Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

A member of the eastern branch of the * Slavonic languages and the sole state language of the Ukrainian Republic. The earliest written language on what is now Ukrainian territory was the primarily liturgical language of the Orthodox Church, known variously as Old * Church Slavonic or Old Bulgarian. Scribal errors in the manuscripts give some insight into the actual local pronunciation of the day. In more secular texts several features can be identified that are still present in modern Ukrainian, although it is impossible to talk of a linear evolution of the literary language from medieval Kyiv (Kiev) to modern times. The absorption of the Ukrainian lands into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a process that began in the 14th c., led to the establishment of an administrative, or chancery, language (sometimes known as * Ruthenian ) with features common to both Ukrainian and * Belarusian . Although undoubtedly based in part on the spoken language, it showed increasing influences from * Polish , especially after 1569 when the Ukrainian lands were removed from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and placed under the control of the Polish crown. The literary language of Ukraine in the 17th and 18th centuries was a local form of Church Slavonic with a considerable admixture of Polish forms. The importance of Kyiv, specifically the Mohyla Academy, as a centre of learning did not lead to the development ... log in or subscribe to read full text