Ukrainian (language)

Ukrainian
українська мова ukrayins'ka mova
Pronunciation	[ukrɑˈjiɲsʲkɐ ˈmɔwɐ]
Native to	Ukraine
Ethnicity	Ukrainians
Native speakers	45 million (2007)
Language family	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic East Slavic Ukrainian
Early form	Old East Slavic
Writing system	Cyrillic (Ukrainian alphabet) Ukrainian Braille
Official status
Official language in	Ukraine Crimea  Transnistria
Recognised minority language in	Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia  Czech Republic  Hungary  Moldova  Poland  Romania  Serbia  Slovakia
Regulated by	National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine: Institute for the Ukrainian Language, Ukrainian language-information fund, Potebnya Institute of Language Studies
Language codes
ISO 639-1	uk
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	ukra1253  (Ukrainian)
Linguasphere	53-AAA-ed < 53-AAA-e (varieties: 53-AAA-eda to 53-AAA-edq)
Ukrainian-speaking world
Ukrainian language and Ukrainians with their neighbors in the early 20th century.
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Ukrainian ⁱ/juːˈkreɪniən/ (українська мова ukrayins'ka mova, pronounced [ukrɑˈjiɲsʲkɐ ˈmɔwɐ]) is an East Slavic language. It is the official state language of Ukraine and first of two principal languages of Ukrainians; it is one of the three official languages in the unrecognized state of Transnistria, the other two being Romanian and Russian. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic script (see Ukrainian alphabet).

Historical linguists trace the origin of the Ukrainian language to the Old East Slavic of the early medieval state of Kievan Rus'. After the fall of the Kievan Rus' as well as the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, the language developed into a form called the Ruthenian language. The Modern Ukrainian language has been in common use since the late 17th century, associated with the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate. From 1804 until the Russian Revolution, the Ukrainian language was banned from schools in the Russian Empire, of which the biggest part of Ukraine (Central, Eastern and Southern) was a part at the time. It has always maintained a sufficient base in Western Ukraine, where the language was never banned, in its folklore songs, itinerant musicians, and prominent authors.In her book, Life from Stone, Sonia Campbell-Gillies describes the period between 1939 and 1945 and Ukraine's historical quest for independence from various nations. [2]