FROM VARIANTS OF WRITTEN LITERARY LANGUAGE TO THE LITERATURE STANDARD: I. NECHUY-LEVYTSKY ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article deals with theoretical and practical questions of the ratio between written literary language and literary standard. The specific historical conditions that influenced on the formation of the Ukrainian literary language as an important factor in the development of national culture and means of self-affirmation of the nation are traced. Facts about linguistic discussions that were appeared at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries because of the existence of the East-Ukrainian and Western Ukrainian literary traditions at that time are examined.
On the basis of investigations of I. Nechuy-Levytsky’s “The Contemporary Written Language in Ukraine” and “Curve Mirror of the Ukrainian Language”, that became the most noticeable phenomena in the discussion of 1906-1913, the writer’s contribution in solving certain issues linked to the Ukrainian language development and its variability is described. The Nechuy-Levytsky’s attention to the advocacy of a single Ukrainian literary language with the East-Ukrainian, Middle Dnieper dialectal basis and spelling of Kulishivka is confirmed.
It is emphasized that the I. Nechuy-Levytsky’s views on the problem of forming a unified Ukrainian literary language in connection with dialectal sources as the basis of the literary language turned out to be promising; his codification activity was generally positive: most of the writer’s proposals (almost two thirds) were implemented in modern literary language.
It is concluded that the writer established the aesthetic canon of the Ukrainian literary language at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century through his linguistic and cultural activities and artistic creativity.