Re: Hi from Ukraine

> Date:    Wed, 28 Nov 2001 12:19:27 +0200
> From:    "Y.Penzev" <yitzchaq@...>
> Subject: Re: Hi from Ukraine
>
> > Re: Andreas Johansson on Wednesday, November 28, 2001 9:12 AM
> -----
> > Correct that _Ukraine_ and _Krajina_ are related, or just that _Ukraine_
> > means borderland?
>
> 'Kra(j)ina' in many Slavic langs (including Ukrainian and Serbian) means
> just 'land'. The prefix 'u-' is pretty polysemantic, but in this context
> almost surely means 'near', 'next to'. So, 'Ukraine' (or, 'Ukraďna'
> [ukra'jina] in Ukr.) may mean 'neighboring land', 'borderland', even
> 'frontier'. In many
> ways it seems synonymous to Russian 'okraina' [V'krain@] -- 'outskirts'
> That's why
> this explanation bothers some Ukrainian archinationalists.
<appearing>
And all of them derrive from 'kraj' with the meaning 'edge' but for example
in Polish (and many other Slavonic langs) also 'country'.  The probable
development must have been sth like this:

'edge' -> 'outskirts' 'surroundings' -> 'country'

BTW. 'kraj' is related to 'krojiti' - 'to cut'.
</appearing>


> > As for nobody wanting to be just a borderland, tell the Danes -
_Denmark_
> > literally means "borderland of the Danes" (presumeably originally
refering
> > to the border region against Germany in South Jutland). Never heard of
> > anybody complaining about it.
Well, Ukraine as an independent state has much shorter history than Denmark
and the name 'the (far, wild) land at the edge' suggests that it was coined
by the residents of 'the Republic of Both Nations' (that's my literal
translation) which is continued now as Poland (I wouldn't expect
Belarussians and Lithuanians to feel being heirs of 'the Republic'). And I
wouldn't expect Ukrainian archinationalists to like Poland and to like
calling their young state in the way that sounds almost like 'outskirts of
Poland'.

--
Lukasz K.



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