What is the difference between Russian and Ukrainian

[AUN]

I know that both are close related slavic languages that use the same alphabet, but what is different as far vocabulary or grammar?

[kusa]

Originally posted by AUN
I know that both are close related slavic languages that use the same alphabet, but what is different as far vocabulary or grammar?

Okay, I do not speak the language. But I have several Ukrianian friends. Russian and Ukrainian are somewhat similar. Exept the words sound a little softer in Ukraninan, and there are some words that are different. It is much like the Italian and Spanish languages. Both are similar, yet different. Ukrainians and Russians do not always understand each others language. That is why many Ukrainians learn the Russian language in school, and why many Russians learn Ukrainian.

I myself find Ukrainians to be much nicer people... Friendlier and even more attractive...
lol
Perhaps that is because I am part Ukrainian myself...
lol

Good luck, and I hope that explanation helped somewhat.

[AUN]

[/b][/quote] Okay, I do not speak the language. But I have several Ukrianian friends. Russian and Ukrainian are somewhat similar. Exept the words sound a little softer in Ukraninan, and there are some words that are different. It is much like the Italian and Spanish languages. Both are similar, yet different. [/b][/quote]

Reminds me of the difference between Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian. Words in Western are softly pronounced while Eastern makes these words more gutteral. Many times the speaker of one Armenian dialect can't understand the speaker of the other.

[kusa]

Very intresting. lol

Perhaps someone that actually SPEAKS Ukrainian ( Irinka- yoo hoo! :-)
can actually answer the question? Or, someone that speaks Russian can answer the question. Who here can actually HELP? Who really knows? Obviously not I.

[davlet]

Originally posted by kusa
Very intresting. lol

Perhaps someone that actually SPEAKS Ukrainian ( Irinka- yoo hoo! :-)
can actually answer the question? Or, someone that speaks Russian can answer the question. Who here can actually HELP? Who really knows? Obviously not I.

I'm a native Russian speaker and I have never studied Ukranian formally. I can more-or-less understand modern written Ukranian, like in the newspapers (spoken language is more difficult, though). As far as I can tell the differences are mostly in the vocabulary (and spelling); but still many words are close enough to their Russian equivalents, and one can guess their meaning, especially within a context. On the average when reading something in Ukranian I understand about 70% of the text.

[Kalinin]

I too am a native Russian/speaker and my father is Ukranian. Their alphabet is slightly different, but most Russians fluent in their own language can understand over 50% of Ukranian- at least written, spoken, as Davlet said, is more difficult but possible. The same goes for just about all Slavic languages...you can even go as far as to say that Ukranian is mix of Russian and Polish. I consider Ukranian as an extreme form of Russian slang (though this isn't particularly true..). Most Ukranians learn Russian (ie, in schools- formally), but very few Russians get a formal education in Ukranian (and any other Slavic language), this is due in part to the fact that all other Slavic languages are minor and relatively unimportant, and most Eastern Europeans are automatically affiliated with Russia so they are expected to learn/know the language.

[Voyager13b]

I agree with Kalinin on some of his points here. Ukrainian and Russian alphabets share most characters, but differ on a few. Ukrainian has a lot of western Slavic influence, and the sounds described by it's alphabet reflect this. As one character in the movie Kolya mentioned, for all their greatness, Russians have no way to describe the Latin letter "H". Hence, Hitler is Gitler in Russian. Ukrainians have a symbol for "H" and it's use is common in their vocabulary. That's one reason why people tend to think of Ukrainian as having softer edges than Russian. I kind of like both of them though.

Someone mentioned that Russians and Ukrainians tend to learn each others' language as a matter of course. I doubt that very much. Unless there is a personal or business reason to do so, most Russians that I know wouldn't bother to learn Ukrainian (although that may change now that Ukraine has instituted a policy of making Ukrainian the official language of the country). Likewise, most Ukrainians didn't learn Russian because of burning desire. They had no choice, as the Soviet Union all but outlawed the Mother tongue of Ukraine during it's years of occupation.

I'm stuck in the linguistic middle, as I have relatives from Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. Some of my Polish and Ukrainian relatives are insulted by my long interest in Russia and it's language, as they look upon it as the language of the conquerer, and would prefer that it would just disappear. In particular, my Ukrainian relatives point out that even today in Kiev, the effect of Soviet domination still lingers in the fact that although prices and descriptions of items for sale in shops are marked in Ukrainian, many of the clerks working in the shops only speak Russian, or at best, speak Ukrainian as a second language. A damn shame, but that is changing.

I like all three languages, but politics aside (sorry relatives), if I had to choose one other language besides English, it would be Russian. It's dynamic (especially in recent years), it is widely used in the northern hemisphere, it sounds wonderful to the ear, and except for the inability to say the "H" sound, or to say "I want to make love to you" to your partner, it is beautifully expressive.

I disagree with Kalinin on one important point though. Maybe it was just his choice of words, but slavic languages other than Russian are far from being minor and unimportant. Both Poland and Ukraine have fairly "important" economies relative to Russia and the world, and the importance of the Ukrainian language will most likely grow in the future, as they are poised to be a gateway of commerce between Russia and the rest of Europe. Also, remember that the old situation where Ukrainians were taught Russian as their primary language does not exist any more. Russian nationals living in Ukraine are already complaining that it is getting difficult to find a university in Ukraine that teaches in Russian .

The fact that Ukrainian survived Soviet domination at all is amazing. I doubt that it will ever overtake Russian in terms of numbers of native speakers, but now that it has the support of the national government, and expats worldwide, I also doubt that it will end up as a minor or unimportant tongue.

Voyager