Ukrainian Language

According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian, the state have the obligation to ensure the comprehensive development of Ukrainian. This is the native language of 67.5% of Ukraine population.

Ukrainian belong to the Slavic Language family, the language uses a Cyrillic alphabet when committed to written form and shares some vocabulary with the languages of the neighboring Slavic Nations, most notably with Belarusian, Polish, Russian and Slovak. The Ukrainian language traces its origins to the Old East Slavic language of early medieval state of Kievan Rus’; in its earlier it was called Ruthenian. When the principality of Kiev was converted to Christianity in 988, most of the religious material used; including Bibles; was written in Old Slavonic.

Ukrainian was indistinguishable from Russian until the 12th or 13th century. The first literally work published in Ukrainian language was the Ivan Kotlyarevsky's epic-style poem Eneyida in 1798.

During the Soviet Era, the development of the Ukrainian language was delayed by either direct repression or the deficiency of the state encouragement policies; Russian was the main language of education and employment at those times. Since the independence in 1991, Ukrainian has been the only national and official state language; it is spoken at government institutions and during most official events.

The literary tradition of Ukrainian is developing rapidly, Ukrainian is spoken by about 37 million people in Ukraine, and most of them are native speakers. All over the world, Ukrainian is spoken by more than 50 million people.

In Kyiv and many other important regions the use of Ukrainian language has been increasing, education on most schools and universities is in Ukrainian language even in areas where Russian speakers prevail. In northern and central Ukraine, Russian is the language of the urban residents, while rural areas have a higher concentration of Ukrainian speakers. In western Ukraine, Ukrainian is the language predominant. In the south and the east of Ukraine, Russian is common. In Crimea, Ukrainian is almost not present.

Common phrases in Ukrainian

English	Українська (Ukrainian)
Welcome	Ласкаво просимо (Laskavo prosimo)
Hello	Вітаю (Vitayu)
How are you? I'm fine, thanks. And you?	Як ся маєте? (Jak sya mayete?)
How are you? I'm fine, thanks. And you?	Дякую, добре. А ви? (Djakuju, dobre. A vy?)
What's your name? My name is ...	Як тебе звати (Jak tebe zvaty?)
What's your name? My name is ...	Мене звуть (Mene zvut' ...)
Where are you from? I'm from ...	Звідки ви? (Zvidky vy?)
Where are you from? I'm from ...	Я з ... (Ja z ...)
Pleased to meet you	Приємно познайомитися (Prijemno poznajomitisja)
Good morning	Доброго ранку (Dobrogo ranku)
Good afternoon	Добрий день (Dobryj den')
Good evening	Добрий вечір (Dobryj večir)
Good night	На добраніч (Na dobranič)
Goodbye	До побачення (Do pobačennja)
Have a nice day	Щасливого [Гарного] дня (Ščaslivoho [Harnoho] dnja)
I don't understand	Я не розумію (Ja ne rozumiju)
Do you speak Ukrainian? Yes, a little	Ви розмовляєте українською? (Vy rozmovljajete ukrajinsʼkoju)
Do you speak Ukrainian? Yes, a little	Так, трохи (Tak, troxi)
Excuse me	Перепрошую! (Pereprošuju)
How much is this?	Скільки це коштує? (Skilʼky ce koštuje?)
Sorry	Вибачте! (Vybačte)
Thank you Response (You're welcome)	Дякую (Dyakuju) Дуже дякую (Duže dyakuju)
Thank you Response (You're welcome)	Прошу будь даска (Prošu, budʼ laska)
I love you	Я тебе кохаю (Ja tebe koxaju)
Help! Fire! Stop!	Допоможіть! (Dopomožitʼ!) Пожежа! (Požeža!) Стій! (Stiy!)

Ukrainian alphabet

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