Editing Rusyn language (section)

== History ==
{{Expand section|date=January 2022}}
{{quote box
| align = right
| width = 30%
| title = The Rusyn Language in History|One of the dangers of any enterprise like the codification of a language is the desire to 'see' its history go back as far as possible. This danger affects every single language that may have had difficulties in gaining acceptance of its identity {{om|on the part of some outside body or bodies.}} A good example is Ukrainian itself {{om|, which fought for recognition (not to mention permission to be used and published) in the 19th century.}} It was not recognized by {{om|, for example, much of}} the 19th century ('great') Russian establishment {{om|for a very long time -}} leading to a continued perception {{om|on the part of many ordinary Russians (especially non-linguists)}} that Ukrainian was a 'dialect' of Russian {{om|Russian, or an uneducated 'peasant' language, and the like.}} Such treatment invariably led later Ukrainian scholars {{om|to look for the earliest features of what became 'Ukrainian', and therefore by association}} to refer to the language of those [earliest] features as not only 'old' Ukrainian but 'proto'-Ukrainian {{om|(this question is examined for East Slavic as a whole in Pugh 1996).}} The desire to see the beginnings of Rusyn as existing before, say, the 18th century is entirely natural – it was clearly in evidence in that century, so the beginnings must have been earlier. In fact, it is possible to see linguistic traces of what we recognize as 'Rusyn' in documents in very early texts – but this is not to say that these texts were written in 'Old Rusyn'. It is safe to say that Rusyn begins to be quite recognizable in a more systematic fashion (in terms of modern Rusyn) by the 18th century. Of course, given the political and social histories of the region, and especially religious history, documents differ according to the region, time, and the (socio-)linguistic milieu in which they were composed – e.g., Church Slavonic, Russian, Latin, etc.
| author = S. M. Pugh
| source = The Rusyn Language, 2009{{sfn|Pugh|2009|p=4-5}}
}}

The [[Niagovo Postilla]] (Njagovskie poučenija), dated to 1758, is one of the earliest texts possessing significant phonetic and morphological characteristics of modern Rusyn (specifically the Subcarpathian variant) and is potentially "linguistically traceable" to the 16th century.{{sfn|Pugh|2009|p=5}}{{sfn|Rusinko|2003|p=5}}

By the 18th century, the Rusyn language was "clearly in evidence" and "quite recognizable in a more systematic fashion".{{sfn|Pugh|2009|p=4-5}}

The first books produced exclusively for Rusyn readership were printed under the direction of bishop of [[Mukachevo]], [[Joseph Decamillis]] (r. 1690 – 1706). Under his direction, the printshop at the [[University of Trnava]] published a catechism (Katekhisis dlia naouki Ouhorouskim liudem, 1698) and an elementary language primer (Boukvar’ iazyka slaven’ska, 1699). For decades, these would be the only textbooks available to Rusyn students.{{sfn|Magocsi|2015|p=84}}

Later, in 1767 [[Maria Theresa]]'s [[Urbarium]] was published throughout the [[Habsburg Empire]] in a variety of languages, including Rusyn.{{sfn|Magocsi|2015|p=99}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Urbarium of Maria Theresa in the languages of the South Slavic peoples of the Hungarian Kingdom |year=2004 |doi=10.1556/sslav.49.2004.1-2.7|last1=Udvari |first1=István |journal=Studia Slavica |volume=49 |issue=1–2 |pages=103–119 }}</ref>

Finally, under Bishop [[Andriy Bachynskyi]]'s tenure (r. 1773 – 1809) in the [[Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo]], new texts for Rusyn student readership were published. These several editions of [[Ioann Kutka]]'s primer and catechism were published in Rusyn vernacular, though with heavy influence from [[Church Slavonic]].{{sfn|Magocsi|2015|p=101}}

=== 19th century ===

By the 19th century, "attempts to write in a form of Russo-Church Slavonic with a Rusyn flavor, or a type of 'Subcarpathian Russian' with Rusyn phonetic features," began to be made. Notably, [[Myxajlo Lučkaj]]'s grammar of the Subcarpathian variety of Church Slavonic, ''Grammatica Slavo-Ruthena'', of 1830 had a "distinctly Rusyn flavor". And while Lučkaj did not support use of vernacular as a literary language (commenting on the proper usage of either {{langx|la|label=none|lingua eruditorum et Communis plebis|translation=the languages of the learned and the languages of the common people}} in his ''Praefatio''), he ''did'' include examples of "Rusyn paradigms" in his work to attempt demonstrate its similarity to Church Slavonic. Lučkaj in effect sought to prove the two languages were close sisters of a common ancestor.{{sfn|Pugh|2009|p=5}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=DANYLENKO |first1=ANDRII |title=Myxajlo Lučkaj — A Dissident Forerunner of Literary Rusyn? |journal=The Slavonic and East European Review |date=2009 |volume=87 |issue=2 |pages=201–226 |doi=10.1353/see.2009.0132 |jstor=40650354 |s2cid=152082970 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40650354 |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112004054/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40650354 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1847, Greek Catholic priest [[Alexander Dukhnovych]] published the first textbook written almost fully in common Rusyn vernacular, ''Knyzhytsia chytalnaia dlia nachynaiushchykh'' (A Reader for Beginners).{{sfn|Magocsi|2015|p=105}} Further editions of the primer followed in 1850 and 1852, as well as the establishment of "the first Carpatho-Rusyn cultural organization", the [[Prešov Literary Society]], in 1850. Over the next four years of its existence, the Society would go on to publish a further 12 works, including Dukhnovych's ''Virtue is More Important than Riches'' (the very first play written in Carpatho-Rusyn), as well Carpatho-Rusyn's first literary anthologies in 1850, 1851, and 1852, titled ''Greetings to the Rusyns''.{{sfn|Magocsi|2015|p=145}}

=== 20th century ===

After the [[dissolution of Austria-Hungary]] (1918), the newly proclaimed [[First Hungarian Republic|Hungarian Republic]] recognized Rusyn regional autonomy in Subcarpathian regions and created, at the beginning of 1919, a department for Rusyn language and literature at the [[Budapest University]].{{sfn|Magocsi|Pop|2005|p=46, 521}}

[[File:Lemko, issue 209, year 1938, page 1.jpg|thumb|Lemko newspaper issued in [[Lviv]], (no 209), from year 1938, with typical Rusyn language features: separation of reflexive pronoun (ся) and words лем, што, котры, уж.]]
By the end of 1919, the region of [[Subcarpathian Ruthenia]] was appended to the newly formed [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovak]] state, as its easternmost province. During the next twenty years, linguistic debates were continued between the same three options (pro-Russian, pro-Ukrainian, and local Rusyn), with Czechoslovak state authorities occasionally acting as arbiters.{{sfn|Csernicskó|Fedinec|2015|p=93–113}}

In March 1939, the region proclaimed independence under the name [[Carpatho-Ukraine]], but it was immediately [[Carpathian Ruthenia during World War II|occupied and annexed]] by Hungary. The region was later occupied (1944) and annexed (1945) by the [[Soviet Union]], and incorporated into the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]],{{sfn|Magocsi|Pop|2005|p=495-497}} which proceeded with implementation of Ukrainian linguistic standards. In Soviet Ukraine, Rusyns were not recognized as a distinctive ethnicity, and their language was considered a dialect of Ukrainian language. Poland employed similar policies,{{sfn|Magocsi|Pop|2005|p=73}} using internal deportations to move many Eastern Slavs from southeastern to newly acquired western regions ([[Operation Vistula]]),{{sfn|Magocsi|Pop|2005|p=531-532}} and switch their language to Polish, and Ukrainian at school.

During that period, the only country that was officially recognizing the Rusyn minority and its language was [[Yugoslavia]].{{sfn|Magocsi|Pop|2005|p=75}}

==== Post-Soviet developments ====
[[File:Vojvodina rusyn croatian czech map.png|thumb|200px|right|Official usage of [[Pannonian Rusyn]] in [[Vojvodina]], Serbia]]

After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, modern standards of minority rights were gradually applied throughout Eastern Europe, thus affecting the attitude of several states towards the Rusyn language. As successors of Yugoslavia, [[Serbia]] and [[Croatia]] continued to recognize the Rusyn language as an official minority language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.skupstinavojvodine.gov.rs/?s=aktAPV001&j=EN |title=Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina |publisher=Skupstinavojvodine.gov.rs |access-date=2012-08-07 |archive-date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303072347/http://www.skupstinavojvodine.gov.rs/?s=aktAPV001&j=EN |url-status=live }}</ref>

Scholars with the former Institute of Slavic and Balkan Studies in Moscow (now the Institute of Slavonic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) formally acknowledged Rusyn as a separate language in 1992, and trained specialists to study the language.<ref>{{cite news |author=Іван Гвать |url=http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/24433107.html |title=Україна в лещатах російських спецслужб |newspaper=Радіо Свобода |date=25 December 2011 |publisher=Radiosvoboda.org |access-date=2012-08-07 |archive-date=5 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605001017/http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/article/24433107.html |url-status=live }}</ref> These studies were financially supported by the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Since 1995, Rusyn has been recognized as a [[minority language]] in [[Slovakia]], enjoying the status of an [[official language]] in municipalities where more than 20 percent of the inhabitants speak Rusyn.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mensiny.vlada.gov.sk/data/files/418.doc|title=Zákon 184/1999 Z. z. o používaní jazykov národnostných menšín|last=Slovenskej Republiky|first=Národná Rada|year=1999|publisher=Zbierka zákonov|language=sk|access-date=2010-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011131038/http://www.mensiny.vlada.gov.sk/data/files/418.doc|archive-date=11 October 2017|url-status = dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Contemporary status ===

Ukrainian state authorities do not recognize [[Rusyns]] as a separate ethnicity, regardless of Rusyn self-identification. Ukraine officially considered Rusyn a dialect of Ukrainian. In 2012, Ukraine adopted a new law, recognizing Rusyn as one of several minority and regional languages, but that law was revoked in 2014.{{sfn|Csernicskó|Fedinec|2016|p=560-582}}

Rusyn is recognized as an officially protected, minority language by the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (2011), [[Croatia]] (1997), [[Hungary]] (1998), [[Romania]] (2008), [[Poland]] (as Lemko, 2009), [[Serbia]] (2006), and [[Slovakia]] (2002).{{sfn|Council of Europe|2021}}

It is not possible to estimate accurately the number of fluent speakers of Rusyn; however, their number is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

==== ISO 639-9 Identifiers ====
{{Transcluded section|part=y|source=Pannonian Rusyn#ISO 639-3 Identifier}}
The [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO) has assigned the [[ISO 639-3]] code 'rue' for Carpathian Rusyn.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISO 639-3: 639 Identifier Documentation: Rusyn (rue) |url=https://iso639-3.sil.org/code/rue |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720003746/https://iso639-3.sil.org/code/rue |archive-date=20 July 2021 |access-date=22 June 2021}}</ref>

{{trim|{{#section-h:Pannonian Rusyn|ISO 639-3 Identifier}} }}