The Ukrainian language may undergo various transformations in two hundred years, according to the forecasts of Ukrainian linguist and Doctor of Philology Pylyp Seligey. His scientific work “Ukrainian Language in 2222” has aroused considerable interest among linguists and scientists.
According to Seligey, dialects will gradually disappear, replaced by a “chat” language with its own “norms” and expressions, and traditional language genera may lose their relevance. He emphasizes that such linguistic predictions are a unique phenomenon in Ukrainian science, and linguists should not only have the right, but also should predict the future of the language.
Seligey argues that the preservation of the Ukrainian language will depend not only on spelling or the use of feminines, but also on understanding the general trends of linguistic evolution. He calls for a thorough study of those aspects that will determine the future of the language.
Experts are divided on the possibility that the Ukrainian language could change beyond recognition or even cease to exist. The question of the future of the Ukrainian language remains a subject of debate among specialists.
First of all, it is important to consider the possibility of our understanding the Ukrainian language of the future if we hear it now.
To answer this question, the author suggests turning to the original literary works, in particular, Kotlyarevsky’s “Aeneid,” which was published about two centuries ago (1798). According to him, the language of the “Aeneid” reflects how people in the Middle Dnieper region spoke at the time, and, with the exception of a few words, it remains understandable even today.
However, the author emphasizes that understanding the language of the future remains a big question. Even if we can understand texts written over two hundred years ago by delving into works of art, the situation becomes more complicated when we delve into a text that is more than two centuries old. The author points out that while the general meaning can be understood, it is more difficult to delve into the details, especially in legal aspects, by reading modern constitutional articles.
The author also notes that over the past two centuries, many new words have appeared that people back then would have understood only in a limited context. It is noted that even modern people do not always understand expressions that became popular just a few years ago.
Therefore, in the author's opinion, what was written 200 years later will probably be incomprehensible to us. He concludes that rapid changes in vocabulary, taking place against the background of reality, can lead to the fact that the Ukrainian language in two centuries may change significantly and even become unrecognizable.
Is the Latin alphabet capable of replacing the Cyrillic alphabet in the Ukrainian language? This is a possible scenario, although only one of the possible ones.
A complete transition to the Latin alphabet remains an unlikely option, but, according to the author, changes in the transmission of sounds in writing are still approaching.
The author points to the Serbian language as an example of the “Latinization of the ancient Cyrillic language.” In Serbia, the Latin script has a significant influence, especially in the Internet, commerce, and press, even though Cyrillic is the official standard. In Ukraine, although there is no such “split” of alphabet usage, some individuals use Latin spelling in their first and last names on social media, and brands often use Latin letters in their names.
According to the author, if events develop according to the Serbian scenario, then in a few decades, unofficial written communication in Ukraine may switch to the Latin alphabet.
However, another scenario seems more likely: the coexistence of both alphabets. This will depend on personal preferences, especially when reading texts on screens, where any transliteration may be automated.
The “alphabet wars” may prove meaningless in the future, the author argues. However, in his opinion, Cyrillic will remain the official and priority standard for a long time, although Latin will also be available to anyone who wants to use it.
Will genders disappear in the Ukrainian language, as happened in some other Slavic and Indo-European languages? It is worth noting that there are currently three genders in the Ukrainian language: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
Compared to some other Indo-European languages that have lost the neuter gender (for example, French or Spanish), or have combined the masculine and feminine genders into one common gender (as Swedish, Danish, Dutch did), the Ukrainian language still has a long-standing existence of all three genders.
Many scholars believe that gender in language is becoming obsolete and is retained solely due to inertia. Therefore, based on the experience of other Indo-European languages, it can be assumed that in the “distant future the disappearance of the category of gender altogether is likely,” Seligey concludes.
How will the case system in the Ukrainian language change in the future? There are currently seven of them, but their number may decrease in the distant future.
This is due to the “expansion” of the nominative case, which can “annex” the functions of other cases. In particular, an increase in the number of words that are not inflected at all and a more frequent use of inflections with prepositions, particles, and articles are expected.
This trend is already observed, for example, in the expressions “для батька” instead of “батькові”, “тристо грам” instead of “тристо грамів”, “выпив чай” instead of “выпив чайу”. The vocative case may be the first to disappear, as its use is becoming increasingly rare in everyday speech.
Under the influence of foreign languages, there is also a loss of the declension of traditionally Ukrainian place names that are not borrowed. This can be seen in such expressions as “I live in Mukachevo”, “forest park in Golosievo”, “museum in Pirogovo”, “minibus to Svyatoshino”.
The reduction in the number of cases is a general trend in Indo-European languages. Although cases are unlikely to disappear completely in the coming centuries, the spread of indeclination and the expansion of the nominative case may contribute to the gradual decline of cases, notes Seligey.
This process can continue until the complete elimination of the case category in the Ukrainian language.
How will commas change in the future, as the influence of social media and freedom of speech becomes increasingly stronger?
Nowadays, oral speech, social networks, and instant messaging are significantly transforming the style of writing. It is predicted that in the future, sentences will become shorter, literary language will become closer to colloquial, and the rules will be more relaxed.
Changes in punctuation, which is now an integral part of learning, promise to make it much easier. The internet and social media are expected to influence writing styles in media and fiction, reducing the average length of sentences and simplifying their structure.
There is already a “syntactic densification” that manifests itself in shorter phrases, for example, “cheese from Poland” instead of “cheese produced in Poland,” or “graduated from graduate school” instead of “graduated from graduate school.”.
As for punctuation marks, social media and chat rooms are already ignoring their importance, which may indicate that they may become less important in the future. Overall, the future will resemble English, where commas, although they exist, do not cause much of a problem if omitted.
As for which words in the Ukrainian language may die out and which may appear, the forecast is quite obvious. Typically Ukrainian words that indicate outdated realities and objects will gradually die out. At first, they may pass into the passive stock of the language, and later disappear altogether.
In modern speech, it is already rare to hear many words from older literary works and dictionaries. While this may be sad, for many it is more evidence of the development of the language than its decline.
The language community will decide which words will remain in use. The normativity of words will be determined not only by their presence in dictionaries, but also by their actual use.
As for the source of new words, they will most likely be borrowed from foreign languages, in particular English. English is already leading in the number of new words and the speed with which its vocabulary is updated. Thus, it can be assumed that what appears in the English dictionary will sooner or later appear in other languages, including Ukrainian.
What will remain the most stable in a language? If stability can be found anywhere, it is in phonetics, that is, in the sound of a language.
Phonetics always changes the slowest. This is true of all languages, because the sound system is always very systematic. Changes here occur infrequently and develop slowly.
So, it is safe to say that for the next few centuries, the Ukrainian language will sound about the same as it does now, perhaps with some new words, phrases, and sentence structures.
Ukrainian phonetics dates back a long time, namely to the 13th century. It was then that the composition of phonemes that we still use today was formed: six vowels and 32 consonants, including 22 hard and 10 soft.
If anything is changing, it could be a reduction in regional differences in pronunciation.
However, for these and other predictions to come true, one important condition is necessary – the preservation of the language itself and its speakers.
Will the Ukrainian language still exist in 200 years? This question is clearly one of the most important, and the answer to it is not as clear-cut as many would like.
“There is a sharp increase in the degree of uncertainty here,” and there are several scenarios, writes Seligey.
The worst of these is the gradual decline and degeneration of the language. This is possible if the number of native speakers decreases significantly, combined with economic instability. The war with Russia, which has caused millions of Ukrainians to leave the country, increases the likelihood of this scenario.
Overall, the author estimates its probability at 35%.
“The war has dealt a serious blow to our demography. The longer it lasts, the more migrants will remain in their host countries. In essence, these are lost speakers of the Ukrainian language,” Pylyp Seligey comments on his conclusions.
The author calls the most likely, realistic scenario “stable development.” This means that the use of the Ukrainian language, at a minimum, will not decrease, and its condition will improve or remain stable. The chances of such development are 55%.
This is possible even if the number of speakers decreases – a trend that demographers are increasingly talking about.
It is unlikely that the number of native speakers will remain at the current level, but an increase is possible at the end of this or the beginning of the next century due to immigration, predicts Seligey.
The main prerequisite is the absence of major disasters and the peaceful development of the country.
“I think we need to prepare for the influx of immigrants… In order for the Ukrainian language not to lose its demographic power, a well-thought-out migration and language policy is needed,” he emphasizes in a comment for BBC Ukraine.
There is also an optimistic scenario, but its chances are the lowest – 15%. According to it, the number of native speakers will increase significantly, the language itself will become extraterritorial, that is, it will go beyond the borders of one country, and its use will expand thanks to foreigners.
However, much needs to be done for this. At the very least, Ukraine must become a regional leader, and before that, it must win the war and begin a rapid economic recovery.
Why predict language? Regardless of whether most of Seligey's predictions come true or remain in the realm of science fiction, many Ukrainian experts are convinced that reflections in this direction are very useful.
These reflections are “a kind of challenge,” says linguist and author of books on sociolinguistics Larysa Masenko. In her opinion, such a forecast will appeal especially to schoolchildren and students, especially for the sake of “simplifying the overly regulated system of punctuation marks” in the Ukrainian language.
She believes that the author offered a rather “optimistic picture of the future of humanity,” which is not shared by everyone.
It is impossible to verify the accuracy of the predictions, she says, but it is important to remember that the future of the language “depends on each of us.”.
“I am impressed that the author does not offer simple answers to complex questions. On the contrary, he tracks the evolution of the development of different languages, compares their development with Ukrainian, and on this basis tries to look into tomorrow (and the day after tomorrow). Therefore, the forecasts seem quite realistic,” says historian and local historian Stanislav Tsalyk.
What practical significance can speech prediction have?
“We need to forecast so that we don’t stumble around like a blind kitten,” says Seligey.
He emphasizes that professional forecasts are not about what “will definitely happen,” but about what “may happen,” or “will happen under certain conditions.” They show “under what conditions and by what means we can avoid dangers and achieve desired goals.”.
Language expert Oleksandr Skopnenko is convinced that forecasts in the humanitarian sphere can be no less useful than, for example, in the economic sphere.
“Does economic forecasting seem strange to you? No. For example, military forecasting has become commonplace for us now. But it so happened that many socio-humanitarian studies are based only on the past and present. This is very bad,” he says.
Moreover, he believes that linguistic methods could even have predicted Russia's war against Ukraine:
“Now one can reproach many scientists for not paying attention to what was happening beyond our borders before the war.
