how and why new technology has made the Latin alphabet more relevant for the users of the East Slavonic languages, what characterises Latin-based writing used for these languages, and the reactions to this development from the linguistic communities.

In The Gutenberg Galaxy Marshall McLuhan showed how technological development has always had great influence on the way we communicate. This concerns both the invention of the alphabet itself and Johannes Gutenberg’s introduction of mechanical printing in the 15th century. A similar, all-encompassing change is taking place at present, with the transition from print culture to computer-mediated communication.

The project will revolve around three approaches. The first approach is related to technology and concerns the conditions for writing within the framework of new digital technology. I would like to establish a better understanding of the mechanisms — be it technological, economic or political — that influence the possibilities of using different alphabets in computer-mediated communication. The second approach is linguistic and concerns the nature of the writing systems used for Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian within digital media. My main concern would be to establish a typology of the different solutions based on the Latin alphabet and its use in different contexts, as well as an understanding of how they develop. The third approach concerns the metadiscourse on language. My aim is to explore how the use of the Latin alphabet is commented upon and discussed in the three language communities.