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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Viktor Moysiyenko noted that the myth of the cradle was invented by those who were not part of it from birth.
The concept of a past existence of a single common language for East Slavic peoples has no real scientific basis, and it formed at one time in the interest of the Russian Empire. This was discussed by Doctor of Philology, Director of the Institute of Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Viktor Moysiyenko in an interview with Oksana Onyshchenko, editor of the Education and Science section of ZN.UA.
“We are not from one common linguistic cradle. The cradle was invented by those who were not in it from birth. This is indicated by the analysis of written historical records,” the linguist emphasized.
He adds that Ukrainian is closer to Belarusian, Polish, and Slovak than to Russian, although the latter also belongs to the Slavic group. This is because Ukrainian and other Slavic languages formed on lands where Slavs were the majority among the population. In them, accordingly, the Slavic component prevails.
“But among Russians, evidently, Slavic-speaking people did not make up the majority. A large part of them consisted of Ugric-Finnic tribes — Chud, Ves, Erza, Mordva, and many others, who over time fully assimilated. And from the 13th century a powerful current of the formation of the Moscow ethnicity was surged by a Tatar element,” Moysiyenko explains.
He also noted that Ukrainian and Belarusian languages also significantly influenced Russian, because in the 17th century Kyiv and Belarusian scholars and enlighteners were invited to Moscow.
According to the scientist, precisely dated manuscripts from the mid-11th century have survived in Kyiv, in which there are live spoken words and forms characteristic of our language.
“This is evidence of the existence of the Ukrainian language,” Moysiyenko notes.
He notes that the myth of the “common cradle of three languages” was born in the 19th century, when neither Ukrainians nor Belarusians had their own states. Accordingly, all conclusions about the absence of their national languages and the myth of the existence of a single common language at the dawn of writing were formed in the interests of the Russian Empire.
“If you pull out from Russian science and propaganda the myth of the ‘union of East Slavic peoples,’ about their ‘single, joint history,’ Russia will return to its true historical roots: it will remain what it really is and has been — simply Moscow, or Zalesye,” Moysiyenko says.
In Ukraine 27 October, the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language is celebrated, which is annually observed on the Day of Remembrance of St. Nestor the Chronicler. Currently, the bearers of the Ukrainian language number in the 40-45 millions, most of whom live on the territory of Ukraine. Our language is also spread in Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and other countries where Ukrainians reside. Ukrainian is the second or third most widely spoken Slavic language by number of speakers and is among the 30 most widespread languages in the world.
On this day, as always, anyone who wishes can write the All-Ukrainian Radio Dictation for National Unity. Today it will begin at 11:00. This year’s text was prepared by writer Artur Dron’, and it will be read by Ukrainian language and literature teacher Artur Proyidakov and public figure and volunteer Dasha Astaf’yeva. The dictation can be heard on radio, television, and digital platforms of “Suspline” (Suspline is a placeholder for the public broadcasting company), and the written work can be sent to specialists for verification.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Міф про «спільну колиску» української та російської мов вигадала Російська імперія — мовознавець". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.
