Language as a form of existence of Ukrainian culture

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to find out the role of language in the development of national culture, to reveal its significance in national-cultural identification on the example of the Ukrainian language. Methodology. The most significant for the study is the phenomenological approach, which allowed to consider the language as a cultural phenomenon, and culturological-historical - to study the changes that took place in the field of speech in a certain cultural-historical period; as well as general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, formalization, abstraction, etc.) used to form a clear idea of language as a form of cultural existence. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is that the role of the Ukrainian language in the process of national self-determination was first outlined during the XIX century, and the essence of the interaction of civilization as a social system and language as the most important communicative and informative means of human activity was clarified. Conclusions. In particular, it is emphasized that the history of the Ukrainian language, in particular, the period of preconditions for its development as a literary language, is a clear example of the formation of literary language and increasing its social prestige as a necessary condition for national and cultural identity. It is emphasized that on the territory of Ukrainian sub-Russian lands in the XVIII-XIX centuries. Imperial language policy was aimed at consolidating the official status of the Russian language as the state language and its exclusive right to function in the field of education, judiciary, and administration while implementing a policy of discrediting the Ukrainian language. The consequence of such a language policy was a decrease in the social status of the Ukrainian language, which in the nineteenth century. perceived as a language of "low" prestige, associated with peasant life and used in family life, partly in literature. The church, school, army, court, and administrative structures were outside the sphere of functioning of the Ukrainian language.