Etymology of Ukraine

What is the origin of the word Ukraine? In this video, we'll explore how the name of this beautiful sovereign country in Europe is quite appropriate, and speaks to its heritage as an ancient home of many different peoples and languages.

NOTES: I am aware that the Ukrainian goverment recommends the spelling "Kyiv" as well as "Ukraine" without the article. I personally favor these two choices. However, I am not a prescriptivist, and I favor descriptivism as this is the policy of describing how language actually is. And the notion that traditional usages in English like "Kiev" and "the Ukraine" are expressions of support for the Russians government or its war against Ukraine, is intellectually dishonest in my estimation. They are merely linguistic habits. It would be equally wrong to say that spelling the Italian cities "Milan," "Florence," "Venice," and "Rome" is support for the Napoleonic French Empire's conquest of Italy.

Contrary to what some have expressed, the article "the" in front of a country name does not make that place sound like a mere territory of a sovereign state. However, I can appreciate the Ukrainians wanting not to stand out in this regard, and thus recommending English speakers say simply "Ukraine."

I think it’s vitally important not to allow our understanding of languages to be overpowered by political objectives, even when the political objectives are noble, such as the liberty and independence of Ukraine and the promotion of its culture.

The etymological dictionaries I consulted are not from Russian propaganda. The origin of /kraj/ is ultimately from “cutting” in PIE, and hence a cut out piece of land is a territory with a border; this is why both these meanings of “edge” and “region” are present for /kraj/ in virtually every Slavic language. Ancient Greek had a similar word κλῆρος meaning an "estate," from a word for cutting up or partitioning the land.

But it’s vitally important not to attach so much meaning to etymology. I have a video on this channel where I reveal that the etymology of “family” is from Latin “famulus” meaning a “house slave” ! Thus the word for the thing most dear to mankind, our families, comes from the enslavement and brutalization of innocent captives. It’s a horrible thought. Then, upon reflexion, we find that word origins are indeed interesting, but we realize also that they do not and should not have any effect on how we use them in our modern language. Thus it doesn’t matter if the etymology of “Ukraine” is “in the country” or “on the border,” and could easily have come from another Slavic language rather than Ukrainian itself, just as “France” is a Germanic word, “Scotland” comes from Latin, “Italy” is from Greek, “Spain” is from Phoenician, and “Russia” is from Old Norse. Incidentally, “Italy” probably means a “baby cow,” “Spain” likely means “land of the rodents,” and “Russia” we think comes from “rower,” who in many cultures were the slaves who rowed the boats. Thus, in the end, it doesn’t matter if any of our countries’ names originally meant “glowing dirt pile.” What we, their inhabitants, make of them is their constitution.

See more of my thoughts in the pinned comment.

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Intro and outro music: Overture of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) by Mozart

#Ukraine #Ukrainian #Russia

00:00 Intro