Ukraine

"the" Ukraine

The country is often referred to as the Ukraine in English. This usage is now deprecated by many media organizations, partly for stylistic reasons (compare "the Lebanon" and "the Sudan") and partly because of its possible implication that Ukraine is merely a region rather than an independent state. There was, however, no change in Ukrainian or Russian usage with Ukraine's independence, as there are no articles, definite or indefinite, in either language. However there is a parallel in concerning the usage of the preposition "??" (na) or "?" (v) with "Ukraine", both in Ukrainian and in Russian. Traditional usage is "??", but recently Ukrainian authorities have been pushing the usage of "?", as this preposition is used with most other country names. While in Ukrainian the newly introduced usage of "?" took hold, the usage in Russian varies. Russian language media from within Ukraine are increasingly using "?". However, the media in Russia uses traditional "??" maintaining that it remains a proper usage and questioning the authority of Ukrainian government over the Russian language. (See also, Kiev or Kyiv for a similar debate).

Related Topics:
English - Ukrainian - Russian - Kiev or Kyiv

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