Canadian Ukrainian

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Canadian Ukrainian украї́нська мо́ва ukrayins'ka mova
Spoken in:	Canada
Total speakers:	Canada 148,090 - 175,000
Language family:	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic East Slavic Ukrainian Dialects Canadian Ukrainian
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	`uk`
ISO 639-2:	`ukr`
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	`ukr`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

Canadian Ukrainian (Ukrainian: украї́нська мо́ва, ukrayins'ka mova, [ukraˈjinsʲka ˈmɔva]) is a variation (considered also as a dialect by some linguists) of the Ukrainian language specific to the Ukrainian Canadian community descended from the first two waves of historical Ukrainian emigration to Western Canada.

Canadian Ukrainian was widely spoken from the beginning of Ukrainian settlement in Canada in 1892 until the mid-20th century. Because Ukrainian Canadians are largely descended from emigrants from the Austro-Hungarian provinces of Galicia and Bukovina it is most similar to the dialects spoken in these areas, not in the Russian Empire- administered parts of the country. As such Canadian Ukrainian contains many more loanwords from Polish, German, and Romanian, and fewer from Russian, than does modern standard Ukrainian, which is mostly based on the dialect spoken in central Ukraine, particularly in the Cherkasy, Poltava and Kiev areas.

The first two waves of immigrants (1882—1914, 1918—1939) spoke the dialects of what is now western Ukraine, but they were cut off from their co-linguists by wars and social changes, and half the globe. Ukrainophones in Canada were also exposed to speakers of many other languages in Canada, especially English. As well, the mostly impoverished peasants were introduced to many new technologies and concepts, for which they had no words. Consequently Canadian Ukrainian began to develop in new directions from the language in the "Old Country".

Prior to the First World War the Anglo-Canadian authorities in many areas did allow some Ukrainian-language instruction in public schools, as minority language rights had been given a degree of protection early in the history of the West, during the Manitoba Schools Question. Hower during the war era nativist attidues came to the fore and all minority language rights were revoked. Speaking Ukrainian in school was expressly forbidden by Anglo-Canadian authorities for most of the mid-20th Century. Ukrainian would not againt be spoken in Western Canadian public schools until policy of multiculturalism became official in the 1960s.

Economically, Ukrainian speakers in Canada tended lag behind others because of the need for English in most fields of labour. Ukrainians also faced ridicule and intimidation from some in the majority community for not speaking English only, particularly if they moved outside the majority ethnic-Ukrainian rural Bloc Settlements. Those migrating to other rural areas or from the countryside to nearby cities such as Edmonton and Winnipeg were often quicker to lose their language. Ukrainian became associated with rural backwardness and went into decline.

In the present day, the number of speakers in Canada is still declining, now however official policy is more much sympathetic. There are Ukrainian language schools, and Ukrainian is taught in public and Catholic elementary and high schools and Universities across Western Canada.

More recent Ukrainian immigrants to Canada, after the Second World War, generally do not speak Canadian Ukrainian, but rather the modern dialects of Ukrainian indigenous to Ukraine. Many modern-day Ukrainian immigrants are more fluent in Russian than in Ukrainian.

[edit] Examples of Canadian Ukrainian words

Canadian Ukrainian	Origin	English	Standard Ukrainian
pyrohy	Polish: pierogi	'perogies', 'dumplings'	varenyky
faino	German	'good'	dóbre
dymocrát	English	'democrat wagon'
ais kreem	English	'ice cream'	morozyvo
gar	English	'car'	avto