The Ukrainian Language
I'm lucky to be a Ukrainian,
To be born on this marvelous land,
To enjoy in the third millennium
All the beauty of cultural brand.
I'm lucky to speak Ukrainian
With its values that shine like the sun.
If I could, I would give all the premium
For the charm of my beautiful tongue.
How much do you know about Ukrainian?
1. How many people recognize Ukrainian as
their mother-tongue?
2. In which countries is it an official language?
3. What language group does it belong to?
4. Which state and time does it date back to?
5. Do you know the first Ukrainian literary work?
6. What period was characterized by the
Ukrainian language decline? And the revival?
The percentage of native Ukrainian speakers
Ukrainian is one of the three East Slavic languages along with
Russian and Byelorussian. It is the official state language
of Ukraine with 37,5 mln of native Ukrainian speakers. More than
50 mln people use it as a mother-tongue worldwide. Written
Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic script.
The Ukrainian language traces its origin to the Old East Slavic of the
early medieval state of Kyiv Rus as a colloquial language used in
the 10th–13th century. During the 14-15th c it was developing
rapidly. However, from 1800 until the Russian Revolution the
Ukrainian language was banned in schools due to the Russian and
Polish Empires’ policy. It has always maintained a sufficient base
in Western Ukraine where the language was never banned in its
folklore songs, literature and works by prominent authors.
The standard Ukrainian language is regulated by the National
Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, particularly by its Institute for the
Ukrainian Language, Ukrainian language-informational fund,
and Potebnya Institute of Language Studies.
I am Ukrainian