Speed survey: What do you say, Ukraine or the Ukraine?
You might not realize it, but the choice whether or not to omit the preposition has profound implications in international relations.
My personal confusion and conflict began when I was first learning to speak. My maternal grandparents hailed from far western Ukraine (near the Polish border), where Ukrainian pride is strong and Ukrainian is the dominant language of verbal communication. They referred to themselves as Ukrainians before and after the fall of the Soviet Union. How did this impact my developing infant brain? I was raised calling myself half Ukrainian. Not Russian, not Polish, but Ukrainian.
I've encountered some first or second generation Americans, whether in New York, Boston, or elsewhere who have familial roots in eastern Ukrainian cities like Odessa. Out of these people there are two groups: (1) those who consider their roots indisputably Russian and (2) those who do not know enough to make a distinction.
Consequently, my grandmother in her broken English and my mother in her seamless first generation American English always said our relatives were from Ukraine (note the lack of preposition). You can imagine my surprise and confusion when friends and history teachers contradicted me about this country, the country of half of my ancestors. People almost acted as if they were more educated by emphasizing the the.
To this day there are still plenty of Americans (and I'm sure also citizens from other English-speaking countries), who say "the Ukraine." There are few countries who received this same treatment. Perhaps "the Philippines," but this nation is a group of islands and this physical difference might justify the the. The bottom line is that not only using, but also emphasizing, this outdated preposition reinforces the history the nation has tried (and continues to try, as you can see on the current news) so desperately to escape. Ukraine is no longer a territory of the Soviet Union and it should not linguistically be referred to as such. If you support the current Ukrainian cause of making a political and mental shift West-ward, drop the the. The Ukraine is a Soviet Republic that no longer exists. Ukraine is a sovereign, independent nation fighting for its right to a brighter future.
There is a fascinating parallel in the Russian language. Russian speakers, from Russia, Latvia, Belarus, etc. will likely give the same answer when (not if, since you can help me gather information on this topic wherever you are) you ask them how to say "in Ukraine" or "to Ukraine." Their answer will likely be "na Ukraine" or "na Ukrainu," respectively (with u giving a oo sound). Don't worry about the endings of the word Ukraine unless you love the linguistics of case endings.
The crux of the discussion lies in the preposition. There is no easy, direct translation for v (в in Russian) or na (на), but the best/closest is в = in and на = on. There are certain places for which both prepositions work, such as the kitchen (v kukhne/na kukhne = in the kitchen). In my Russian language class at BC, our pace was "not walking, but RUNNING," as my lovely Latvian teacher used to say. Therefore, we never got into deep linguistic discussions like v versus na for Ukraine. We generally took na to be the preposition of choice. However, in my Russian Linguistics class, it was our job to explore such subtleties of the language. Long story short (too late, I know) my final research topic was on the choice of v and na. Our politically aware textbook alluded to the v-na conflict with respect to Ukraine. But there was a mountain of rules and exceptions. (Literally, those two little words, na or v, could change the entire meaning of a sentence. "To the mountain" becomes "uphill"). My professor and I agreed that the differences wound up being generally quite philosophical.
I periodically have been asking Ukrainians what is proper to say, v or na, when referring to Ukraine. Depending on age and education level, the answers varied from nonchalantly saying "both are fine," to wholeheartedly defending v as the proper choice (accompanied by a mini political discussion). I have always been partial to v for this very reason, but it was nice to finally get some clarity from native speakers. Na is typical of many types of places, but when referring to countries, it is generally reserved for islands (shout out to Long Islanders, it's on LI, never ever in) and territories like satellite states. As you might guess, Ukraine was deemed a na country due to its status under the Soviet Union. However, I recently found out that no former Soviet Republic other than Ukraine has been haunted by this lingering na. Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, etc. all currently have v-status.
This becomes critically important for the current political climate in Ukraine. It is linguistically patriotic to say v (in) instead of na (on) Ukraine. With one tiny preposition, Russian-speaking Ukrainians assert the status of their independent nation. Here is an unfortunate political "joke" I recently learned:
(Originally in Russian language)
Ukrainian man: Which is correct in Russia, "on Ukraine" or "in Ukraine?"
Russian man: One will get you "on the ground" and the other will get you "in the ground."
Spread the word! Or in this case, don't spread the word. The has got to go!
You might not realize it, but the choice whether or not to omit the preposition has profound implications in international relations.
My personal confusion and conflict began when I was first learning to speak. My maternal grandparents hailed from far western Ukraine (near the Polish border), where Ukrainian pride is strong and Ukrainian is the dominant language of verbal communication. They referred to themselves as Ukrainians before and after the fall of the Soviet Union. How did this impact my developing infant brain? I was raised calling myself half Ukrainian. Not Russian, not Polish, but Ukrainian.
 |
| The most Ukrainian baby you've ever seen |
Consequently, my grandmother in her broken English and my mother in her seamless first generation American English always said our relatives were from Ukraine (note the lack of preposition). You can imagine my surprise and confusion when friends and history teachers contradicted me about this country, the country of half of my ancestors. People almost acted as if they were more educated by emphasizing the the.
To this day there are still plenty of Americans (and I'm sure also citizens from other English-speaking countries), who say "the Ukraine." There are few countries who received this same treatment. Perhaps "the Philippines," but this nation is a group of islands and this physical difference might justify the the. The bottom line is that not only using, but also emphasizing, this outdated preposition reinforces the history the nation has tried (and continues to try, as you can see on the current news) so desperately to escape. Ukraine is no longer a territory of the Soviet Union and it should not linguistically be referred to as such. If you support the current Ukrainian cause of making a political and mental shift West-ward, drop the the. The Ukraine is a Soviet Republic that no longer exists. Ukraine is a sovereign, independent nation fighting for its right to a brighter future.
There is a fascinating parallel in the Russian language. Russian speakers, from Russia, Latvia, Belarus, etc. will likely give the same answer when (not if, since you can help me gather information on this topic wherever you are) you ask them how to say "in Ukraine" or "to Ukraine." Their answer will likely be "na Ukraine" or "na Ukrainu," respectively (with u giving a oo sound). Don't worry about the endings of the word Ukraine unless you love the linguistics of case endings.
The crux of the discussion lies in the preposition. There is no easy, direct translation for v (в in Russian) or na (на), but the best/closest is в = in and на = on. There are certain places for which both prepositions work, such as the kitchen (v kukhne/na kukhne = in the kitchen). In my Russian language class at BC, our pace was "not walking, but RUNNING," as my lovely Latvian teacher used to say. Therefore, we never got into deep linguistic discussions like v versus na for Ukraine. We generally took na to be the preposition of choice. However, in my Russian Linguistics class, it was our job to explore such subtleties of the language. Long story short (too late, I know) my final research topic was on the choice of v and na. Our politically aware textbook alluded to the v-na conflict with respect to Ukraine. But there was a mountain of rules and exceptions. (Literally, those two little words, na or v, could change the entire meaning of a sentence. "To the mountain" becomes "uphill"). My professor and I agreed that the differences wound up being generally quite philosophical.
I periodically have been asking Ukrainians what is proper to say, v or na, when referring to Ukraine. Depending on age and education level, the answers varied from nonchalantly saying "both are fine," to wholeheartedly defending v as the proper choice (accompanied by a mini political discussion). I have always been partial to v for this very reason, but it was nice to finally get some clarity from native speakers. Na is typical of many types of places, but when referring to countries, it is generally reserved for islands (shout out to Long Islanders, it's on LI, never ever in) and territories like satellite states. As you might guess, Ukraine was deemed a na country due to its status under the Soviet Union. However, I recently found out that no former Soviet Republic other than Ukraine has been haunted by this lingering na. Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, etc. all currently have v-status.
This becomes critically important for the current political climate in Ukraine. It is linguistically patriotic to say v (in) instead of na (on) Ukraine. With one tiny preposition, Russian-speaking Ukrainians assert the status of their independent nation. Here is an unfortunate political "joke" I recently learned:
(Originally in Russian language)
Ukrainian man: Which is correct in Russia, "on Ukraine" or "in Ukraine?"
Russian man: One will get you "on the ground" and the other will get you "in the ground."
 |
| Forgot to censor the TP, sorry not sorry |
Spread the word! Or in this case, don't spread the word. The has got to go!
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