Originally posted by Mastermind2
I am talking about the language they spoke during the 9th-11th century. All you have to do is know Russian and Ukrainian and read an ancient document and You will see right away which language it is closer to. |
Yes, I did it and there is no doubt that the Ancient Russian text is closer to modern Russian than to Ukrainian. This is exactly the evidence that is used to prove that Modern Russian is closer to the Ancient Russian than Ukrainian. And anybody can see that.
For example, I will list the name of the Ancient Rus epic The Tale of Igor's Campaign in Ancient Russian, Modern Russian and Ukrainian:
Ancient Russian :Слово о плъку Игоревѣ, Slovo o plŭku Igorevě
Modern Russian: Слово о полку Игореве Slovo o polku Igoreve
Ukrainian: Слово о полку Ігоревім, Slovo o polku Ihorevim
Anybody can see that although all the three examples are all very close, the modern Russian is closer to Ancient Russian (Old East Slavic) than Ukrainian.
It's easier for a native Russian speaker to understand Ancient Russian chronicles and literature than for an Ukrainian native speaker.
The reason? As I noted earlier, Ukrainian language underwent a huge influence of the Western Slavic linguistic substratum, namely, Polish language, because Ukrainian lands were dominated by Poland for some centuries.
Russian language stayed intact in this regard that's why it's closer to the Ancient Russian (Old East Slavic) than the modern Ukrainian.