Ukraine/The Ukraine

[John Dunn]

I don't think things are all that different on this side of the Atlantic.  It is perhaps true that the question hasn't been given the same airing in the U.K., perhaps in part because the Ukrainian community is smaller and has other concerns (most recently the Scottish First Minister's ill-timed praise of Vladimir Putin).  None the less my perception is that the media (and especially the print media, where they have time to think about these things) tend to prefer to drop the article and that those who continue to use it do so out of linguistic inertia, rather than with any intent to demean Ukraine's sovereignty.   My own view tends to be that the question is based on a misunderstanding, but that if Paris is worth a mass, than Ukraine is probably worth (at least) a dropped article.

However (as they used to say at this point in Pravda editorials),

there is a curious parallel of sorts: during the Falklands conflict in 1982 Margaret Thatcher and her entourage always used what was by then the somewhat archaic form 'The Argentine'.  It sounded odd, but I could never work out whether this usage was adopted deliberately to make some sort of point or whether it merely reflected the then Prime Minister's normal linguistic habits.  In any case I don't remember seeing the matter discussed, at least in the British media.

Going back to the в/на question, I think that the first time I saw в Украине used in the Russian media to make a political point was during the events of 2004, when the TV journalist Svetlana Sorokina, prevented by the sartorial conventions from following Vladimir Pozner's example of wearing an orange tie, chose this form in one of her talk shows.  Unfortunately I can't remember how many of the other participants followed her example.

John Dunn.    
________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on behalf of Paul B. Gallagher [paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM]
Sent: 20 June 2014 10:15
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Ukraine/The Ukraine

Michele A Berdy wrote:

> The question is, if they can tell us how to speak English, can we
> tell them how to speak Ukrainian?
>
> You probably meant to write: If they can ask us to use a form that
> is, in their view, more respectful, can we ask them the same? I guess
> so. Why not? If someone asks me to call her Ms., I don't call her
> Miss; if someone asks me not to call him a Gypsy, I call him Roma; if
> someone prefers to be called an African-American instead of a Negro,
> I comply. I don't have to, but why would I want to offend someone?

Requests for respect are reasonable, and I agree with your response;
it's the policy I try to follow.

> (Never in a million years will I get why this is a big deal.)

Because somehow some Ukrainians took it into their heads that the use of
the article marks their country as a colony, not a real country, that
it's a sign of disrespect.

As a native speaker of English, I never knew that. The first I heard of
it was when the Ukrainians started complaining. Things may be different
on the other side of the pond, but over here, no disrespect is intended
or perceived.

--
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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