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In theUkrainian language there are three majordialectal groups according to territory: thesouthwestern group (Ukrainian:південно-західне наріччя,romanized: pivdenno-zakhidne narichchia), thesoutheastern group (Ukrainian:південно-східне наріччя,romanized: pivdenno-skhidne narichchia) and thenorthern group (Ukrainian:північне наріччя,romanized: pivnichne narichchia) of dialects.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Volhynian-Podilian dialects | |
| Podillian | Spoken on the territory ofPodolia, in the southern parts of theVinnytsia andKhmelnytskyi oblasts, in the northern part of theOdesa Oblast, and in the adjacent districts of theCherkasy Oblast, theKirovohrad Oblast and theMykolaiv Oblast.[3] |
| Volhynian | Spoken inRivne andVolyn oblasts, as well as in parts ofZhytomyr andTernopil. It was also historically spoken inChełm Land (Ukrainian:Холмщина,romanized: Kholmshchyna) inPoland. |
| Galician–Bukovinian dialects | |
| Dniestrian | Considered to be the mainGalician dialect, spoken in theLviv,Ternopil andIvano-Frankivsk oblasts. Its distinguishing characteristics are the influence of Polish and the German vocabulary, which is reminiscent of theAustro-Hungarian rule. |
| Pokuttia–Bukovina | Spoken in theChernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine. This dialect has some distinct vocabulary borrowed fromRomanian. |
| Hutsul (Eastern Carpathian) | Spoken by theHutsul people on the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains, in the extreme southern parts of theIvano-Frankivsk Oblast, as well as in parts of theChernivtsi andZakarpattia oblasts. |
| Upper Sannian | Spoken in the border area between Ukraine and Poland in theSan river valley. Often confused with Lemko or Lyshak. |
| Carpathian dialects | |
| Boyko | Spoken by theBoyko people on the northern side of the Carpathian Mountains in theLviv andIvano-Frankivsk oblasts. It can also be heard across the border in theSubcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland. |
| Lemko | Spoken by theLemko people, most of whosehomeland rests outside the current political borders of Ukraine in thePrešov Region ofSlovakia along the southern side of the Carpathian Mountains, and in the southeast of modern Poland, along the northern sides of the Carpathians. |
| Transcarpathian | Spoken inZakarpattia Oblast. It is similar to the Lemko dialect but differs from it due to the historical influence and integration of Slovakian and Hungarian elements. |
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Middle Dnieprian | The basis ofstandard literary Ukrainian. It is spoken in the central part of Ukraine, including the southern and eastern part ofKyiv Oblast). The dialects spoken inCherkasy,Poltava and Kyiv regions are considered to be the closest to standard Ukrainian. |
| Slobozhan | Spoken inKharkiv,Sumy,Luhansk, northern part ofDonetsk regions of Ukraine, as well as in theVoronezh andBelgorod regions of Russia.[5] This dialect is formed from a gradual mixture of Russian and Ukrainian, with progressively more Russian in the northern and eastern parts of the region. Thus, there is no linguistic border between Russian and Ukrainian and both grammar sets can be applied. This dialect is considered a transitional dialect between Ukrainian and Russian.[citation needed] |
| Steppe | Spoken in southern and southeastern Ukraine. This dialect was originally the main language ofZaporozhian Cossacks.[6] |
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Eastern Polesian [uk] | Spoken inChernihiv (excluding the southeastern districts), in the northern part ofSumy and in the northeastern part ofKyiv Oblast, in the adjacent areas of Russia, which include the southwestern part ofBryansk Oblast (the area aroundStarodub), as well as in some areas inKursk,Voronezh andBelgorod oblasts.[8] No linguistic border can be defined. The vocabulary approaches Russian as the language approaches the Russian Federation. Both Ukrainian and Russian grammar sets can be applied to this dialect. Thus, this dialect can be considered a transitional dialect between Ukrainian and Russian.[citation needed] |
| Central Polesian [uk] | Spoken in northwestern part ofKyiv Oblast, in northern part ofZhytomyr and in northeastern part ofRivne Oblast.[9] |
| Western Polissian [uk] | Spoken in northern part ofVolyn Oblast, northwestern part ofRivne Oblast, as well as in the adjacent districts ofBrest Region inBelarus. The dialect spoken in Belarus uses Belarusian grammar, and thus is considered by some to be a dialect of Belarusian.[10] West Polissian dialects includePodlachian subdialects spoken inPodlachia inPoland.[11] They are also known asSiedlce dialects (afterSiedlce Governorate, where the subdialects were mostly studied),[12] andKhakhlatska mova (Ukrainian:хахлацька мова, "khokhols' language").[13] |
Ukrainian is also spoken by a large émigré population, particularly inCanada (Canadian Ukrainian),The United States,Brazil,Argentina, andAustralia. The founders of this population primarily emigrated fromGalicia, which used to be part ofAustro-Hungary before World War I, and belonged toPoland between the World Wars. The language spoken by most of them is based on the Galician dialect of Ukrainian from the first half of the twentieth century. Compared with modern Ukrainian, the vocabulary of Ukrainians outside Ukraine reflects less influence of Russian, yet may contain Polish or Germanloanwords. It often contains many loanwords from the local language as well (e.g.снікерси,snikersy, for "sneakers" in the United States[14]).
Balachka is spoken in theKuban region of Russia, by theKuban Cossacks. TheKuban Cossacks being descendants of theZaporozhian Cossacks are beginning to consider themselves as a separate ethnic identity. Their dialect is based on Middle Dnieprian with theUkrainian grammar. It includes dialectal words of central Ukrainian with frequent inclusion of Russian vocabulary, in particular for modern concepts and items. It varies somewhat from one area to another.[16]
TheRusyn language is classified as a dialect of Ukrainian by the Ukrainian government.[citation needed] HoweverRusyn is considered by some linguists to be a separate language.
denote White Russian.
