 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(May 2022) |
The chronology of Ukrainian language suppression presents a list of administrative actions aimed at limiting the influence and importance of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine.
| | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(May 2022) |
The chronology of Ukrainian language suppression presents a list of administrative actions aimed at limiting the influence and importance of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine.
Before the Russian annexation, there were several writing languages in Ukraine. Religious texts were dominated by the Ukrainian variant of Church Slavonic (the so-called Meletian, after the reforms Meletius Smotrytsky). [1] Following Polish annexation of the Galician part of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, first Latin and then Polish were introduced as languages of administration as early as the 15th century. [2] [3] After Union of Lublin in 1569 remaining Bratslav, Chernihiv, Kyiv and Volhynian voivodeships were transferred Kingdom of Poland. As per terms of the Union of Lublin, Ruthenian referred to as Chancellery Slavonic was kept there as official language and remained as such until late 17th century. [4]
The significant degree of Polonization of the Ukrainian elites led to the fact that Polish was also used in other areas, and in the 17th century it became the main language of religious polemics. [3] Ukrainians who did not undergo language polonization used Church Slavonic in high-ranking texts (liturgical, theological, dramatic texts, poetry), and Ruthenian (also known as Old Ukrainian) in lower-ranking texts (tales, private documents), also known as prosta mova (lit. 'simple speech'). [5] [6] The language shaped in this way became the language of administration in the Cossack Hetmanate, it also began to be used as the language of literature, became standardized and moved away from the spoken language. [7]
At the end of the 18th century Ivan Kotliarevsky (1769–1838) initiated the process of formation of the modern literary Ukrainian language, based on south-eastern dialects and prosta mova. [8] Due to restrictions imposed by the Russian government, the development of the Ukrainian language moved to western Ukraine, which led to changes in the language, called "Galicianisms". [9]
The systematic suppression of the Ukrainian language by the Russian Empire began with the conquest of a large part of Ukraine by Russia (Left-bank Ukraine) in 1654–1667, and also after the liquidation of the Cossack Hetmanate and the Zaporozhian Sich in 1764 and 1775. The unsuccessful rebellion of Cossack Hetman Ivan Mazepa (1708–1709), who attempted to throw off Russian supremacy, can be taken as the starting moment. [10] Unlike Ukraine under Russian rule, there were no administrative obstacles to the development of the Ukrainian literary language in western Ukraine, which was part of the Austrian Empire. However, due to its inferior status (the official language was first German, then Polish, the Ukrainian community lacked a Ukrainian-speaking intelligentsia) its development was hampered. [11]
In 1765–1786, the administrative language of the Hetmanate was gradually Russified, it let to the complete adoption of Russian as the language of administration of Ukrainian lands in place of the Ruthenian language at the end of the period. [16] [18] As a result the Ruthenian language was limited to private use and to works not designed for printing. [15]