Ukraine/The Ukraine

[Max Pyziur]

On Fri, 20 Jun 2014, Sukholutskaya, Mara E. wrote:

> 
> Me too

I don't agree with Jules.

Insisting on the right to use the article "the" before the country topnym 
of "Ukraine" in English is willful ignorance.

If you genuinely reflect on the use of topnyms in English and would like 
to abstract a set of general principles or theory, I offer the following:


For country names, "the" is used for collective entities or territories 
reflecting the use of a political system: "The Philippines," "the United 
Kingdom," "the United States," "the Czech Republic," and "the Russian 
Federation" (even though it isn’t a federation).

Use of "the" with a country toponym that doesn’t conform to the preceding 
rule generally indicates de facto allegiance to some sort of imperial 
claim or subordination. "the Ukraine" seems to be the most frequent 
occurrence, but occasionally and to a lesser degree, there are occurrences 
of "the Argentine" and "the Lebanon." (consider the usage of the last two 
during periods of elevated international conflict, especially during the 
1980s).

Max Pyziur
pyz at brama.com


>  
> 
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Svetlana Grenier
> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2014 2:18 PM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Ukraine/The Ukraine
> 
>  
> 
> I have to agree with Jules...
> 
>  
> 
> On Fri, Jun 20, 2014 at 2:32 PM, Jules Levin <ameliede at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> On 20.06.2014 11:25, Chernetsky, Vitaly A wrote:
> 
> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> This thread is becoming increasingly a space for venting one's right to bigoted speech. Nobody is *FORCING* any one here to use one word/grammatical form and not the other; in
> the US at least, we have the First Amendment. However, the insistence on using vocabulary that the person(s) designated by this vocabulary find objectionable is hardly
> something to be proud of. I am saddened to see a number of colleagues digging in their heels in this stance.
> 
> Sincerely,
>    
> 
> What is really really sad is the idea that the use of an article can be classified as "bigoted".  We live in insane times.
> Jules Levin
> 
> 
> Vitaly Chernetsky
> President, American Association for Ukrainian Studies
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> Vitaly Chernetsky
> Associate Professor
> Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
> University of Kansas
> 2140 Wescoe Hall, 1445 Jayhawk Blvd.
> Lawrence, KS 66045-7594
> (785) 864-2359
> vchernetsky at ku.edu
> ---------------------------------------------------------
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