Russian and Ukrainian are the same language, aren't they?

The politics of language and culture

My sister, Oksana, at Plast camp in NY - a typical Ukrainian American

When I was growing up in America, we did not yet have a television but we did manage to get a phone with a party line. Those old enough to remember will understand this strange phenomenon of sharing phone lines with neighbors and being able to listen in on their conversations. Except it didn't do us much good as we didn't understand a word of English.



My grandmother, who was an unusual woman, decided in her forceful way that English had to be the same as Latin since they used the same alphabet. Once that decision was made, it was a simple thing to begin speaking to all Americans in Latin. She would answer the phone in Latin, speak to the milk man and the ice man and coal man in Latin, yell at the children in Latin, and otherwise negotiate with neighbors over important matters in Latin. There was nothing we could do to convince her otherwise.  Forget about the fact that she thought anyone who died on the neighbor's TV really died in real life. But that's another story.

So coming from my perspective I can certainly understand when non-Slavic people think that Ukrainian and Russian are the same language because they share a common alphabet -- Cyrillic.  But things could not be further from the truth. It's like saying that English and French are the same because they both use the Latin alphabet. I am far more likely to understand Polish which uses Latin than Russian which uses Cyrillic. Many of my Ukrainian friends in high school thought they could slide by language by taking Russian. Almost all of them received low grades because their knowledge of Ukrainian proved their downfall in anticipating Russian, which does not fit the same mold. They have all those extra letters we don't know what to do with!

Over the years, I became confused because so many of the recent Ukrainian immigrants to America were speaking Russian not Ukrainian. I could barely understand a word here and there.  It made me realize that Russia had populated Eastern and Southern Ukraine -- the strategic regions with natural resources -- with ethnic Russians and tried to stomp out the Ukrainian language during the Soviet era.  They had children who grew up Russian in Ukraine much like I grew up Ukrainian in America. But I am still Ukrainian American in loyalty, yet they are divided between Russian in loyalty and Ukrainian in loyalty. Their parents may have been Russian transplants, but the children were born Ukrainian yet speaking Russian. Can it get more convoluted? I'm sure it can.

This is not unlike what happened in Northern Ireland where the Scottish were relocated into Northern Ireland to manage the industrial affairs of the British. It set up a conflict between the Northern Irish of Scottish decent who were predominantly Protestant and the Northern Irish of Irish descent who were predominantly Catholic. It was not about language or religion per se, and despite all being Gaelic in origin, it was about culture, the nuances of which are very well defined.  Today they are all Northern Irish in fealty but the cultural roots remain intact and very deeply rooted.

The point is, there are ethnic Russians in Ukraine, there are Russian speakers who are ethnically Ukrainian in Ukraine, and there are Ukrainians in Ukraine. It is not as simple as language any more. It is as complex as a movable population can make it. And Putin has no right and no basis to go into Ukraine forcefully.  He says it is to protect the rights of the Russian speakers.  The Russian speakers who were born in Ukraine are Ukrainian. If they were born in Russia, they can always go back. No one is stopping them.  And that's the difference. Whereas no one is stopping them from practicing their beliefs, Putin and Russian domination will put a stop to freedom of choice in Crimea.

Today, the polls are open. Already many have voted, mostly those who are ethnically Russian, not just Russian speakers. Quoted in USA Today, "Of course I voted for joining Russia, I was born in Russia," said Raisa Dragunova, a pensioner in her 70s, tearing up as she spoke. "The referendum wasn't a surprise at all. I was so happy."

The Tatars have resolved to boycott the vote, which simply means their voices won't be heard.  Pity, because it is their native land.

The Ukrainians are afraid to vote and are discouraged from voting. As reported in USA Today, "Some who opposed Crimea joining Russia did not vote because they said the referendum didn't give them any option." "There's no choice to vote against joining the KGB-run government," said Nikolay Vasilyevich, a Ukrainian professor in Simferopol. "How can you vote with Russian troops around? Crimea will never join Russia, it will lead to war."

Let's hope not. Although it does seem inevitable.

Sanctions by the West are already being levied and more are scheduled to go into play tomorrow. The only hope is that the Russian people who marched against war in Moscow yesterday will join forces with the oligarchs whose money has already streamed out of Russia. Will they have the strength to bring Putin to his senses? He has already irreparably damaged relations with the West and even likely with China, which abstained from yesterday's UN vote.  Check mate or stale mate?  We shall see.

Sche ne vmerla Ukraina!
Slava i volya Ukraini!