Archaic Ukrainian Orthographies on Ancestral Graves

 The oldest Ukrainian-language grave that I found of an ancestor is my great-great-great grandmother’s grave. She died in 1883 and is buried in the village Luchkivtsi, about an hour north east of Lviv. Anna’s husband was a German man named Venceslaus (Karlo) Kuhn.

The etymological spelling used is called Maksymovychivka. It was introduced in 1827, and in Galicia and Bukovyna it was used in schools until 1895 (and in Russophile press and books until the 1930s).

 
Анна Кинъ
зъ Давидовичêвъ
упокоилася 28 серпня 1883
въ 64 р. житя
вѣчная ей памятъ

Equivalent in modern Ukrainian orthography:
Анна Кин
зі Давидовичів
упокоїлася 28 серпня 1883
в 64 р. життя
Вічная їй пам’ять

Anna Kuhn
Of the Davydovyches
Died 29 August 1883
At 64 years of age
Memory Eternal

 ***

This grave from 1906 (in the village Tsishky) of one of my great-grandmother’s siblings uses the zhelekhivka orthograpy (used around 1875-1925 in western Ukraine), which no longer had the etymological letters that were in Maksymovychikva.

"Its 34-letter alphabet officially replaced etymological spellings in Galician and Bukovynian schools in November 1892, and its orthographic and lexical norms (many of them based on the southwestern dialects) were laid out in Stepan Smal-Stotsky and Theodor Gartner's 1893 Ruthenian school grammar. The zhelekhivka was retained in Galicia until the early 1920s."

 
Юлія Беднавска
Упокоїлася д. 14 марта 1906
в 19 році житя
Вічная єй память

Modern equivalent:
Юлія Беднавська
Упокоїлася д. 14 березня 1906
В 19 році життя
Вічная їй память

Yuliya Bednavska
Died on 14 March 1906
At 19 years of age
Memory Eternal
   
         ***           

This grave of my great-great grandmother from 1932 (in the village Kolodno) uses modern orthography. However, it uses an old word for the month of November: “padolyst” instead of the modern word “lystopad” (falling leaves).

З Горнаткевичів
Вікторія Левицька
Прож. 81 літ
25 падолиста 1932 р.
Спочиває ту і просить о молитву

Of the Hornatkevyches
Viktoria Levytska
Lived 81 years
25 November 1932
Rests here and asks for prayer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Antique Metal Roller Shutters in Lviv

Image
Lviv still has quite a few Austrian- and Polish-era metal roller shutters, which cover windows and doors of old storefronts. Some of the shutters are still used; most, however, look as if they haven’t been opened in decades. The panels with the locks are stamped with the manufacturer’s mark – typically the company’s name and location, some even with a street address, such as the company N. Bielicki Lwów , which was located on ul. Gródecka 43 (Horodotska St.). this panel is upside down - I think because several old shutters were used to patch up this door as seen in picture below Prague
Read more

Antique Iron Fences in Chicago

Image
I discovered some old fences while in the States this summer  –  first I found several beautiful antique fences on Hoyne Street in Chicago, and then I came across some in my suburb and in Annapolis, and now back in Lviv I have also started paying attention to them.  In all three places  –  Chicago, Winnetka, and Annapolis  –  I found fences made by Stewart Iron Works. This is not surprising as at one point this company was the largest iron fence maker in the world. *** The Stewart Iron Works Cincinnati Ohio Stewart Iron Works, an ironworks plant located in Covington, Kentucky, was founded in 1886 and incorporated in 1910. A branch in Cincinnati operated from 1903 to 1915.  Cincinnati Iron Fence Co. – Inc – Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.  Produced fences from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries W.T. Barbee Fence Works It’s hard to find information about thi...
Read more

The Ukrainian Alphabet and the Soft Sign

Image
There are several differences in the Ukrainian alphabets used in the diaspora and in Ukraine, in particular, what we call the alphabet, the way we pronounce the letters, the melody we use when singing the alphabet (or the lack there of a song), as well as the difference I only recently discovered - the placement of the soft sign. In Ukraine the soft sign "ь" doesn't come at the end of the alphabet as I learned, but third to last. It was quite a big shock for me to discover. However, this was a relatively recent change. In 1990, the soft sign was moved from the end of the alphabet to the place after the letter "щ" as it is in the Russian alphabet. I'm surprised it wasn't moved back a year later when Ukraine gained its independence. First of all, we usually say "азбука" or "абетка" while in Ukraine it is more common to say "aлфавіт" or "абетка" (for children). When we (at least my Chicago diaspora community) sing...
Read more