Together with slide shows 2.2 and 2.3, this resource enables learners who know the alphabet to start reading and understanding words in Ukrainian. The notes contain some basic grammar explanations and a list of vocabulary used in the slides(A1)

Jenkala, Marta

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A Taste of Ukrainian: 2. Ukrainian Language                                            © Marta Jenkala 2012  A Taste of Ukrainian 2.1. Understanding Ukrainian Words  Once you have learned the alphabet, you will find that you can immediately recognise many Ukrainian words. Every language has words in common with other languages, and it helps to remember that:  • the words in a family of languages e.g. French, Italian, Spanish (the Romance languages) have often developed from an earlier language, in this case, Latin; if you already know one of those languages, it should be easier to recognise words in a related language;  • many basic Ukrainian words have a lot in common with words in other European (and, sometimes non-European) languages, because they have developed from one or more earlier languages;  • if you already know another Slavonic language e.g. Polish, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian etc., and know the main differences between the ways words developed from their Old Slavonic roots, you can work out the meanings of many common words, for example, if you remember that the «ві-» (or «во-») beginnings of many Ukrainian words of Slavonic origin translate into “o” in quite a few of their equivalents in other languages:  Ukrainian Polish Russian Slovak English він on он on he вікно okno окно okno window від od от od from від- (1500+ words!) od- от- od- prefix de-/re- відповідати odpowiadać отвечать odpovedat′ reply вогонь ogień огонь oheň fire вісім osiem восемь osem eight  A Taste of Ukrainian: 2. Ukrainian Language                                            © Marta Jenkala 2012   • words have been borrowed from other languages (usually, when a material object or concept is borrowed, the word from the original language goes with it!); these types of borrowings can be centuries old, or very recent indeed! Given below are some words Ukrainian has borrowed from other languages – it immediately becomes obvious that the language of a nation reflects its history and relations with other countries, nations and ethnic groups!  Language from which words have been borrowed Examples of words borrowed by Ukrainian Arabic  гашиш - hashish майдан – large square Chinese  чай – tea English (naval terms)  шквал - squall мічман - midshipman дрейф - drift шторм – storm English (sport & games)  футбол - football регбі – rugby теніс - tennis старт - start пенальті - penalty бридж - bridge (пів)тайм – (half)time English (industry, production, trade)  плед - plaid твід - tweed грейпфрут - grapefruit бренді - brandy брокер -  broker Finnish пельмені – pelmeni (dumplings) French (refinement, fashion and innovation)  абажур - lampshade пальто - overcoat платформа - platform сувенір - souvenir дирижабль – hot-air balloon шампунь – shampoo A Taste of Ukrainian: 2. Ukrainian Language                                            © Marta Jenkala 2012   German (administration, army, realia, owing to Western Ukraine being in the Austro-Hungarian Empire)  бухгальтер – book-keeper бюстгальтер - bra кегельбан – bowling alley шпацер – walk, stroll шинка – ham Greek (origins of Ukrainian Christianity, scholarship)  динозавр - dinosaur демократія - democracy гемісфера – hemisphere Italian   мараскін - maraschino граніт – granite граціозний – graceful цитаделя – citadel Japanese харакірі – harakiri Latin юстиція – justice Persian  хата – (village) house шакал - jackal чемодан - suitcase шахи – chess Spanish херес – sherry Turkiс (Turkish/Tatar contacts with Ukraine in the late Middle Ages and Cossack era) шаровари – wide cossack trousers (shalwar) шашлик – kebab (shashlik) шаман - shaman шербет - sherbet яничар - janissary ярлик – lassoo Yiddish (significant Jewish population) шмата – rag, piece of cloth (colloquial) хам - cad  A final point: just in case you get the wrong impression about Ukrainian vocabulary, there are lots of beautiful Ukrainian words of Slavonic origin that any student of the language needs to learn. If, though, you learn to look analytically at words right from the start, you can make life so much easier for yourself! A Taste of Ukrainian: 2. Ukrainian Language                                            © Marta Jenkala 2012  Vocabulary from the slide shows (2.2 and 2.3) All words in this list are given in their dictionary forms. In the slides they may have different endings, as required by the grammar.  Nouns мова - language день - day привіт - greeting(s) справа - affair, matter алфавіт - alphabet інформація - information слово - word  Adjectives український - Ukrainian добрий - good  Polite phrases Добрий день! - Good day! Привіт! - Hello! Як справи? - How are things? Добре. - Good (literally – Well) Дуже добре. - Very good. (literally – Very well)  Verbs знати - know (ви знаєте – you know) розуміти - understand (ви розумієте – you understand)  Adverbs добре - well дуже - very складно - difficult  Preposition про - about  Other words and phrases так - yes ні - no це - this (is) не - not Це (не) складно! - It’s (not) difficult! 

2.1 A Taste of Ukrainian - Language - Introduction

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