The old Ukrainian diaspora, primarily originating from Galicia, has been instrumental in preserving linguistic elements predating the 1933 orthography, which marked the onset of russification in Ukrainian orthographic tradition. Alongside, this community has safeguarded distinctive Galician linguistic and orthographic customs, which have gradually faded within Galicia itself.

This article has two primary objectives: firstly, to document the orthographic characteristics of the Galician diaspora’s Ukrainian language; and secondly, to help others better understanding the russification of Ukrainian, highlighting that not all linguistic features perceived as “Galician” or “diasporan” truly originate from those contexts, but rather represent historical components of the Ukrainian language.

I hope that this exploration will encourage individuals to consider not only the words they use but also other aspects of language, thus aiding in the process of de-russification. Furthermore, in distinguishing between standard Ukrainian and distinctive Galician features, I seek to contribute to a better understanding of Ukrainian linguistic heritage.

Growing up within the Ukrainian community in Chicago, I was immersed in the language spoken by my family, WWII refugees from Galicia and their descendants. This article aims to document the orthographic linguistic heritage I inherited, reflecting not only my family’s speech but also broader community practices. The focus here is on orthography – the lexicon, syntax, phraseology, and pronunciation/sound of the Galician diaspora language are covered in separate articles.

After years undoing my Skrypnykivka features, as a result of my move to Ukraine, I am now making an effort to bring them back to my everyday language and spelling. Now more than ever, it is vital to remove all traces of colonization from our speech, communication, and writing practices.

I: A Brief Look at the History of Orthographies in Ukraine, Galicia & the Diaspora

To understand the specifics of Galician diaspora orthography, it’s crucial to explore the historical development of orthographic conventions in Ukraine, especially by looking at the origins of the first pan-Ukrainian orthography as well as the ensuing russification policies implemented during the Soviet era.

Skrypnykivka: The First Pan-Ukrainian Orthography

In the mid-nineteenth century, Ukrainian elites from both eastern and western regions began to reach a consensus on the Ukrainian standard language. This standard aimed to incorporate elements from writers in the central Kyiv-Poltava area while accommodating vernacular western Ukrainian features, fostering pan-Ukrainian unity.

However, full codification and standardization didn’t occur until the 1920s when a committee of linguists and literary scholars in Soviet Ukraine produced the Ukrayinskyi Pravopys (Ukrainian Orthography), which outlined the basic rules of grammar and orthography. The effort was spearheaded by Mykola Skrypnyk, the People’s Commissar for Education, who convened an international Orthographic Conference in Kharkiv in 1927. The conference, which hosted delegates from Soviet Ukraine and western Ukraine, settled on a compromise between Dnipro region and Galician orthographies. The orthography, also known as Skrypnykivka, Kharkivskyi Pravopys (Kharkiv Orthography), or Pravopys Holoskevycha (Holoskevych’s Orthography), was approved in 1928 and officially published and circulated in 1929.

This orthography was permitted and embraced in the Soviet Union during the brief period of korenizatsia (“indigenization”), following the russian Revolution and Civil War, during which Ukrainian culture experienced a widespread revival. One of its main initiators and promoters was none other than Mykola Skrypnyk.

Holoskevych’s Orthographic Dictionary

The main linguist-ideologist of this orthography was Hryhoriy Holoskevych, who compiled and published in 1929 the Pravopysnyi Slovnyk (Orthographic Dictionary), containing approximately 40,000 words, which in practice showed all the innovations of the new orthography of 1928.

As we’ll see below, this dictionary became the sourcebook for many dictionaries and materials abroad for decades to come. The preface of the 1962 reprint of Holoskevych’s dictionary, published in New York, states: “Every Ukrainian who cares about the culture of their native language should have this valuable book and consistently use it as the most authoritative guide and advisor in matters of the Ukrainian literary language.”

That said, there were also those in the diaspora who did not agree with all that was outlined in Holoskevych’s dictionary.

Galician Acceptance and Resistance to Skrypnykivka

In Galicia, which in the 1920s was not yet a part of Soviet Ukraine, the leadership of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv made the decision to adopt Skrypnykivka in order to promote unity in the Ukrainian literary language. But unlike in Soviet Ukraine, where the new orthography was universally adopted, backed by the Bolshevik government, Galicia faced considerable obstacles due to challenges in its implementation and to resistance from the local intellectual elite.

While some Galicians were ready to accept the compromise in the name of national interests, hailing it as “the only correct universal orthography,” many were critical, labeling it the “Soviet State Political Directorate Orthography.” In any case, the numerous errors and inaccuracies in the orthography’s content as well as the introduction of new norms and innovations in spelling foreign words sparked wide debates in the Galician press regarding the advisability of its adoption. Prolonged disagreements about orthography in the late 1920s and early 1930s resulted in difficulties teaching the new orthography in Galician schools and led to the emergence of orthographic variations in local press publications. In the end, in practice, the new spelling was never fully implemented in Galicia. Indeed, in newspapers, still years later, one can see local Galician features that don’t follow the official 1928 orthography. 

Тhe major arguments for criticism of the Ukrainian orthography of 1928 were about the spelling of foreign-language words. Specifically, the new orthography limited the use of the letter ґ and the soft л, and masculinized a series of words. Additionally, there were objections to the usage of the apostrophe, which was particularly opposed by Galicians. These were some of the areas where Galician traditions deviated most from the newly accepted norms.

The Beginning of Soviet Repression and Russification

Starting in the early 1930s, Ukrainianization policies in Soviet Ukraine were abruptly reversed. Many Ukrainian newspapers, publications, and schools were switched to russian. The vast majority of leading scholars and cultural leaders of Ukraine were repressed. The first wave of purges between 1929 and 1934 targeted the revolutionary generation of the Communist party that included many supporters of Ukrainianization.

Hryhoriy Holoskevych was arrested in August 1929 and at the Stalinist show trial of the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine in 1930 he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. After serving three years in the Yaroslavl prison, he was exiled to Tobolsk, where he committed suicide.

Mykola Skrypnyk, in turn, was targeted for promoting Ukrainian language reforms, which now were seen as dangerous and counterrevolutionary. In 1933, Skrypnyk’s policies and theories were condemned, and he was removed as education commissar. Foreseeing the reversal of Ukrainianization and his inevitable liquidation as an opponent of Stalin, he, like Holoskevych, committed suicide.

In fact, practically all who participated in the conference of 1927 were repressed, shot, or committed suicide. Take a look at this list of participants, and next to nearly every name you’ll see their terrible fate (every time I look at this list I can barely hold back tears).

The Introduction of the Russified 1933 Orthography in Soviet Ukraine

In 1933, as part of the above-mentioned russification effort, the Ukrainian orthography of 1928 was banned and new orthographic reforms were introduced, primarily aimed at aligning the Ukrainian language with russian. These reforms included significant changes to the Ukrainian alphabet, spelling rules, and grammar, diverging from the 1928 orthography.

In the preface of the 1933 orthography, Andriy Khvylia, the Deputy People’s Commissar for Education of the UkrSSR, attests that Ukrainian nationalists conducted harmful work in the linguistic field:

“The spelling adopted by M. Skrypnyk on September 6, 1928, directed the development of the Ukrainian language toward Polish and Czech bourgeois culture. This created a barrier between the Ukrainian and russian languages, hindering the literacy learning among the broader working masses.

The grammatical rules imposed by nationalists contaminated the Ukrainian language with nationalist elements. Nationalists prohibited the use of forms in literary language that had become prevalent during the revolutionary era.”

This russification continued, with hundreds of minor and major changes implemented during the 1930s and 1940s, pushing Ukrainian closer to russian. Dictionaries began to prioritize or single out forms closer to russian, whereas earlier Ukrainian dictionaries had listed more than one variant.

Galicia’s Unique Orthography

Galicia did not adopt the new orthography of 1933. In the 1930s, Ukrainian speakers in Galicia maintained their own version of the Ukrainian language, which retained elements of the Skrypnykivka orthography as well as their own orthographic rules, which were influenced by the Galician dialect, Polish linguistic traditions, and other regional factors. As a result, their variant diverged in vocabulary, pronunciation, and orthographic features from the standard Soviet Ukrainian introduced in 1933.

However, after WWII, Galicia came under Soviet control and now the russified Ukrainian was imposed on the population here as well.

Orthography in the Diaspora

This pre-WWII language of Galicia continued to be used by Galician Ukrainians who emigrated during World War II and is still (somewhat) preserved within their diaspora communities.

Galicians constituted the predominant segment of Ukrainian communities abroad, in particular in the United States and Canada. They continued to publish books and newspapers using this language and orthography, first in the Displaced Persons camps of Germany and Austria, and later in their communities in major cities of North America and Australia. Moreover, many of these cities already had Ukrainian communities that comprised mostly of western Ukrainians.

Many of the Ukrainian-English Dictionaries published in the diaspora used Holoskevych’s dictionary as their basis. The 1962 edition of the Holoskoevych dictionary published in New York notes in the foreword:

“The highest Ukrainian scientific institutions in emigration – the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences and the Scientific Society named after T.H. Shevchenko, unanimously decided to adopt the Ukrainian orthography approved by the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kyiv and the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Lviv in 1929. Based on this collective Ukrainian orthography in emigration, spelling guides were published…”

Notably, to this day, New Jersey-based Svoboda, “the oldest existing Ukrainian newspaper and the most widely read in the Western world” uses Skrypnykivka. However, when exactly Svoboda made the switch is unclear because examples of Galicianisms can be found still many years after the publication of Skrypnykivka in 1929. From their founding in 1893 to 1903, they used the etymological spelling, and later they started using the phonetic spelling.

However, in day-to-day speech and in certain publications, many features of the Galician language (including those that diverged from the official Skrypnykivka) were preserved and passed on to new generations.

But today, this language in the diaspora is gradually losing its distinct “Galicianness” and remnants of Skrypnykivka as the generation originating from Ukraine has largely passed away. Furthermore, the influence of Ukrainian from Ukraine has gained strength within diaspora communities over the past few decades. Most of the publications and content being consumed in the diaspora now come from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Language in Galicia and Ukraine Today

Although the Galician language was preserved to a large extent abroad, the same cannot be said for the territory of Galicia due to its period under Soviet control. While some features had been preserved within families, they were not officially recognized as they were in the diaspora.

Since Ukrainian independence in 1991, little has been done to reverse the effects of russification on orthography. The most significant step was the 2019 orthography reform, which reintroduced some features of the 1928 Ukrainian orthography, but in many cases still allows variants introduced in russified orthographies.

II: The Features of the Galician Diaspora Language

Below I will look at how the diaspora preserved elements of the Ukrainian orthography before russification as well as at some of the Galician features it has retained.

It’s important to reiterate that there is no one diaspora standard – documented below is the language I encountered as I grew up and the way that my family in the United States still speaks today. But each family has some variations.

Key Orthographic Features of the Galician Diaspora Language

Here I list the primary characteristics of the Galician diaspora language compared to standard Ukrainian. While many correspond to the guidelines of Skrypnykivka, not all do – often reflecting regional dialectical variations.

• Wider use of the letter ґ (ґ was never removed from alphabet + used more than in Skrypnykivka)
• More loanwords have feminine form
• Use of iotated vowels (e.g., ія not ia) and use of ав for diphthong au
• Soft л more common in loanwords (and always had soft лe as opposed to Skrypnykivka)
• Ending -и (not -і) used in certain genitive endings (якости, крови)
• Uses т (not ф) for Greek θ (маратон, Атени)
• Suffix -ові/-еві (not -у/-ю) used in masculine nouns in dative declension
• Different word stress
• Use of а (not o) in words such as манастир, шаравари
• Soft н used in for adjective endings (народній)
• Ending -тер (not -тр) used in words such as міністер, Олександер
• Use of е instead of є in words such as Европа
• Use of е for Greek η in such words as Атени, хемія
• Neuter foreign words conjugated (кіно, бюро, Торонто) (e.g., в школах Чікаґа, до бюра)
• More use of the letters ф and ш, and other minor spelling variations

How the Diaspora Preserved Elements of the Ukrainian Orthography of 1928

The table below highlights some of the main features of the diaspora language that align with Skrypnykivka, in contrast to the russified orthographies implemented in the 1930s and later:

1928 Orthography	1933 (or later) Orthography	2019 (or 1990) Orthography
Letter ґ used in newer loanwords (e.g., Чікаґо)	Letter ґ removed from alphabet	Letter ґ reintroduced, but for fewer words than originally (e.g., Чикaго)
Feminine gender for certain loanwords (e.g., метода)	Gender for these words changed to masculine (e.g., метод)	1933 rule in place
Use of iotated vowels: iя, iю, оє (e.g., діяспора, тріюмф, проєкт)	Sounds changed to: ia, iy, ое (e.g., діаспора, тріумф, проект)	-1933 rule in place for ia and iy -Both ое/oє (проект/проєкт) accepted
Use of ав for diphthong au (e.g., авдиторія)	Sound changed to: ау (e.g., аудиторія)	Both ау/ав (аудиторія/авдиторія) accepted
Use of soft л in newer loanwords (e.g., кляса, лябораторія)	Changed to a hard л for these words (e.g., лабораторія)	1933 rule in place
Ending -и for genitive endings of certain feminine nouns (e.g., незалежности, радости)	Changed to -і (e.g., радості)	Both variants accepted
Use of т for Greek θ (e.g., маратон)	Changed to ф (e.g., марафон)	Both variants accepted
Use of ending -ові/-еві for dative declension for masculine nouns	Shifted to -у/-ю -1933: -ові/-еві still preferred, but now -у/-ю also mentioned -1945 and later: Both listed as accepted forms	Both variants accepted
Word stress, typically on first syllable (e.g., подушка заїзд)	Stress changed (e.g., подушка, заїзд)	1933 rule in place
Use of а (not o) in words such as манастир, ганчар, шаравари	Changed to o (e.g., 1945: монастир)	o instead of a: монастир, гончар, шаровари
Use of soft н (-ній) in adjective endings in words such as народній, західній	Сhanged to hard -ний	1933 rule in place
Use of -тер to spell words such as міністер, циліндер, Олександер	Changed to -тр (e.g., міністр, циліндр, Олександр)	1933 rule in place
Use of е (not of є) in words such as Европа	Changed to є (in 1945)	1945 rule in place
Use of е for Greek η in such words as Атени, хемія	Changed to і (e.g., хімія)	Атени and етер now also accepted due to allowance of т instead of ф (but believe only хімія is accepted)
Foreign neuter nouns conjugated (e.g., до кіна)	Foreign neuter nouns not conjugated (e.g., до кіно)	1933 rule in place

А few other observations I noticed while studying the orthographies worth mentioning:

• Preposition до + genitive (до школи, до Києва) favored in 1928; from 1933 preposition у + accusative favored (у школу, у Київ). Today no clear rules. до + genitive is not used in russian.
• Vocative: In Soviet times using the vocative was not obligatory and considered a a form rather than a case. Vocative is not used in russian.
• In 1928, two ways to say “ninety” are listed: девятдесят and девяносто; in 1933 only девятносто is accepted (which is the current standard in Ukraine). Девятносто is used in russian.

Key Ways Galician Orthography Differed from the 1928 Orthography:

Тhe major arguments for criticism in Galicia of the Ukrainian orthography of 1928, above all, concerned the spelling of foreign-language words and usage of the apostrophe.

• Used ґ in more words than as outlined in Skrypnykivka (not only for newer loanwords)
• Used the soft л more widely than as outlined in Skrypnykivka (not only in newer loanwords + always used for le sound)
• Used the feminine form in more loanwords
• Some differences in word stress
• Less use of the apostrophe

The Diaspora Retained Letter ґ

The letter ґ existed in the Ukrainian alphabet since the 17th century. In Galicia, the use of the letter ґ in foreign words was widespread, but according to the new rules outlined in Skrypnykivka, the use of the ґ was somewhat limited. In particular, the orthography states that the foreign g was to be rendered г for older loanwords (газета, графіка, гімназія, трагедія) and ґ for newer loanwords (аґент, ґірлянда, ґума, дириґент, елеґантний, інтеліґент, міґрація, Чікаґо).

Critics of the orthography in Galicia, however, found this distinction perplexing and argued against it:

“The explanation that ‘in newer borrowings we should render the foreign “g” with a “ґ,” and in older borrowings, especially from Greek, we should write with a “г”‘ is not only not a rule, but contradicts the examples given there. The authors of this spelling do not know which words are older borrowings and which are later; apart from a small number of Greek words and those that have come to us from Old Slavonic, many abstract terms have come to us from Western European languages, where the Greek ‘г’ is pronounced ‘ґ.’ It’s strange to see ‘грамофон’ (such a recent invention!) and ‘газета’ next to ‘граф.’ It is even more interesting that there is ‘газ’ between them, a word about which Meyer writes*) that is a very recent example of an artificially created word that resembles ‘Geist’ and is pronounced with a ‘ґ’ in all the languages from which it came to us: ‘ґаз’! (Myhailo Rudnytskyi in 1928)

Hence, the letter ґ for “newer” words like “ґімназія” and “етноґрафічний” could still be found in some Galician publications (for instance, examples can be found in Nova Khata from 1931) despite it not being part of the new orthography.

In 1933 in Soviet Ukraine, the letter ґ was removed from the alphabet altogether since Ukrainian having a phonetic distinction between г and ґ was an original feature of the Ukrainian language. As russian did not have this distinction this was clearly implemented to russify the language.

In Galicia, this letter was still widespread until the region fell to the Soviet Union, while Galicians in the diaspora always used this letter.

“It’s worth noting that Ukrainian scholars in the diaspora actively sought the recognition of the letter ‘ґ’ in the Ukrainian orthography, which Soviet linguists rejected. In December 1969, Yaroslav Rudnytskyi (the president of Ukrainian Canadian and American academic institutions and societies) sent a memorandum in English to UNESCO in Paris, advocating for the return of the letter ‘ґ’ to Ukrainian orthography. The memorandum stated, ‘This letter – as mentioned in the memorandum – existed in the Ukrainian alphabet since the 17th century, was forcibly abolished in the Soviet Union in 1933, and was one of the acts of linguistic genocide during the Stalinist era in the USSR.’ Yaroslav Rudnytskyi spent over 25 years collecting Ukrainian words with the letter ‘ґ’ and published a work titled ‘Ґ – The Scribbled Letter in the USSR” (Winnipeg, UWC), in which he gathered around a thousand words with ‘ґ.'” (Pravopysnyi khaos)

This letter was resurrected in Ukraine in 1999, but to this day it is rarely used. In the 2019 orthography, the letter ґ was officially brought back for more words; however, it still calls for the use of г for many loanwords with the sound g – even for some of the “newer” words that were written with ґ in 1928 (мігрaція, грaфік, Чикaго), as well as for brand new words (блoгер and маркeтинг). The current orthography calls for the letter ґ to represent the sound g only in long-established common names such as ґaнок, ґатунок, ґвалт, ґрaти, ґрунт.

On the other hand, the letter ґ was consistently used in the diaspora, appearing in many words that are pronounced with a г in Ukraine. Additionally, even though most dictionaries followed Holoskevych, the Galician ґ was often used in speech and other publications in places where Skrypnykivka did not call for it. This was especially true for words like ґітара, ґімназія, and ґазета. There are also numerous examples of printed words using ґ in such contexts.

Furthermore, the diaspora continued to use the letter ґ for new loanwords (йоґурт, йоґа, etc.), a practice which could not continue under the Soviet Union, and which, sadly, does not continue today. Only some people use it for such new words (блоґ, etc.) According to Skrypnykivka, new loanwords with the sound g should take the ґ – so today this should be used for all new words entering Ukrainian.

1928 Orthography	Galician Diaspora	Standard Ukrainian
балаган	балаґан*	балаган
газета	ґазета*	газета
гімназія	ґімназія*	гімназія
гітара	ґітара*	гітара
ґориля	ґориля	горила
ґудзик	ґудзик	гудзик
колeґа	колєґа	колега
мигдаль	міґдали*	мигдаль
ориґінально	ориґінально	оригінально
організація	орґанізація*	організація
танґо	танґо	танго
n/a	йоґурт	йогурт
Чікаґо	Чікаґо	Чикаго

The Diaspora Retained Feminine Words

Historically, certain loanwords adopted the feminine form when they entered the Ukrainian language, typically by adding the letter a to the end.

As a result of russification and the orthography of 1933, some of these words shifted to the masculine form.

1928 Orthography	1933 Orthography
метода	метод
роля	роль
спіраля	спіраль
прогноза	прогноз

Commenting on this, cleric and linguist Ivan Ohiyenko (1882-1972) wrote in the journal Ridna Mova: “Many foreign words have been accepted into our language with the ending -a, that is, they have become words of the feminine gender (in the russian language, of course, they lack this -a, that is, the masculine gender),” (from Korset Movy).

On the other hand, the diaspora kept the feminine form for these words. In Ukraine, the rules from the 1933 orthography are still the standard.

1928 Orthography	Diaspora	Standard Ukrainian
бензина	бензина	бензин
word not listed	беретка	берет
ґардероба	ґардероба	гардероб
word not listed	заля / саля	зал
word not listed	зупа	суп
кооператив	кооператива*	кооператив
word not listed	ліхтарка	ліхтарик
оркестра	оркестра	оркестр
парада	парада	парад
пляжа	пляжа	пляж
птаха і птах	птаха	птах
салата	салата	салат

Today, we witness how Ukrainians naturally transform loanwords into the feminine gender, underscoring this historical, pre-russification linguistic tendency. A prime example is the use of English-language IT loanwords in the feminine form. Many of these words I hear every day from colleagues in the IT company where I work.

English word	Ukrainian variant
app	апка
story	сторя
bug	бага
gif	гіфка
avatar	ава, аватарка
feature	фіча
specification	спека
API	апішка
demo	демка
task	таска

The Diaspora Retained Iotation

Iotated vowels are a key feature in Ukrainian phonology that help maintain linguistic harmony and euphony. These are vowels preceded by a palatal approximant /j/ when they occur before another vowel, smoothing the transition between vowels and preventing vowel hiatus – the occurrence of two distinct vowel sounds in consecutive syllables without an intervening consonant. For instance, in foreign words, this means the sounds ia and ie would be written with iotated vowels: iя and іє. This adjustment makes pronunciation more fluid and natural.

In the early 20th century, during the debate over the regulation of the Ukrainian language, written practice in the Dnipro region used compounds with and without iotation in parallel. When in 1919, regulations were established, ія and іє were favored over ia and ie. At the same time, in Galicia, where Ukrainian written practice was more established, compounds with iotation were used more consistently. Following the orthography conference of 1927, the rules were oriented toward the Galician written practice.

Ultimately, in the 1928 orthography, the following rules were established:

• іа became ія (e.g., матеріял)
• іе became іє (e.g., гієна)
• іu became ію (e.g., тріюмф)
• іо remained іо (e.g., соціологія)

Iotation was also regulated for the following compound:

• oe became oє (e.g., проєкт)

The 1933 orthography, however, removed iotation of vowels in loanwords – and not just for a, u, o, but even for e and i. Accordingly, due to these rules, until 1946, it was necessary to write words like “діета” and “руіна” without iotation (not “дієта” or “руїна”). In 1946, the use of iotated vowels е and і was reintroduced, although there were exceptions. For example, the word “проект” remained with a normal vowel. Removing iotated vowels brought Ukrainian closer to russian.

1928 Orthography	Diaspora	Standard Ukrainian
word not listed	Адріян(а)	Адріан(а)
варіянт	варіянт	варіaнт
діялект	діялект	діaлект
word not listed	діяспора	діaспора
word not listed	Індіян	Індіaн
ініціятива	ініціятива	ініціaтива
Маркіян	Маркіян	Маркіaн
матеріял	матеріял	матеріaл
соціяльний	соціяльний	соціaльний
тріюмфальний	тріюмфальний	тріумфальний
проєкт	проєкт	проект

The Diaspora Retained ав for Diphthong au

To avoid vowel hiatus (for the same reasons mentioned above regarding iotation), in the case of the sound combination au in loanwords, a в (v) was to be used in place of y (u): ав.

Accordingly, the 1928 orthography lists such words with the ав variant.

But the 1933 orthography went away with this, changing it to aу for certain words, while retaining the ав for others, such as “Австрія” and “автор.”

The latest 2019 orthography stipulates that for words originating from ancient Greek and Latin languages, the letter combination au is typically transmitted through ав: автентичний, автобіографія, автомобіль, автор, авторитет, автохтон, лавра. As for the ancient Greek and Latin loanwords that in Soviet orthographies were transmitted through ay, the orthography now permits both ay and ав.

1929 Orthography / Diaspora	1933 Orthography	2019 Orthography
авдиторія	аудиторія	Both variants accepted
авдієнція	аудіенція	Both variants accepted
скавт	скаут	Both variants accepted
клявза	кляуза	Both variants accepted
фавна	фауна	Both variants accepted

The diaspora retained the ав in words that took on the aу during russification.

The Diaspora Retained Soft л in Loanwords

The Ukrainian language has historically featured both the soft and hard л sounds in foreign words, with older loanwords, those assimilated before the mid-19th century, predominantly using the hard л. However, distinctions also existed between eastern and western regions, with the east favoring hard лs and the west soft ones.

Hard: л, ла, ло, лу, ле
Soft: лi, ля, льо, лю, лє

In the 1928 orthography, specific rules were established regarding the usage of the hard and soft л. Greek words and old loanwords were to employ the hard л (e.g., атлант, аналогія). Conversely, newer loanwords from Western European languages were to use the soft л (e.g., аероплян, бальон, блюз, автомобіль). The orthography, however, maintained that the combination le should always feature a hard л: ле (e.g., білет, колеґа, холера).

In Galicia, where the soft л was more prevalent, especially for the лe combination, not all Galicians readily accepted these new rules:

“Why has our language lost the sound ‘лє’ in the new orthography, and therefore every ‘le’ must be spelled consistently (!) as ‘ле,’ hence ‘Шіллер,’ and thus ‘Lelewel’ should be written ‘Лелевел’ (or perhaps with ‘ль’)?” (Mykhailo Rudntytskyi).

Indeed, it seems that in Galicia, some continued to use the soft л for лe regardless. This divergence can still be observed in publications after 1928, for example in the Ukrainian magazine Dilo, where one can find “проблєма.”

With the 1933 orthography, the standardization of the л in all loanwords was introduced, enforcing the use of the hard л. This was more aligned with eastern Ukrainian pronunciation and, notably, closer to the russian pronunciation. These rules are still in place in Ukraine.

The diaspora, however, retained the soft л in many loanwords, preserving this linguistic distinction.

Furthermore, the diaspora, not only retained the soft л for the types of words outlined in Skrypnykivka, but to some degree, especially in spoken language and in some publications, still used (and uses) the soft лє.

1929 Holoskevych	Diaspora	Standard Ukrainian
алькоголь	алькоголь	алкоголь
антологія	антольоґія*	антологія
балькон	балькон	балкон
Лондон	Льондон*	Лондон
плян і план	плян	план
кляса (рідше клас)	кляса	клас
лямпа	лямпа	лампа
льокальний	льокальний	локальний
мармеляда	мармуляда	мармелад
Роксоляна	Роксоляна	Роксолана
проблема	проблєма*	проблема
білет	білєт*	білет (квиток)
телефон	телєфон*	телефон
лекція	лєкція*	лекція

The Diaspora Retained -и in Genitive Endings

In the 1928 orthography, the genitive case ending for feminine nouns with -ть after a consonant and for certain other words was -и, which was also in line with Galician usage at the time.

In 1933, the genitive case ending -и for these nouns was replaced with -і. Keeping in line with the 1928 orthography, Ukrainians in Galicia continued using -и until they fell under the Soviet Union, while Ukrainian abroad continued this tradition until today.

Starting in 2019, the -и ending is again accepted Ukraine, along with the -i ending. Most people, however, continue to use the -і ending.

1928 Orthography / Diaspora	1933 Orthography
ідентичности	ідентичності
незалежности	незалежності
радости	радості
смерти	смерті
любови	любові
крови	крові
соли	солі
осени	осені
Руси	Русі

The Diaspora Retained т for Greek Letter θ

In Ukrainian, the letter ф is primarily used in words of foreign origin. The letter represents φ (Phi) in Hellenisms, f and ph in words from Latin and Western European languages (also v from German), and similar sounds in borrowings from other languages.

According to linguist Yuriy Shevelov, the ф sound is unnatural to Ukrainian and is borrowed. Its adoption into the language faced significant resistance, with хв commonly being used as a substitute, and occasionally х or п. In the preface to his 1909 Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language, Borys Hrinchenko points out that the sound ф is usually pronounced as хв (before vowels other than у) or х (before consonants and у). Therefore, he included only those words under ф for which no equivalents with хв or х were found in his materials (хвабрика, хварба, and хвиґура).

Educated circles, often speaking russian or Polish where ф is more natural, viewed the use of хв as unsophisticated and preferred ф. As a result, usage of ф was solidified during Soviet times as it fit well with efforts to align Ukrainian more closely with russian.

The letter ф (or even фт) was also sometimes used for the Greek θ (th) – along with other Ukrainian sounds (т, хт, п).

But in the 1928 orthography, the compilers formulated a rule in favor of т, which aligned Ukrainian orthography with the general European standard: Greek θ was to be represented by т (and not by ф) for all words of Greek origin.

Thus, as seen below, the letter “ф (not хв)” should be used for this sound in various foreign words such as фабрика, філософія, професор, but the Greek θ should be rendered as a “т (not ф)” for words like театр, бібліотека, метода, етер, катедра, міт.

In 1933, the prior rule about the θ was abolished and now it was to be transliterated as an ф to match the transliteration applied in russian, except for words that entered Ukrainian through Latin or Western Ukrainian languages, which were to use т: орфографія (ὀρθογραφία) but ортопедія (ὀρθοπαιδεία through Latin orthopedia), Федір (Θεόδωρος) but теологія (θεολογία through theologia), кафолічність (καθολικότης) but католицизм (catholicismus from καθολικισμός), and so on.

In the diaspora, and I suspect Galicia, т has commonly been used for such words.

In the orthography of 2019, it states that the th sound in words of Greek origin is rendered as т: антологія, аптека, бібліотека, католицький, ортодокс, ортопедія, театр, теорія; Теодор. But in words established in the Ukrainian language with the letter ф, orthographic variability such as the following is possible: анафема і анатема, ефір і етер, кафедра і катедра, міф і міт, Афіни і Атени, etc.

Holoskevych / Diaspora	1933 orthography	2019 orthography
етер	ефір	Both variants accepted
маратон	марафон	Both variants accepted
міт	миф	Both variants accepted
Атени	Афіни	Both variants accepted

The Diaspora Retained -ові in Dative Declension

As part of the russification process, the dative case ending of masculine and some neuter nouns was gradually shifted from -ові (-еві/-єві) to -у (-ю), which is shared with russian (russian doesn’t have the -ові (-еві/-єві) form at all).

In the 1928 orthography, for most masculine gender nouns, the dative case ending is -ові (-еві/-єві): братові, сторожеві, учителеві, роєві. For most neuter nouns, the dative ending is -у (-ю), except for animate objects ending with -ко: теляткові, дитяткові, ягняткові. And in such words like: лихові, військові, святові, серцеві, сонцеві.

By 1945, the orthography allows for both variants for masculine nouns and for neuter nouns with -ко ending, and only the -у (-ю) ending for other neuter nouns that previously took the -ові (-еві/-єві) ending.

1928 Orthography	1945 Orthography
братові	братові or братy
дитякові	дитякткові or дитяктку
немовляткові	немовляткові or немовлятку
святові	святу
серцеві	серцю
сонцеві	сонцю

In the diaspora, I only encountered the -ові (-еві/-єві) ending for the mentioned types of nouns. And interestingly, my mother and some others from the diaspora, pronounce it as -ови, reflecting an old Galician pronunciation.

Now in Ukraine, according to the 2019 orthography, both -ові and -у endings are accepted for the above types of masculine nouns and neuter nouns. However, in practice, most people tend to use -у.

Some linguists argue that only the endings -ові (-еві/-єві) are characteristic of the Ukrainian language in the dative case of masculine nouns, not -у (-ю).

The Diaspora Retained Word Stress Practices

Even the stress on words was changed to make Ukrainian closer to russian. Here we see some examples of changes from the orthographies of 1928 and 1933.

1928 Orthography	1933 Orthography
душний	душний
заїзд	заїзд
осідок	осідок
подушка	подушка

However, when it comes to stress, not only did Galicia and the diaspora retain certain rules from the orthography of 1928, but also many of its Galician stress features, which was historically more similar to Polish stress rules.

1929 Holoskevych	Galician Diaspora	Standard Ukrainian
word not listed	була	була
word not listed	булавa	булавa
католицький	катoлицький*	католицький
корисний	кoрисний*	корисний
Олег	Олег*	Олег
повeрх	повeрх	пoверх
пoдушка	пoдушка	подушка
Ромaн	Рoман*	Ромaн

The Diaspora Retained Additional Spelling Rules

Spelling rules for Ukrainian words

The diaspora follows several other spelling rules outlined in Skrypnykivka for Ukrainian words:

о vs. а

The 1928 orthography states: “In some words, the old o, especially before the consistently stressed a, has long shifted to a (though not in all dialects).” Thus words such as the following should be written with an a: багато, гарячий, калач, хазяїн, ганчар, манастир, шаравари. The exceptions are: поганий, ногавиці, and корявий.

My understanding of this entry is that originally in Ukrainian those words were with o, and that by the 1920s many had taken on an a, except in some regions. And in 1928 they codified the a variant – probably because it was more common in Kyiv-Poltava region.

However, sometime after the 1928 orthography, some of these words shifted back to using the o, in words like “гончар” and “монастир.”

In the diaspora, I always heard “горячий” and “колач” – which are probably Galicianisms, especially since using an o is more similar to Polish (bohater, bogaty, gorący).

In russian, the sound in these words, though spelled with an о, is pronounced as а (in words such as горячий and богатый).

1928 Orthography	Galician Diaspora	Standard Ukrainian
гарячий	горячий*	гарячий
гарячка	горячка*	гарячка
калач	колач*	калач
манастир	манастир	мoнастир
шаравари	шаравари	шарoвари

Soft н in adjectives

The 1928 orthography calls for adjectives to use the soft -ній after consonants, but in 1933, this was changed to the hard -ний.

For some time, this soft н was retained in Galicia and in some diaspora publications. However, it seems there was no standard in the diaspora, as some diaspora-published dictionaries use -ній and others -ний. Even within a single dictionary, some words use -ній while others -ний (for example, Maria Dejko’s Ukrainian-English Dictionary lists “народній” and “зaхідній” but “рідний.”) Moreover, in a few recent articles, the diaspora Svoboda newspaper, which claims to follow Skrypnykivka, uses the hard -ний for such words.

1928 Orthography / Diaspora	Standard Ukrainian
західній	західний
народній	народний
рідній	рідний
трикутній	трикутний

Spelling rules for foreign words

The diaspora also retained several other spelling rules outlined in Skrypnykivka for words of foreign origin:

1928 Orthography / Diaspora	Standard Ukrainian
маґістер	магістр
міністер	міністр
Олександер	Олександр
Европа	Європа
Євген*	Євген
Атени	Афіни
хемія	хімія

–тер -дер vs. -тр -др

According to the 1928 orthography, the ending of newer loanwords are written as -тр and -др: діяметр, семестр, театр, центр; but others, typically older loanwords, are written as -тер and -дер: Oлександер, маґістер, міністер.

This was changed in 1933 – all words were to now be written with -тр and -др.

In the diaspora, we have always written such words with -ер. Even today, Ukrainians in the diaspora are named Олекcандер, not Олександр.

e vs. є

According to the 1928 orthography, loanwords that begin with e are written with an e not є: Европа, Евпаторія, епізод, еконімія, Еспанія. Older loanwords from Greek are written with a є: Євген, єретик, Єгипет, etc. Later this was changed and certain newer loanwords were also to be written with a є: Європа, Євпаторія, etc. (changed in 1945).

In the diaspora, we’ve always said “Европа” not “Європа.” However, we say “Евген,” not “Євген” – which seems to be a Galicianism. “Евген” can be found printed in Galicia before WWII, after 1928.

Greek η

According to the 1928 orthography, rendering of the Greek η in older loanwords should be written as an и (митрополит, Дмитрo), but in newer Greek words borrowed from the West, the letter should be written as an е (телеграм, система, бібліотека, as well as Атени, етер, and хемія). In later orthographies, for the latter words, the η was to be rendered as i (Афіни, ефір, хімія).

The diaspora maintained the 1928 rule.

The Diaspora Retained Conjugation of Foreign Neuter Words

According to the 1928 orthography, foreign neuter nouns are conjugated like Ukrainian words:

However, when it comes to places names, the Holoskevych dictionary states that “Чікаґо” is not conjugated. In the diaspora, we typically also conjugate place names like “Чікаґо” and “Торонто.”

By 1945, the orthography states that such foreign words are not to be conjugated.

The 2019 orthography kept this rule, stating the foreign words ending with -o are not conjugated, with the exception of “вино,” “пальто,” and “ситро.”

1928 Orthography	Galician Diaspora	1945 & 2019 Orthographies
до авта	до авта	до авто
до бюра	до бюра	до бюро
до депа	до депа	до депо
до кіна	до кіна	до кіно
до Чікаґо	до Чікаґa*	до Чікаґо

How the Diaspora Preserved Distinctive Galician Orthographic Features

In addition to how the Ukrainian diaspora diverged from Skrypnykivka by preserving Galician features (such as more use of the ґ and the soft л), there are other characteristics not necessarily addressed in Skrypnykivka that have also been maintained. Here are some further observations of mine regarding the way we speak in the diaspora, which are likely Galician features.

Galician Usage of Ф

While the use of the letter ф in some contexts can be attributed to russification (as seen with its use for the Greek θ), in Galicia the letter ф in certain words was typically more common and remains prevalent in the diaspora (and can still occasionally be heard in Galicia today). This is likely due to the influence of Polish and German languages.

For example:

• фасоля instead of квасоля (from Greek via Latin “φάσηλος”/”phaseolus”)
• фляшка instead of пляшка (from German “Flasche”)
• шуфляда instead of шухляда (from Austrian German “Schubfach”)

Diaspora	Holoskevych and Current Standard
фасоля	квасоля
фіртка	хвіртка
фляшка	пляшка
футро	хутро
картофля	картопля
шуфляда	шухляда
Стефан	Степан

The Letters Ш vs. С

In a handful of words, we use ш instead of с, such as in “шклянка,” “шкло,” and “Штокгольм.” This is a dialecticism influenced by Polish and/or German.

Interestingly, there are cases where the opposite is true. For example, we typically said “скарпетки” at home instead of “шкарпетки” (but I also know families in the diaspora that say “скарпетки.”) In the Leksykon Lvivskyi (Lviv Lexicon) book, both с and ш variants of this word are listed. Furthermore, in a diaspora-published dictionary from 1931, I found examples of “слюб” and “скіра,” (though “шкіра” was also listed, but not “шлюб”). However, I have never heard these terms used.

Diaspora	Holoskevych / Standard Ukrainian
шкелєт	скелет
шпараґ / шпараґі / шпараґи / ашпараґус	спаржа / аспарагус
Штокгольм	Cтокгольм
шкло	скло
шклянка	склянка
cкарпетки	шкарпетки
скіра*	шкіра
слюб*	шлюб

Other Letter Differences

• o instead of і (возьму, моцний)
• ж instead of з or с (ріжні, ріжниця, риж)

These were mentioned above as they are covered in Skrypnykivka, but will list them again to group these Galician features together:

• о instead of а (горячий, колач)
• a instead of о (шаравари, манастрир)

When it comes to “манастрир” vs. “мoнастрир,” when it was changed to o (possibly in the 1945 orthography), a reader of Svoboda in the diaspora years ago wrote that this change is not justified because the pronunciation across all of Ukraine is only манастир, arguing that “this arose from the Byzantium ‘manastyrion’ which in our monuments since the 11th century is known as манастир not монастир.”

***

Other Features of the Galician Diasporan Language

Galician Lexicon, Syntax, and Phraseology

As I mentioned above, the diaspora has maintained a separate “Galician” lexicon and other features, including phraseology, sentence construction, and other practices.

The Vanishing Galician Lexicon and How It Lingers in the Diaspora

Galician Pronunciation

The diaspora has also maintained some older pronunciation practices. I will cover this in a separate article (coming soon).

Placement of the Soft Sign in the Alphabet

The diaspora has also retained the original placement of the soft sign in the alphabet, placing it at the end. This change to third from last in Ukraine occurred not under the Soviet Union but after independence, in 1993, to align the order of the letters with the russian alphabet. To learn why, see:

The Ukrainian Alphabet and the Soft Sign

***

By Areta Kovalska

Sources:

• Український правопис 1928
• Український правопис 1928
• Український правопис 1933
• Український правопис 1945
• Український правопис 2019
• Правописний словник
• ГАЗЕТНІ ЗАМІТКИ ПРО ПРАВОПИС (1907–1944)
• Соборний правопис 1928 року
• Правопис і літературна мова
• Правописні дебати у галицькій періодиці 20-х — початку 30-х рр. ХХ ст.
• “Правопис – Корсет мови?” Ірина Фаріон
• іа – ія
• Звук “ф” — неприродний для української, запозичений
• СТАН УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ЛІТЕРАТУРНОЇ МОВИ
• Українська інтеліґенція у Габсбурзькій Галичині: освічена верства й емансипація нації
• «Правописний хаос». За якими мовними правилами писала українська діаспора.
• ПРАВОПИСНІ ДИСКУСІЇ В СЕРЕДОВИЩІ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ДІАСПОРИДРУГОЇ ПОЛОВИНИ ХХ СТ.
• Зіянна