The Ukrainian Language: Notes
Once you have learned the alphabet, you will find that you can immediately recognise many Ukrainian words. Every language has words in common with other languages, and it helps to remember that:
- languages belonging to a particular family, e.g. French, Italian, Spanish (the Romance languages), have developed from a common earlier language, in this case, Latin; if you already know one language in a family, it should be easier to recognise some words in a related language;
- many basic Ukrainian words have a lot in common with words in other European (and, sometimes, non-European) languages, because they have developed from one or more early “protolanguages”;
- if you already know another Slavonic language, and know the main differences between the ways words developed from their Old Slavonic roots into modern Polish, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian etc., you can work out the meanings of many common words, for example, by remembering that the «ві-» (or «во-») beginnings of many Ukrainian words of Slavonic origin translate into “o” in quite a few of their equivalents in other languages:
| Ukrainian | Polish | Russian | Slovak | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| він | on | он | on | he |
| вікно | okno | окно | okno | window |
| від | od | от | od | from |
| від- (1500+ words!) | od- | от- | od- | prefix de- / re- |
| відповідати | odpowiadać | отвечать | odpovedat′ | reply |
| вогонь | ogień | огонь | oheň | fire |
| вісім | osiem | восемь | osem | eight |
Many words have been borrowed from other languages (usually, when a material object or concept is borrowed, the word from the original language goes with it!). These types of borrowings can be centuries old, or very recent indeed! Given below are some words Ukrainian has borrowed from other languages – it immediately becomes obvious that the language of a nation reflects its culture, history and relations with other countries, nations and ethnic groups!
| Language from which words have been borrowed | Examples of words borrowed by Ukrainian |
|---|---|
| Arabic | гашиш – hashish майдан – large square |
| Chinese | чай – tea |
| English (naval terms) | шквал – squall мічман – midshipman дрейф – drift шторм – storm |
| English (sport & games) | футбол – football регбі – rugby теніс – tennis старт – start пенальті – penalty бридж – bridge (пів)тайм – (half)time |
| English (industry, production, trade) | плед – plaid твід – tweed грейпфрут – grapefruit бренді – brandy брокер – broker |
| Finnish | пельмені – pelmeni (dumplings) |
| French (refinement, fashion and innovation) | абажур – lampshade пальто – overcoat платформа – platform сувенір – souvenir дирижабль – hot-air balloon шампунь – shampoo |
| German (administration, army, realia, owing to Western Ukraine being in the Austro-Hungarian Empire) | бухгалтер – book-keeper бюстгальтер – bra кегельбан – bowling alley шпацер – walk, stroll шинка – ham |
| Greek (origins of Ukrainian Christianity, scholarship) | динозавр – dinosaur демократія – democracy гемісфера – hemisphere |
| Italian | мараскін – maraschino граніт – granite граціозний – graceful цитаделя – citadel |
| Japanese | харакірі – harakiri |
| Latin | юстиція – justice |
| Persian | хата – (village) house шакал – jackal чемодан – suitcase шахи – chess |
| Spanish | херес – sherry |
| Turkiс (Turkish/Tatar contacts with Ukraine in the late Middle Ages and Cossack era) | шаровари – wide cossack trousers (shalwar) шашлик – kebab (shashlik) шаман – shaman шербет – sherbet яничар – janissary ярлик – lassoo |
| Yiddish (significant Jewish population) | шмата – rag, piece of cloth (colloquial) хам – cad |
A final point: just in case you get the wrong impression about Ukrainian vocabulary, there are lots of beautiful Ukrainian words of Slavonic origin that any student of the language needs to learn. If, though, you look at words carefully right from the start, you can make life so much easier for yourself!