heritage voices: language: ukrainian

Heritage Voices Collection June 2014 1

Heritage Voices: Language – Ukrainian

Corinne Seals, Victoria University of Wellington About the Ukrainian Language Ukrainian is the official language of Ukraine. It is spoken by over 31 million people in Ukraine and by over 41 million people worldwide (Lewis, 2009). Even though only 85% of Ukrainians speak Ukrainian as a first language and only 67.5% claim it as their native language, Ukrainian is still ranked as the 27th most widely spoken language in the world (Ukrainian Census, 2001[2004]; Lewis, 2009). Ukrainian is a Slavic language, and thus shares some linguistic features with other Slavic languages such as Russian, Polish, Czech, and Serbian. Within the Slavic language family, there are three sub-branches: Eastern Slavic, Western Slavic, and Southern Slavic. Ukrainian is a member of the Eastern Slavic family and is thus most closely related linguistically to Belarusian and Russian. However, Ukrainian is also heavily influenced by Polish, with Poland bordering Ukraine to the west, and Ukrainian is often described as having “Polish sounds.” Most native Ukrainians speak at least two languages: Ukrainian and Russian. Use of the Ukrainian language is dominant in Western Ukraine, while use of the Russian language is dominant in Eastern Ukraine and on the Ukrainian island of Crimea. Both languages are found in common usage in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, which is located in Central Ukraine. These differing patterns in language usage come as a result of the process of Russification, which attempted to enforce Russian as the primary language of all people within the Russian Empire and later Soviet Union. As Eastern Ukraine was absorbed into the Russian Empire in 1804, and this expanded to include all of Ukraine during the Soviet Union until 1991, these 187 years of Russification had an incredibly strong effect on the Ukrainian language and how it was used by the Ukrainian people. Ukrainian was no longer the official language of the country, and as a result, it was used almost strictly for non-official purposes. The influence of Russification also led to the incorporation of many Russian language features into the Ukrainian language, including word borrowings, a new orthography, and new standardized grammatical features, all leading to what is today the official Ukrainian language of the country. Reclaiming Ukrainian as a National Language In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine declared its independence and once again officially adopted Ukrainian as its national language. Over the past 20 years, Ukraine has increasingly supported the process of Ukrainisation, which is an attempt to reverse Russification by increasing the presence and usage of the Ukrainian language by the Ukrainian people (Seals, 2009). This process has escalated to mandate that Ukrainian must be used on the radio at all times, all films not in the


Ukrainian language must be subtitled in Ukrainian, and official state functions must be conducted in Ukrainian. Mixed views of Ukrainisation have led to discord within Ukraine, as those who identify as ethnic Russians but national Ukrainians (primarily residing in Eastern Ukraine) feel pressured to give up their native language of Russian, which they claim is a parallel situation to what Russification did to ethnic Ukrainians. Meanwhile, those who identify as ethnic and national Ukrainians (primarily residing in Western Ukraine) feel empowered by Ukrainisation and promote it as a reclaiming of a previously threatened national identity (Bilaniuk, 2005; Fawkes, 2005). This socio-politically tense linguistic situation in Ukraine is historically grounded and has led to the development of three primary dialectal groups of Ukrainian, in addition to the dialects of Russian used by Ukrainian people. Dialects of Ukrainian Within Ukraine, there are three main dialectal groups of the Ukrainian language, and these can be separated regionally. The first dialect group is the Southwestern group, which is shown in the picture on the right in red. This group of dialects features Upper Dniestrian as its primary dialect. This dialect can be found in the prominent Eastern Ukrainian city of Lviv. The other Southwestern dialects include Podillian, Volynian, (Adapted from K.A., 2009) Pokuttia, Hutsul, Boyko, and Lemko. Southwestern dialects of Ukrainian can be distinguished by their heavy influence from Polish, German, and Romanian grammar and phonology, with Polish influence being the most prominent (Bazhana, 2004). The second dialectal group is the Northern group, which is shown in blue. This dialect group is made up of Eastern Polissian, Western Polissian, and Central Polissian. These dialects can be found in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the Kyiv Oblast, as well as generally across the northwestern border area of Ukraine. The Northern dialects of Ukrainian are identified by a strong influence from both Russian and Belarusian grammar (Bazhana, 2004). The third Ukrainian dialectal group is comprised of the Southeastern dialects, identified in yellow. The best known of these dialects is Middle Dnieprian, which is used in central Ukraine, including in the capital city Kyiv, and is considered to be the closest to Standard Literary Ukrainian. Additionally, the Southeastern dialect group includes Slobozhan and Steppe. The Southeastern dialects are characterized by a mixing of Russian and Ukrainian grammatical features, which lean more heavily towards Russian as speakers move closer to Ukraine’s border with Russia (Bazhana, 2004).


The difference in dialects can be seen in the chart below, where the left-most column shows commonly used words and phrases in Western Ukraine, the center column is considered “standard Ukrainian” and is found in more central areas of Ukraine, and the right-most column is Russian, which is the common language spoken in far Eastern Ukraine. English Meaning Western Ukrainian “Standard” Ukrainian Russian

Good morning Dobry ranok Dobroho ranku Dobre utra Goodbye Buvaite zdorovi Do pobachennya Da svidaniya

Thank you Dyakuyu Dyakuyu/Spasybi Spasibo Please Proshu Bud’ laska Pozhalsta

Yes Tak Tak Da No Ni Ni Nyet

He/She Veen/Vona Veen/Vona On/Ona Surzhyk Surzhyk is considered to be a “mixed language” found in Ukraine that combines Ukrainian and Russian (Bilaniuk, 2005) and came about as a result of Russification policies and practices. There is no standard variety of Surzhyk, as it is highly stigmatized and not formally accepted. Surzhyk varies in lexical content by region and speaker background, with more Russian borrowings in areas with larger Russian-speaking populations. Ukrainian in the United States The United States houses the third largest Ukrainian émigré population in the world, with only Russia and Canada having larger communities. As of the 2000 United States Census, approximately 900,000 people living in the United States claim Ukrainian descent, and over 275,000 United States residents were born in Ukraine (U.S. Census, 2004). The largest Ukrainian diaspora communities can be found in Pennsylvania, North Dakota, New York, and Washington. The largest first-generation émigré Ukrainian communities in the United States live in Alaska, California, New York, Washington, Iowa, and Maryland (Themstrom, Orlov, & Handlin, 1980). The majority of the United States Ukrainian diaspora are speakers of what was once Galician Ukrainian. The foundation of the Ukrainian-American diaspora was established by those who emigrated from Ukraine in the beginning of the 20th century, when Eastern Ukraine and Western Poland made up what was then the nation of Galicia. Galicia can be seen in the picture to the right in yellow, overlapping modern-day Ukraine and Poland. The Ukrainian dialect of the Ukrainian-American population is quite different from the

(Adapted from Tora, 2009)


variety of Ukrainian used by the majority of Ukrainian citizens living in Ukraine today. Modern Ukrainian has much Russian influence, while the Galician-influenced Ukrainian used in the United States is more influenced by Polish and English, especially incorporating loan words from the latter. Because of the marked differences between modern Ukrainian and Galician Ukrainian, the language of the Ukrainian diaspora community is often called “kitchen Ukrainian,” referring to its non-standardized form. Ukrainian Phonology Consonants Ukrainian has 23 written consonants in the alphabet, including the “soft sign,” which encourages palatalization, and 32 phonological consonants when spoken. The phonological consonants are represented through the International Phonetic Alphabet in the chart below.

Labial Dental Alveo- Palatal

Post-Alveolar

Palatal Velar Glottal

Nasal m n̪ nʲ

Stop p b t̪ d̪ tʲ dʲ k g

Affricate t͡ s d͡z t͡ sʲ d͡zʲ t͡ ʃ d͡ʒ

Fricative f s z sʲ zʲ ʃ ʒ x ɦ Approximant w j

Lateral l lʲ Trill r rʲ

(Adapted from Zilyns’kyj, 1979) Palatalization Ukrainian consonants share the feature of palatalization with other Slavic languages. Palatalization occurs when the body of the tongue presses against the palate, and the consonant sounds as if there is a “y” sound attached to the end of it. Palatalization can be contrastive in Ukrainian, as shown in the example below, where the only difference between the two words when spoken is that the second consonant is palatalized in the second word.

posadu = “job” posʲadu = “I will occupy” (future)

Vowels Ukrainian has ten written vowels in the alphabet but six phonological vowels, owing to the fact that the written version of Ukrainian assigns palatalized sounds to the front of the vowels with which they occur. The phonological vowels are represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet in the chart below.


Front Back

Close i u Near-Close ɪ

Mid ɛ ɔ Open ɑ

(Adapted from Zilyns’kyj, 1979) Additional Rules A unique feature of Ukrainian is that /v/ usually becomes /w/ when occurring in a syllable coda after a vowel. However, if /v/ occurs after a voiceless consonant, then it remains /v/. An example of this rule is given below.

krov à krow = “blood” tverdy à tverdy = “solid”

Ukrainian is also different from other Slavic languages, notably Russian, in that it does not reduce non-stressed vowels to a neutral schwa-like sound. Russian has vowel reduction across the language, so this is a notable phonological difference. All vowels in Ukrainian remain pronounced as written, regardless of being stressed or unstressed. Ukrainian Orthography Ukrainian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet and has 33 letters in total. The Ukrainian language is also frequently transliterated for Western audiences into the Roman alphabet for more universal readability, especially on the internet. Both alphabets with a phonetic key are given below. Cyrillic Letters Transliterated Letters

(Ukrainian National Transliteration System)

Phonetic Key

А а Б б

В в

Г г

Ґ ґ

Д д

Е е

Є є

A a

B b

V v

H h

G g

D d

E e

Ye ye

/a/ as in father

/b/ as in book

/v/ as in victory

/h/ as in hat

/g/ as in game

/d/ as in dance

/e/ as in take

/ye/ as in yay


Ж ж

З з

И и

І і Ї ї Й й

К к

Л л

М м

Н н

О о

П п

Р р

С с

Т т

У у

Ф ф

Х х

Ц ц

Ч ч

Ш ш

Щ щ

Ь ь

Ю ю

Zh zh

Z z

Y y

I i

Yi yi

Y y

K k

L l

M m

N n

O o

P p

R r

S s

T t

U u

F f

Kh kh

Ts ts

Ch ch

Sh sh

Sch sch

‘ ‘

Yu yu

/zh/ as in beize

/z/ as in zip

close to /I/ as in zip

/i/ as in team

/yi/ as in yeast

close to /I/ with a /y/ sound at the

end /k/ as in kite

/l/ as in lamp

/m/ as in map

/n/ as in note

/o/ as in open

/p/ as in pat

trilled /r/, as in Spanish rosa

/s/ as in sack

/t/ as in tin

/u/ as in root

/f/ as in fan

/kh/ as in velar jicama

/ts/ as in tsar

/ch/ as in chapter

/sh/ as in ship

close to /sh/ followed immediately by

/ch/ softens the preceding sound

/yu/ as in you


Я я Ya ya /ya/ as in yacht Grammar Ukrainian is generally considered to be a subject-verb-object (SVO) language, like English. However, Ukrainian word order can change to a considerable degree because case marking and intonation provide additional syntactic information. Additionally, multiple negatives are allowed within a sentence, and it is not uncommon to hear three or four negatives in a single sentence. All Ukrainian nouns and adjectives are marked for gender, number, and case, and they must all agree. Finally, verbs are marked for gender, number, tense, aspect, mood, and voice, and they must also agree with their corresponding noun. There are three marked grammatical genders in Ukrainian: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Masculine is considered the “default” gender and is usually identified by a noun ending in a consonant, -ь, or -й. Feminine nouns are identified by an ending of -а or –я, and neuter nouns are usually identified by an ending of –o or –e. Additionally, all nouns, verbs, and adjectives are marked for singular or plural number. There are seven grammatical cases in Ukrainian: nominative, accusative, locative, genitive, dative, instrumental, and vocative. All verbs specify tense (past, present, or future), and are combined with aspect (imperfective or perfective). Additionally, verbs consider mood (indicative, imperative, or conditional) and voice (active or passive).


References Bazhana, M.P. (ed.). 2004. Українська мова: енциклопедія (Ukrainian language: encyclopedia). Kyiv, Ukraine: National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Bilaniuk, L. (2005). Contested tongues: Language politics and cultural correction in Ukraine. New York, NY: Cornell University Press.

Fawkes, H. (2005, April 22). Ukraine divided over language row. BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4472069.stm. K, A. (2009). Map of Ukrainian dialects [Online image]. Retrieved May 20, 2012 from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Ukrainian_dialects.png. Lewis, M.P. (ed.). (2009). Ethnologue: Languages of the world, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, TX: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/. Seals, C. (2009). From Russification to Ukrainisation: A survey of language politics in Ukraine. UCLA Journal of Slavic and East/Central European Studies 2, Article 5. Themstrom, S., Orlov, A., & Handlin, O. (Eds.). (1980). Ukrainians in selected states. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (pp. 999-1001). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Tora, A. (2009). Українська: Галичина (Ukrainian: Galicia) [Online image]. Retrieved May 20, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine- Halychyna.png#filelinks. Ukrainian Census (Всеукраинской переписи населения), 2001: Языковой состав населения Украины (Language of the Ukrainian Population). (2004). Kyiv, Ukraine: State Statistics Committee of Ukraine. U.S. Census, 2000: Ancestry. (2004). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.

Zilyns’kyj, I. (1979). A phonetic description of the Ukrainian language. Cambridge, U.K.: Harvard University Press. Additional Resources

Bremmer, I. (1994). The politics of ethnicity: Russians in the new Ukraine. Glasgow, U.K.: University of Glasgow Press. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. http://www.huri.harvard.edu/.


Humesky, A. (2001). Modern Ukrainian. 3rd Edition. Toronto, Canada: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. Taranenko, O. (2007). Ukrainian and Russian in contact: attraction and estrangement. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 183, 119-140. Ukrainian Educational Council in the USA (Шкільна Рада). New York, NY: Educational Council. http://www.ridnashkola.org/ Search for Ukrainian heritage language programs in the Alliance programs database. The Heritage Voices Ukrainian Profile was prepared by Corinne Seals for the Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages, Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), Washington DC. The Heritage Voices Collection is designed to spotlight individual heritage language speakers and programs. The information presented does not necessarily represent the views of the Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages or the Center for Applied Linguistics.

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heritage voices: language: ukrainian

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