Each year since 1997 on Nov. 9 Ukraine celebrates the Day of the Ukrainian language, a mother tongue for millions of people in Ukraine and abroad.
Kyiv Post lists seven most interesting facts about Ukrainian
language:
1. Ukrainian belongs to a Slavic group of the Indo-European
language family. With its nearly 40 million speakers it holds 26th place among
the world’s most spoken languages. It is also the second most popular Slavic
language after Russian. Ukrainian has 84 percent common words with Belorussian
and 70 percent of common vocabulary with Polish.
2. In different historical periods Ukraine was divided between
various empires and the Ukrainian language was often oppressed.
For instance, historians counted that from 1627 till 1991 when Ukraine became
independent, the Ukrainian language was banned 134 times in various ways.
3. Ukrainian alphabet consists of 33 letters. The language has 38 sounds, 6 vowels and 32 consonants.
”P” is the most common letter in the Ukrainian alphabet. Moreover, the greatest
number of words begins with this letter. At the same time “F” is the least used letter in the Ukrainian language.
4. “The Testament,” a poem by famous
Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, is translated into 147 languages – more than any other Ukrainian literary work.
5. According to “The Dictionary of Synonyms of the Ukrainian Language,” the verb “to beat” has the largest number of synonyms – 45 synonyms.
6. “Hand” is the most widely used noun, “to be” is the most
popular verb, “big” is the most widespread adjective and “he” is the most
popular pronoun. The least used words are “mutation,” “radio operator” and “squirrel.”
7. Great number of diminutive forms of words is another peculiar
feature of Ukrainian. The language has two types of diminutive suffixes. Ukrainian
is probably the only language in the world that has a diminutive form for the
noun “enemies” which sounds like “vorizhenky.”
Speaking Ukrainian has become trendier in Ukraine over the
last decade. Those who want to show off their skills in front of Ukrainian friends can check out this list of interesting Ukrainian expressions:
Многая літа [mnohaya lita] is a traditional Ukrainian
greeting, which literally means “many years.” The implied
meaning is “I wish you many happy years of life.”
Моя рибонько [moya rybon’ko] is a tender and poetic appeal
to a beloved woman. Its literary meaning “little fish” might confuse a foreigner.
However, Fish the Great Mother used to be a supreme goddess in the Slavic
pantheon, which is why fish not only symbolizes a beloved one but also demonstrates
a piety to a woman.
Чим хата багата [chym khata bahata] meaning “with whatever our
house is rich we are ready to share it with our guests.” A very common
Ukrainian expression when guests drop in unexpectedly. It can be used by a host as a humble apology for the little variety of food offered to the guests.
Хай йому грець! [khai yomu hrets’] is a phrase that expresses
strong disapproval, dissatisfaction by something. The English equivalent of that
phrase would be “blast him!”
До дупи[do dupy] is an authentic Ukrainian
swearing. With “dupa” meaning “butt” the
expression is a non-vulgar way to express discontent, but it is used in an informal
context only. It is also used to describe something poorly done or simply
useless. The phrase can be roughly translated in English as “to hell (with something).”
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Trach can be reached at [email protected]
