Ruthenian ( Belarusian: руская мова;

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: руська мова; Ruthenian: руска(ѧ) мова; also see other names) is an

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group ...

ic linguonym for a closely-related group of East Slavic linguistic

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, particularly those spoken from the 15th to 18th centuries in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

and in East Slavic regions of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. Regional

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics * Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

of those varieties, both in their

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...

and

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

forms, corresponded approximately to the territories of the modern states of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. By the end of the 18th century, they gradually diverged into regional variants, which subsequently developed into the modern Belarusian,

, and

Rusyn Rusyn may refer to: * Rusyn people, an East Slavic people ** Pannonian Rusyn people, a branch of Rusyn people ** Lemkos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people ** Boykos, a branch of Rusyn (or Ukrainian) people * Rusyn language, an East Slavic l ...

languages. In the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

and

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...

Empires, the same term (german: ruthenische Sprache, hu, Rutén nyelv) was employed continuously (up to 1918) as an official exonym for the entire East Slavic linguistic body within the borders of the Monarchy. Several

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

issues are debated among linguists: various questions related to classification of literary and vernacular varieties of this language; issues related to meanings and proper uses of various

endonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

ic (native) and

ic (foreign) linguonyms (names of languages and linguistic varieties); questions on its relation to modern East Slavic languages, and its relation to

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...

(the colloquial language used in

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas o ...

in the 10th through 13th centuries).

Nomenclature

Since the term ''Ruthenian language'' was

ic (foreign, both in origin and nature), its use was very complex, both in historical and modern scholarly terminology.

Names in contemporary use

Contemporary names, that were used for this language from the 15th to 18th centuries, can be divided into two basic linguistic categories, the first being

endonyms An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, o ...

(native names, used by native speakers as self-designations for their language), and the second

exonyms An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

(names in foreign languages). Common endonyms: * ''Ruska(ja) mova'', written in various ways, as: рѹска(ѧ) or руска(ѧ) мова, and also as: рѹс(ь)кй or рус(ь)кй ѧзыкъ. (Old Belarusian / Old Ukrainian: руски езыкъ) * ''Prosta(ja) mova'' (meaning: the ''simple speech'', or the ''simple talk''), also written in various ways, as: прост(ѧ) мова or простй ѧзыкъ (Old Belarusian / Old Ukrainian: простый руский (язык) or простая молва, проста мова) – publisher Hryhorii Khodkevych (16th century). Those terms for simple vernacular speech were designating its diglossic opposition to literary

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Her ...

. * In contemporary

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, it was sometimes also referred to (in territorial terms) as ''Litovsky'' (russian: Литовский язык / Lithuanian). Also by Zizaniy (end of the 16th century), Pamva Berynda (1653). Common exonyms: * in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: ''lingua ruthenica'', or ''lingua ruthena'', which is rendered in English as: ''Ruthenian'' or ''Ruthene'' language. * in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''ruthenische Sprache'', derived from the Latin exonym for this language. * in Hungarian: ''Rutén nyelv'', also derived from the Latin exonym.

Names in modern use

Modern names of this language and its varieties, that are used by scholars (mainly linguists), can also be divided in two basic categories, the first including those that are derived from

ic (native) names, and the second encompassing those that are derived from

ic (foreign) names. Names derived from endonymic terms: * One "s" terms: ''Rus’ian'', ''Rusian'', ''Rusky'' or ''Ruski'', employed explicitly with only one letter "s" in order to distinguish this name from terms that are designating modern Russian. * ''West Russian'' language or dialect (russian: западнорусский язык, западнорусское наречие) – terms used mainly by supporters of the concept of the Proto-Russian phase, especially since the end of the 19th century. Employed by authors such as Karskiy and Shakhmatov. * ''Old Belarusian'' language () – term used by various Belarusian and some Russian scholars, and also by Kryzhanich. The denotation ''Belarusian'' (language) (russian: белорусский (язык)) when referring ''both'' to the post-19th-century language and to the older language had been used in works of the 19th-century Russian researchers Fyodor Buslayev, Ogonovskiy, Zhitetskiy, Sobolevskiy, Nedeshev, Vladimirov and Belarusian researchers, such as Karskiy. * ''Old Ukrainian'' language () – term used by various Ukrainian and some other scholars. * ''Lithuanian-Russian'' language (russian: литовско-русский язык) – regionally oriented designation, used by some 19th-century Russian researchers such as: Keppen, archbishop Filaret, Sakharov, Karatayev. * ''Lithuanian-Slavic'' language (russian: литово-славянский язык) – another regionally oriented designation, used by 19th-century Russian researcher Baranovskiy. * ''Chancery Slavonic'', or ''Chancery Slavic'' – a term used for the written form, based on

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and othe ...

, but influenced by various local dialects and used in the chancery of

.Elana Goldberg Shohamy and Monica Barni, ''Linguistic Landscape in the City'' (Multilingual Matters, 2010: ), p. 139: " he Grand Duchy of Lithuaniaadopted as its official language the literary version of Ruthenian, written in Cyrillic and also known as Chancery Slavonic"; Virgil Krapauskas, ''Nationalism and Historiography: The Case of Nineteenth-Century Lithuanian Historicism'' (East European Monographs, 2000: ), p. 26: "By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Chancery Slavonic dominated the written state language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania"; Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction Of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999'' (Yale University Press, 2004: ), p. 18: "Local recensions of Church Slavonic, introduced by Orthodox churchmen from more southerly lands, provided the basis for Chancery Slavonic, the court language of the Grand Duchy." Names derived from exonymic terms: * ''Ruthenian'' or ''Ruthene'' language – modern scholarly terms, derived from older Latin exonyms ( la, lingua ruthenica, ''lingua ruthena''), commonly used by scholars who are writing in English and other western languages, and also by various Lithuanian and Polish scholars. * ''Ruthenian literary language'', or ''Literary Ruthenian language'' – terms used by the same groups of scholars in order to designate more precisely the

variety of this language. * ''Ruthenian chancery language'', or ''Chancery Ruthenian language'' – terms used by the same groups of scholars in order to designate more precisely the chancery variety of this language, used in official and legal documents of the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania. * ''Ruthenian common language'', or ''Common Ruthenian language'' – terms used by the same groups of scholars in order to designate more precisely the

variety of this language. * ''North Ruthenian'' dialect or language – a term used by some scholars as designation for northern varieties, that gave rise to modern Belarusian language, that is also designated as ''White Ruthenian''. * ''South Ruthenian'' dialect or language – a term used by some scholars as designation for southern varieties, that gave rise to modern

language, that is also designated as ''Red Ruthenian''. Terminological

dichotomy A dichotomy is a partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothing can belong simul ...

, embodied in parallel uses of various endoymic and exonymic terms, resulted in a vast variety of ambiguous, overlapping or even contrary meanings, that were applied to particular terms by different scholars. That complex situation is addressed by most English and other western scholars by preferring the exonymic ''Ruthenian'' designations.

Periodization

Daniel Bunčić suggested a periodization of the literary language into: # Early Ruthenian, dating from the separation of Lithuanian and Muscovite chancery languages (15th century) to the early 16th century # High Ruthenian, from

Francysk Skaryna Francysk Skaryna (alternative transcriptions of his name: ''Francišak Skaryna'' or ''Francisk Skaryna''; lat, Franciscus Scorina, be, Францыск (Францішак) Скарына ; pl, Franciszek Skaryna, cs, František Skorina; ...

(

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1517–25), to Ivan Uzhevych (''Hramatyka slovenskaia'', 1643, 1645) # Late Ruthenian, from 1648 to the establishment of the Ukrainian and Belarusian standard languages at the end of the 18th century George Shevelov gives a chronology for Ukrainian based on the character of contemporary written sources, ultimately reflecting socio-historical developments: Proto-Ukrainian, up to the mid-11th century, Old Ukrainian, to the 14th c., Early Middle Ukrainian, to the mid-16th c., Middle Ukrainian, to the early 18th c., Late Middle Ukrainian, rest of the 18th c., and Modern Ukrainian.

References

Literature

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Pivtorak, Hryhorij. “Do pytannja pro ukrajins’ko-bilorus’ku vzajemodiju donacional’noho periodu (dosjahnennja, zavdannja i perspektyvy doslidžen’)”. In: ''Movoznavstvo'' 1978.3 (69), p. 31-40. * * * * * * * *

External links

"Hrodna town books language problems in Early Modern Times" by Jury Hardziejeŭ
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruthenian Language East Slavic languages Medieval languages Ukrainian diaspora