Ruthenian
| Ruthenian language | |
|---|---|
| Halycka mowa | |
| Pronunciation | [/ˈɦɑ.lɪt͡s.kɑ/] |
| Created by | Raistas |
| Setting | parallel Earth |
| Native speakers | 3 186 000 (2001 census) |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Ukraine |
Recognised minority language in | Poland |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | rue |
Ruthenian /ruːˈθiːniən/ (native names: ruteńska mowa/рутеньска мова, halycka mowa/галицка мова) is an East Slavic language. It is the co-official language of the Halicia Region (along with Ukrainian), where it is the native language for more than 3 million people. Ruthenian is considered digraphic, using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, though the Latin alphabet is more commonly used, while the Cyrillic alphabet is used in the Orthodox practice.
The Ruthenian language is a descendant of Old East Slavic, spoken in the early medieval state of Kievan Rus'. After the fall of the Kievan Rus' as well as the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, the language developed into a form called the Old Ruthenian language - a common ancestor of modern Ruthenian, Rusyn, Ukrainian and Belarusian languages. Unlike its closest relatives, Ruthenian has always maintained a sufficient base in Halicia, where the language was never banned, in its folklore songs and then in early literature. The modern Ruthenian language retains a high degree of mutual intelligibility with Rusyn, Belarusian and Ukrainian, but is also close to Polish and Slovak.