Differences Between Ukrainian And Russian

Last Updated on March 19, 2022 by QCity Editorial Stuff

The differences between Ukrainian and Russian are vast. One of the most pronounced is how each language handles pronouncing vowels. In both languages, there are five vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, u. However, in Ukrainian they are all short while in Russian some are long and some are short. There is no way to predict which one will be by looking at the word or its spelling because it varies depending on where you live or who your teacher was. A good rule of thumb for determining whether a vowel is long or not would be to say it out loud with an “ee” sound after it. 

You may have noticed that both Russian and Ukrainian are spoken in Ukraine. It can be difficult to decipher the two, but there are some key differences between them. The most noticeable difference is that Ukrainian uses a Latin alphabet while Russian uses Cyrillic.

Comparison Between Ukrainian And Russian

Parameters of Comparison  UkrainianRussian
AlphabetCyrillic alphabetLatin alphabet
Population 44 million 84 million 
Language UkrainianRussain 
OrthodoxUkrainians are Eastern Orthodox ChristiansRussians are primarily followers of the Russian Orthodox Church.

What Is Ukrainian?

Ukrainian is the official language of Ukraine and an official language in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and many other countries. According to Ethnologue, there are 30 million native speakers worldwide with two-thirds living in Ukraine and one-third living outside of it. Ukrainian is a Slavic language written using both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. It was first standardized by Taras Shevchenko during his time as a professor at Kyiv University from 1861-1862. During this time he also wrote some poetry such as Kobzar which eventually became known as “Shevchenkivka” or “Shevchenkism.” He worked on his literary work until 1864 when he died under mysterious circumstances that have never been solved.

Ukrainian is a language spoken by over 50 million people worldwide. It is the official state language of Ukraine, and it has several dialects within its borders that are often unintelligible to one another. Ukrainian belongs to the East Slavic branch of the Slavic languages, which also includes Russian, Belarusian, Rusyn (spoken in Central Europe), and others. The Ukrainian alphabet uses a Cyrillic script with 33 letters; some additional letters have been added since 1992 when Ukrainian became independent from Russia after having been under Soviet rule for nearly 70 years up until then. Ukrainians have a rich culture that can be seen in their folklore songs and dances as well as their architecture and artwork such as paintings or mosaics on the outsides of churches built during the middle ages.

What Is Russian?

What Is Russian

Russian is a language spoken by over 200 million people worldwide, making it the 8th most popular language. It’s also one of the six official languages used in the United Nations. However, despite its international presence and widespread usage, many are still confused about what Russian is. Is it an Eastern European or Asian language? What are some interesting facts about Russian? This blog post will provide answers to these questions and more.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Russia is a transcontinental country in Northern Eurasia. Its border countries are Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to the west; Georgia and Azerbaijan to the southwest; Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea to the south and southeast; and it shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and United States by The Bering Strait. Russia also has some exclave such as Kaliningrad Oblast on the Baltic coast. 

The Russian Federation spans 9 time zones all across its land making the weather very unpredictable for travelers or residents alike. The terrain consists mostly of vast stretches of plains that are predominately steppe-deserts with mountains along the southern region.s Only 20% of the country is arable land with about 30% being tundra and the majority of Russia’s population living in this region. 

10 Differences Between Ukrainian And Russian

Alphabet: Ukrainian is written with the Cyrillic alphabet, while Russian uses the Latin alphabet.

Independence: Ukraine was once part of Russia but gained independence in 1991.

Population: Ukraine has a population of 44 million people and is about twice as large as Russia.

Language: The most common language spoken in Ukraine is Ukrainian, while Russian is most commonly spoken in Russia.

Fluently: Ukrainians speak both Ukrainian and Russian fluently, but they are not considered to be two separate languages.

Second Language: Russians do not typically learn Ukrainian even if it’s their second language because it’s seen as an inferior version of Russian.

Orthodox: Ukrainians are Eastern Orthodox Christians, while Russians are primarily followers of the Russian Orthodox Church.

City: Ukraine’s capital city is Kyiv, Russia’s capital city is Moscow.

Part: Ukraine was once part of the Soviet Union until 1991 when it gained independence.

Interesting Statistics Or Facts Of  Ukrainian

1. Ukrainian is the official language of Ukraine.

2. The capital city of Ukraine is Kyiv.

3. Ukrainians have a great sense of humor and are very friendly.

4. There’s no such thing as “Ukrainian food” – each region has its cuisine, including Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, and Jewish foods.

5. In Ukrainian culture it’s not polite to show your emotions or ask personal questions directly.

6. The national sports in Ukraine include football (soccer), basketball, and hockey.

Interesting Statistics Or Facts Of Russian

1. Russian is the most widely spoken native language in Europe.

2. Russia has the largest landmass in the world.

3. The Trans-Siberian Railway was completed on November 18, 1916, and it took 8 years to build.

4. Russians drink more tea than coffee  – 1 liter of tea per person per year vs .06 liters of coffee per person per year.

5. In Russia, they have an emoji for “face with tears of joy” which is a smiley face with two drops coming from its eyes.

6. There are 10 time zones in Russia and Moscow is at UTC+0300 while Irkutsk is at UTC+0800.

Conclusion About The Differences Between Ukrainian And Russian

While Ukrainian and Russian are two different languages, they share many similarities. They have the same alphabet but use completely different alphabets to write words in their native language. The languages also have similar grammar rules which leads them to be easy for speakers of one language to learn the other with little difficulty. If you are planning a trip or business venture into either country it would help if you learned at least some basic phrases in both languages so that communication is not difficult when talking with locals who speak only one of these common Slavic languages.

References:

Resource 01: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine
Resource 02: http://government.ru/en/

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