View source for Ruthenian language

{{Short description|Historical Slavic language, ancestor of Belarusian, and Ukrainian}}
{{about|15th–18th–century East Slavic language varieties used in present-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania|other languages sometimes called "Ruthenian"|Ruthenian (disambiguation)#Languages{{!}}Ruthenian § Languages}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Ruthenian
| altname          = 
| nativename       =
| states           = [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] regions of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| nation           = [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Magocsi |first1=Paul Robert |title=A History of Ukraine |date=1996 |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=0802008305 |pages=131, 140}}</ref><ref name="Kamusella"/> (later replaced by [[Polish language|Polish]]<ref name="Kamusella">{{cite book |last1=Kamusella |first1=Tomasz |title=Politics and the Slavic Languages |date=2021 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-367-56984-6 |page=127}}</ref>)
| extinct          = Developed into [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]]
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]]
| fam3             = [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]
| fam4             = [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]
| ancestor2        = [[Proto-Balto-Slavic language|Proto-Balto-Slavic]]
| ancestor3        = [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]]
| ancestor4        = [[Old East Slavic language|Old East Slavic]]
| isoexception     = historical
| iso3             = none<!-- There is no ISO 693-3 code for the group of languages referred to by *historic* exonym "Ruthenian language". Do not add ISO 693-3 code 'rsk'. 'rsk' refers to the extant [[Pannonian Rusyn]] language (translated into English applicants of the following change request as "Ruthenian" or "Rusnak"). Please review documentation on the change request available here before editing this line: https://iso639-3.sil.org/request/2021-005 -->
| linglist         = orv-olr
| glotto           = none
}}

'''Ruthenian''' (see also [[#Nomenclature|other names]]) is an [[exonym]]ic [[linguonym]] for a closely related group of [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]] linguistic [[Variety (linguistics)|varieties]], particularly those spoken from the 15th to 18th centuries in the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] and in [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] regions of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. Regional [[Sprachraum|distribution]] of those varieties, both in their [[Literary language|literary]] and [[Vernacular language|vernacular]] forms, corresponded approximately to the territories of the modern states of [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]]. By the end of the 18th century, they gradually diverged into regional variants, which subsequently developed into the modern [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], and [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]] languages, all of which are mutually intelligible.{{sfn|Frick|1985|p=25-52}}{{sfn|Pugh|1985|p=53-60}}{{sfn|Bunčić|2015|p=276-289}}{{sfn|Moser|2017|p=119-135}} 

Several [[Linguistics|linguistic]] issues are debated among linguists: various questions related to classification of literary and vernacular varieties of this language; issues related to meanings and proper uses of various [[endonym]]ic (native) and [[exonym]]ic (foreign) [[Linguonym|glottonyms]] (names of languages and linguistic varieties); questions on its relation to modern East Slavic languages, and its relation to [[Old East Slavic]] (the colloquial language used in [[Kievan Rus']] in the 10th through 13th centuries).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ukrainian-language |title=Ukrainian Language |website=Britannica.com|date=17 February 2024 }}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
[[File:Статут ВКЛ 1588 - русский езыкь.svg|thumb|250px|right|A fragment from the [[Statutes of Lithuania|1588 codification of Lithuanian law]], regulating the [[official language|official use]] of the {{lang|orv-Latn|rusky}} language ({{lang|orv|рꙋскиⸯ єзыкь}}).<ref>
{{cite web
 |url= http://starbel.narod.ru/statut1588.htm
 |title= Statut Velikogo knyazhestva Litovskogo
 |year= 1588
 |script-website=ru:История Беларуси IX-XVIII веков. Первоисточники.
 |script-title=ru:Статут Великого княжества Литовского
 |trans-title=Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Section 4 Article 1)
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180629204301/http://starbel.narod.ru/statut1588_4.htm
 |archive-date= 2018-06-29
 |access-date= 2019-10-25
 |quote={{lang|ru|А писаръ земъский маеть по-руску литерами и словы рускими вси листы, выписы и позвы писати, а не иншимъ езыкомъ и словы.}}
}}
</ref>]]
[[File:Biblia Ruska.jpg|right|thumb|upright|''Ruthenian Bible'' printed in 1517]]
Since the term ''Ruthenian language'' was [[exonym]]ic (foreign, both in origin and nature), its use was very complex, both in historical and modern scholarly terminology.{{sfn|Verkholantsev|2008|p=1-17}} 

===Names in historical use===
Contemporary names, that were used for this language from the 15th to 18th centuries, can be divided into two basic linguistic categories, the first being [[endonyms]] (native names, used by native speakers as self-designations for their language), and the second [[exonyms]] (names in foreign languages).

Common endonyms:
* {{translit|zle|Ruska(ja) mova}}, written in various ways, as: {{wikt-lang|zle-ort|рускїй|ру́скаꙗ}} {{wikt-lang|zle-ort|мо́ва}}, and also as: {{wikt-lang|zle-ort|ру́скїй}} {{wikt-lang|zle-ort|ѧзы́къ}} (''ruskiy jazyk{{'}}'').
* {{translit|zle|Prosta(ja) mova}} (meaning: the ''simple speech'', or the ''simple talk''), also written in various ways, as: {{lang|zle|проста(ѧ) мова}} or {{lang|zle|простй ѧзыкъ}} (Old Belarusian / Old Ukrainian: {{lang|zle|простый руский (язык)}} or {{lang|zle|простая молва}}, {{lang|zle|проста мова}}) – publisher [[Hrehory Chodkiewicz|Hryhorii Khodkevych]] (16th century). Those terms for simple vernacular speech were designating its [[diglossia|diglossic]] opposition to literary [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]].{{sfn|Мозер|2002|p=221-260}}{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|p=80-115}}{{sfn|Danylenko|2006b|p=97–121}}
* It was sometimes also referred to (in territorial terms) as {{translit|ru|Litovsky}} ({{langx|ru|Литовский язык}} / Lithuanian).{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}} Also by [[Lavrentij Zizanij|Zizaniy]] (end of the 16th century), [[Pamvo Berynda]] (1653).{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}

Common exonyms:
* in {{langx|la|lingua ruthenica}}, or {{lang|la|lingua ruthena}}, which is rendered in English as: ''Ruthenian'' or ''Ruthene'' language.{{sfn|Verkholantsev|2008|p=1}}
* in {{langx|de|ruthenische Sprache}}, derived from the Latin exonym for this language.
* in {{langx|hu|Rutén nyelv}}, also derived from the Latin exonym.

===Names in modern use=== 
[[File:Rus-1389-lg.png|thumb|280px|East Slavic languages in 1389. Colors represent spoken dialects. Dashed lines represent written languages: 
{{legend-line|YellowGreen dashed 5px|Written Early Ruthenian}}
{{legend-line|gold dashed 5px|Written [[Middle Russian|Old/Middle Russian]]}}
{{legend-line|dodgerblue dashed 5px|Written [[Old Novgorodian]]}}]]

Modern names of this language and its varieties, that are used by scholars (mainly linguists), can also be divided in two basic categories, the first including those that are derived from [[endonym]]ic (native) names, and the second encompassing those that are derived from [[exonym]]ic (foreign) names.

Names derived from endonymic terms:

* One "s" terms: ''Rus’ian'', ''Rusian'', ''Rusky'' or ''Ruski'', employed explicitly with only one letter "s" in order to distinguish this name from terms that are designating modern [[Russian language|Russian]].{{sfn|Danylenko|2006b|p=98-100, 103–104}}
* ''West Russian'' or ''Western Rus{{'}}'' language or dialect ({{langx|ru|западнорусский язык|zapadnorusskij jazyk}}, западнорусское наречие ''zapadnorusskoye narechie'')<ref name="ivanov">''[[Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist)|Ivanov, Vyacheslav.]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20150318221708/http://kogni.narod.ru/gediminas.htm Славянские диалекты в соотношении с другими языками Великого княжества Литовского (Slavic dialects in relation to other languages of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania)] // Slavic studies. The 13th International Congress of Slavists. Ljubljana, 2003. Reports of the Russian delegation. Indrik Publishing. Moscow, 2003.</ref> – terms used mainly by supporters of the concept of the Proto-Russian phase, especially since the end of the 19th century. Employed by authors such as [[Yefim Karskiy|Karskiy]] and [[Aleksey Shakhmatov|Shakhmatov]].{{sfn|Danylenko|2006b|p=100, 102}} Outside Russia, these terms are no longer commonly used, and regarded as pejorative or even imperialist, particularly in Belarus and Ukraine. A noticeable shift already occurried in the late Soviet period, when the [[Lithuanian Chronicles]], still called ''Western Rus{{'}} Chronicles'' (''Zapadnorusskie letopisi'') in [[PSRL]] Volume 17 (1907), were rebranded ''Belarusian–Lithuanian Chronicles'' (''Belorussko-litovskie letopisi'') in PSRL Volumes 32 (1975) and 35 (1980).{{sfn|Halperin|2022|p=95}}
* ''Old Belarusian'' language ({{Langx|be|Старабеларуская мова|Starabyelaruskaya mova}}) – term used by various Belarusian and some Russian scholars, and also by [[Juraj Križanić|Kryzhanich]]. The denotation ''Belarusian'' (language) ({{langx|ru|белорусский (язык)}}) when referring ''both'' to the post-19th-century language and to the older language had been used in works of the 19th-century Russian researchers [[Fyodor Buslayev]], Ogonovskiy, Zhitetskiy, Sobolevskiy, Nedeshev, Vladimirov and Belarusian researchers, such as [[Yefim Karskiy|Karskiy]].{{sfn|Waring|1980|p=129-147}}
* ''Old Ukrainian'' language ({{Langx|uk|Староукраїнська мова|Staroukrajinsjka mova}}) – term used by various Ukrainian and some other scholars.
* ''Lithuanian-Rus{{'}}'' language ({{langx|ru|литовско-русский язык|litovsko-russkij jazyk}}) – regionally oriented designation, used by some 19th-century Russian researchers such as: Keppen, archbishop Filaret, Sakharov, Karatayev.
* ''Lithuanian-Slavic'' language ({{langx|ru|литово-славянский язык|litovo-slavjanskij}}) – another regionally oriented designation, used by 19th-century Russian researcher [[Baranovskiy]].<ref>Cited in Улащик Н. Введение в белорусско-литовское летописание. — М., 1980.</ref>
* ''Chancery Slavonic'', or ''Chancery Slavic'' – a term used for the written form, based on [[Old Church Slavonic]], but influenced by various local dialects and used in the [[Chancery (medieval office)|chancery]] of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]].{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|p=80-115}}<ref>Elana Goldberg Shohamy and Monica Barni, ''Linguistic Landscape in the City'' (Multilingual Matters, 2010: {{ISBN|1847692974}}), p. 139: "[The Grand Duchy of Lithuania] adopted as its official language the literary version of Ruthenian, written in Cyrillic and also known as Chancery Slavonic"; Virgil Krapauskas, ''Nationalism and Historiography: The Case of Nineteenth-Century Lithuanian Historicism'' (East European Monographs, 2000: {{ISBN|0880334576}}), p. 26: "By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Chancery Slavonic dominated the written state language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania"; Timothy Snyder, ''The Reconstruction Of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999'' (Yale University Press, 2004: {{ISBN|030010586X}}), p. 18: "Local recensions of Church Slavonic, introduced by Orthodox churchmen from more southerly lands, provided the basis for Chancery Slavonic, the court language of the Grand Duchy."</ref>

Names derived from exonymic terms:

* ''Ruthenian'' or ''Ruthene'' language – modern scholarly terms, derived from older Latin exonyms ({{langx|la|lingua ruthenica}}, ''lingua ruthena''), commonly used by scholars who are writing in English and other western languages, and also by various Lithuanian and Polish scholars.{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|p=82-83}}{{sfn|Danylenko|2006b|p=101-102}} 
* ''Ruthenian literary language'', or ''Literary Ruthenian language'' – terms used by the same groups of scholars in order to designate more precisely the [[Literary language|literary]] variety of this language.{{sfn|Bunčić|2015|p=276-289}}
* ''Ruthenian chancery language'', or ''Chancery Ruthenian language'' – terms used by the same groups of scholars in order to designate more precisely the [[Chancery (medieval office)|chancery]] variety of this language, used in official and legal documents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.{{sfn|Shevelov|1979|p=577}}
* ''Ruthenian common language'', or ''Common Ruthenian language'' – terms used by the same groups of scholars in order to designate more precisely the [[vernacular]] variety of this language.{{sfn|Pugh|1996|p=31}} 
* ''North Ruthenian'' dialect or language – a term used by some scholars as designation for northern varieties, that gave rise to modern [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] language,{{sfn|Borzecki|1996|p=23}} that is also designated as ''White Ruthenian''.{{sfn|Borzecki|1996|p=40}} 
* ''South Ruthenian'' dialect or language – a term used by some scholars as designation for southern varieties, that gave rise to modern [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] language,{{sfn|Brock|1972|p=166-171}}{{sfn|Struminskyj|1984|p=33}} that is also designated as ''Red Ruthenian''.

Terminological [[dichotomy]], embodied in parallel uses of various endoymic and exonymic terms, resulted in a vast variety of ambiguous, overlapping or even contrary meanings, that were applied to particular terms by different scholars. That complex situation is addressed by most English and other western scholars by preferring the exonymic ''Ruthenian'' designations.{{sfn|Leeming|1974|p=126}}{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|p=82-83, 110}}{{sfn|Danylenko|2006b|p=101-102}}

==Periodization==
[[File:Linguistic and political map of Eastern Europe, Casimir Delamarre, 1868.jpg|thumb|280px|Linguistic, ethnographic, and political map of Eastern Europe by Casimir Delamarre, 1868 {{legend|#fdeeb9|Ruthenians and Ruthenian language}}]]

Daniel Bunčić suggested a periodization of the literary language into:{{sfn|Bunčić|2015|p=277}}

# Early Ruthenian, dating from the separation of Lithuanian and Muscovite chancery languages (15th century) to the early 16th century 
# High Ruthenian, from [[Francysk Skaryna]] ([[Floruit|fl.]] 1517–25), to [[Ivan Uzhevych]] (''Hramatyka slovenskaia'', 1643, 1645) 
# Late Ruthenian, from 1648 to the establishment of the Ukrainian and Belarusian standard languages at the end of the 18th century

== Development ==
=== Early Ruthenian ({{circa}} 1300–1550) ===
According to linguist Andrii Danylenko (2006), what is now called 'Ruthenian' first arose as a primarily administrative language in the 14th and 15th centuries, shaped by the [[Chancery (medieval office)|chancery]] of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] in [[Vilnius]] (''Vilna'').{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|p=83}}{{efn|It is unknown [[History of Vilnius|when Vilnius emerged]] as capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but its oldest mentions in texts date to the [[Letters of Gediminas]] of the early 1320s.}} He identified the Polissian (Polesian) dialect spoken on both sides of the modern Belarusian–Ukrainian border as the basis of both written Ruthenian (''rusьkij jazykъ'' or Chancery Slavonic) and spoken dialects of Ruthenian (проста(я) мова ''prosta(ja) mova'' or "simple speech"),{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|p=109}} which he called 'two stylistically differentiated varieties of one secular vernacular standard'.{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|p=108}}

From the second half of the 15th century through the 16th century, when present-day Ukraine and Belarus were part of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], the [[Renaissance]] had a major impact on shifting culture, art and literature away from Byzantine Christian [[theocentrism]] as expressed in [[Church Slavonic]].{{sfn|Peredriyenko|2001|p=18}} Instead, they moved towards [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] [[anthropocentrism]], which in writing was increasingly expressed by taking the vernacular language of the common people as the basis of texts.{{sfn|Peredriyenko|2001|p=18}} New literary genres developed that were closer to secular topics, such as poetry, polemical literature, and scientific literature, while Church Slavonic works of previous times were translated into what became known as Ruthenian, Chancery Slavonic, or Old Ukrainian (also called проста мова ''prosta mova'' or "simple language" since the 14th century).{{sfn|Peredriyenko|2001|pp=18–19}} It is virtually impossible to differentiate Ruthenian texts into "Ukrainian" and "Belarusian" subgroups until the 16th century; with some variety, these were all functionally one language between the 14th and 16th century.{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|pp=108–110}}

=== High Ruthenian ({{circa}} 1550–1650) ===
The vernacular Ruthenian "official/business speech" ({{langx|uk|ділове мовлення|dilove movlennya}}; {{langx|be|дзелавое маўленне|dzielavoje maŭliennie}}) of the 16th century would spread to most other domains of everyday communication in the 17th century, with an influx of words, expressions and style [[Middle Polish|from Polish]] and other European languages, while the usage of Church Slavonic became more restricted to the affairs of religion, the church, hagiography, and some forms of art and science.{{sfn|Peredriyenko|2001|p=19}}

The 1569 [[Union of Lublin]] establishing the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] had significant linguistic implications: the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland]] (which now included Ukraine) had previously used [[Latin]] for administration, but switched to [[Middle Polish]]  (standardised {{circa}} 1569–1648{{sfn|Snyder|2003|p=110}}), while the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] (including Belarus, but no longer Ukraine) gave up Chancery Slavonic (Ruthenian) and also switched to [[Middle Polish]].{{sfn|Snyder|2003|p=110}} Much of the [[Szlachta|Polish]] and [[Ruthenian nobility]] briefly converted to various kinds of [[Protestantism]] during the [[Reformation]], but in the end all of them either returned or converted to [[Catholicism]] and increasingly used the Polish language; while Ukrainian nobles thus [[Polonisation|Polonised]], most Ukrainian (and Belarusian) peasants remained [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox-believing]] and Ruthenian-speaking.{{sfn|Snyder|2003|p=111}}

=== Late Ruthenian ({{circa}} 1650–1800) ===
When the [[Cossack Hetmanate]] arose in the mid-17th century, [[Polish language|Polish]] remained a language of administration in the Hetmanate, and most Cossack officers and [[Szlachta|Polish nobles]] (two groups which overlapped a lot) still communicated with each other using a combination of Latin, Polish and Ruthenian.{{sfn|Snyder|2003|p=116}} On the other hand, the language barrier between Cossack officers and [[Tsardom of Russia|Muscovite officials]] had become so great that they needed translators to understand each other during negotiations, and hetman [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]] 'had letters in [[History of the Russian language#The Moscow period (15th–17th centuries)|Muscovite dialect]] translated into Latin, so that he could read them.'{{sfn|Snyder|2003|p=116}}

The 17th century witnessed the [[Standard language|standardisation]] of the Ruthenian language that would later split into [[Ukrainian language|modern Ukrainian]] and [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]].{{sfn|Peredriyenko|2001|pp=21–22}} From the 16th century onwards, two regional variations of spoken Ruthenian began to emerge as written Ruthenian gradually lost its prestige to Polish in administration.{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|pp=108–110}} The spoken ''prosta(ja) mova'' disappeared in the early 18th century, to be replaced by a more Polonised (central) early Belarusian variety and a more Slavonicised (southwestern) early Ukrainian variety.{{sfn|Danylenko|2006a|pp=108–110}} Meanwhile, Church Slavonic remained the literary and administrative standard in Russia until the late 18th century.<ref name="Encarta Russische taal">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Russische taal |encyclopedia=Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins |date=2002 |publisher=Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum |language=nl}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Church Slavonic in Romania]]
* [[Linguonym]]
* [[Slavic studies]]
* [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)]]
* [[Ruthenian Uniate Church]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Literature==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book|last=Borzecki|first=Jerzy|title=Concepts of Belarus until 1918|year=1996|location=Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto|url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/13653/1/MQ51547.pdf}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Brock|first=Peter|title=Ivan Vahylevych (1811–1866) and the Ukrainian National Identity|journal=Canadian Slavonic Papers|year=1972|volume=14|number=2|pages=153–190|doi=10.1080/00085006.1972.11091271 |jstor=40866428 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40866428|url-access=subscription}} 
* {{Cite journal|last=Brogi Bercoff|first=Giovanna|title=Plurilinguism in Eastern Slavic Culture of the 17th Century: The case of Simeon Polockij|journal=Slavia: Časopis pro slovanskou filologii|year=1995|volume=64|pages=3–14|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UH9gAAAAMAAJ}} 
* {{Cite book|last=Bunčić|first=Daniel|title=Die ruthenische Schriftsprache bei Ivan Uževyč unter besonderer Berücksichtigung seines Gesprächsbuchs Rozmova/Besěda: Mit Wörterverzeichnis und Indizes zu seinem ruthenischen und kirchenslavischen Gesamtwerk|year=2006|location=München|publisher=Verlag Otto Sagner|url=https://www.academia.edu/4678996}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Bunčić|first=Daniel|title=On the dialectal basis of the Ruthenian literary language|journal=Die Welt der Slaven|year=2015|volume=60|number=2|pages=276–289|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83527423.pdf}} 
* {{Cite journal|last=Danylenko|first=Andrii|title=The name Rus': In search of a new dimension|journal=Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas|year=2004|volume=52|number=1|pages=1–32|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261935614}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Danylenko|first=Andrii|title=Prostaja Mova, Kitab, and Polissian Standard|journal=Die Welt der Slaven|year=2006a|volume=51|number=1|pages=80–115|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290958308}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Danylenko|first=Andrii|title=On the Name(s) of the Prostaja Mova in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|journal=Studia Slavica|year=2006b|volume=51|number=1/2|pages=97–121|doi=10.1556/SSlav.51.2006.1-2.6 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240763457}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Dingley|first=James|title=The Two Versions of the Gramatyka Slovenskaja of Ivan Uževič|journal=The Journal of Byelorussian Studies|year=1972|volume=2|number=4|pages=369–384|url=http://belarusjournal.com/sites/default/files/JBS_1972_3_The%20Two%20Versions%20of%20the%20Gramatyka%20Slovenskaja%20of%20Ivan%20Uzevic_0.pdf}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Frick|first=David A.|title=Meletij Smotryc'kyj and the Ruthenian Language Question|journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies|year=1985|volume=9|number=1/2|pages=25–52|jstor=41036131 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41036131}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Halperin |first1=Charles J. |authorlink=Charles J. Halperin |date=2022 |title=The Rise and Demise of the Myth of the Rus' Land |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/58585/9781802700565.pdf |location=Leeds |publisher=Arc Humanities Press |pages=116 |isbn=9781802700565 |access-date=20 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712220728/https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/58585/9781802700565.pdf |archive-date=12 July 2024}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Leeming|first=Harry|title=The Language of the Kucieina New Testament and Psalter of 1652|journal=The Journal of Byelorussian Studies|year=1974|volume=3|number=2|pages=123–144|url=http://belarusjournal.com/sites/default/files/JBS_1974_1_The%20language%20of%20the%20Kucieina%20New%20Testament%20and%20Psalter%20of%201652.pdf}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Мозер|first=Михаэль А.|title=Что такое «простая мова»?|journal=Studia Slavica|year=2002|volume=47|number=3/4|pages=221–260|doi=10.1556/SSlav.47.2002.3-4.1 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250009321}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Moser|first=Michael A.|title=Mittelruthenisch (Mittelweißrussisch und Mittelukrainisch): Ein Überblick|journal=Studia Slavica|year=2005|volume=50|number=1/2|pages=125–142|doi=10.1556/SSlav.50.2005.1-2.11 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250009443}}
* {{Cite book|last=Moser|first=Michael A.|chapter=Too Close to the West? The Ruthenian Language of the Instruction of 1609|title=Ukraine and Europe: Cultural Encounters and Negotiations|year=2017|location=Toronto|publisher=University of Toronto Press|pages=119–135|isbn=9781487500900 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dO9ADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA119}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Moser|first=Michael A.|title=The Fate of the Ruthenian or Little Russian (Ukrainian) Language in Austrian Galicia (1772-1867)|journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies|year=2018|volume=35 (2017–2018)|number=1/4|pages=87–104|jstor=44983536|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44983536}}
* {{cite journal |last=Peredriyenko |first=V. A. |title=Староукраїнська проста мова ХУІ – ХУІІІ ст. в контексті формування національної літературної мови |trans-title=The 17th–18th-century Old Ukrainian vernacular in context of national literary language formation |journal=Актуальні проблеми української лінгвістики: теорія і практика |publisher=[[Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv]] |issue=4 |date=2001 |issn=2311-2697 |pages=16–23 |url=http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?I21DBN=LINK&P21DBN=UJRN&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=ASP_meta&C21COM=S&2_S21P03=FILA%3D&2_S21STR=apyl_2001_4_5 |language=uk |access-date=1 November 2024}}
* Pivtorak, Hryhorij. “Do pytannja pro ukrajins’ko-bilorus’ku vzajemodiju donacional’noho periodu (dosjahnennja, zavdannja i perspektyvy doslidžen’)”. In: ''Movoznavstvo'' 1978.3 (69), p.&nbsp;31–40.
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* {{Cite book|last=Pugh|first=Stefan M.|title=Testament to Ruthenian: A Linguistic Analysis of the Smotryc'kyj Variant|year=1996|location=Cambridge, Mass.|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780916458751 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-hWBAAAAIAAJ}}
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{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ruthenian language}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061214163042/http://txt.knihi.com/bha//10/har_e10.htm "Hrodna town books language problems in Early Modern Times" by Jury Hardziejeŭ]
* {{cite web|last1= Zinkevičius|first1= Zigmas|title= Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės kanceliarinės slavų kalbos termino nusakymo problema|url= http://viduramziu.istorija.net/socium/zinkevicius1995.htm|website= viduramziu.istorija.net|access-date= 2 August 2018|language= lt-LT|archive-date= 10 July 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090710180554/http://viduramziu.istorija.net/socium/zinkevicius1995.htm|url-status= dead}}

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{{Slavic languages}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruthenian Language}}
[[Category:Ruthenian language| ]]
[[Category:East Slavic languages]]
[[Category:Medieval languages]]