Ukrainian lessons

[zhiguli]

I'm still preparing lessons so bear with me...for now, just a taste of what's to come.

Some of you may be studying Russian at the same time so frequent reference will be made to the similarities (of which there are many) and differences between these two languages.

To begin, let's compare the alphabets:
Ukrainian: А Б В Г Ґ Д Е Є Ж З И І Ї Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ю Я Ь '
Russian: А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я
You'll notice that:
Ukrainian lacks Ё, Ъ, Ы, Э.
Russian lacks Ґ, Є, І, Ї, '.
Ukrainian - Russian equivalents:
Г = no equivalent, like English h
Ґ = Г
Е = Э
Є = Е
ЙО = Ё
И = Ы
І = И
Ї = ЙИ
The rest of the letters can be safely assumed to have the same pronunciation in both languages.

Now, some basic phrases.
Most of these can be found (with audio) on the sites mentioned in the main thread, but I thought they'd be worth repeating:

Добрий день Good day
Добридень Good day (less formal than Добрий день)
Привіт Hi (even less formal)
Доброго здоров'я Good day (good health - more formal than all the above)
Доброго ранку Good morning
Добрий вечір Good evening

Як почуваєте себе How are you (feeling)
Як почуваєш себе (familiar form of the above)
Як справи How are things (informal)
Як ся маєш (Western dialect)
Possible answers:
Чудово Wonderful
(Дуже) гарно (Very) good
Непогано Not bad

Прошу Please (Western Ukraine)
Будь ласка Please (Eastern)
(Дуже) дякую Thank you (very much)
Спасибі Thanks
Прошу You're welcome/Don't mention it
Вибач/Вибачте Sorry (informal/formal)

До побачення Goodbye
До зустрічі Goodbye
Добраніч/На добраніч Good night
На все добре Goodbye (all the best)
Май ся файно Bye (Western dialect)

Так Yes
Ні No
Мабуть Maybe

Pronouns:
Я I
Ти You (familiar)
Він He
Вона She
Воно It
Ми We
Ви You (formal, plural)
Вони They

[Geist]

Thanks, zhiguli!
Quick question - Ukrainian stress doesn't seem to be regular. Are there any rules governing it?
I'm already seeing Russian similarities, as well as a few Polish ones (ex. Як ся маєш (Western dialect) - Polish "Jak się masz?").

[Guest]

A few extra notes:
Г - this sound isn't *exactly* like English h, I say it's pretty close, but some people don't agree.
I've heard it variously described as similar to a Czech h, a French r, a Greek γ, a voiced English h...anyway, you can listen and judge for yourself: http://www.ukrainianpower.com/game/alphabet.html
В - this gets pronounced more or less like English w in syllable-final position.
Ч and Щ, unlike Russian, are hard. Щ is usually pronounced as шч as opposed to the Russian soft шь sound.
Unlike Russian, there is no reduction of vowels in unstressed syllables, but е in a syllable preceding the stress tends to be reduced to a и.

Quick question - Ukrainian stress doesn't seem to be regular. Are there any rules governing it?

There are about a dozen set patterns and some shortcuts to remembering them but basically, stress in Ukrainian is irregular, in my experience it's even less regular than Russian, and to make things worse there are alternate stresses in informal/dialect speech.

I'm already seeing Russian similarities, as well as a few Polish ones (ex. Як ся маєш (Western dialect) - Polish "Jak się masz?").

Also так, прошу, дякую..
Ukrainian does have a strong Polish influence. The Western dialects especially have a lot of Polish words, so many that a lot of Poles I know (jokingly or not) refer to Ukrainian as a Polish dialect with lots of Russian words.

[Aszev]

Г = no equivalent, like English h

Is it really /h/? When I listened to a Ukranian sample it sounded more like /G/..

[Mulder-21]

Г = no equivalent, like English h

Is it really /h/? When I listened to a Ukranian sample it sounded more like /G/..

According to the Wikipedia, it's actually /h\/

- - - - -

Sambært Wikipediuni so verður Г framborið /h\/

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Wikipediaen siger, at Г bliver udtalt /h\/

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Annars so er hetta míni 500. boð!!! Wu-huuu!

[Chico-Nico]

I think it would be better to learn this language without knowing Russian because the similarities wouldn't be confusing then. I'm quite fluent in Russian even though it's not my native language, but whenever I try to pronounce Ukrainian words, I can't help but say them the Russian way and it's frustrating!

[dorenda]

It's certainly less confusing. But on the other hand, it's less confusing to learn Russian without having learned Ukrainian first...

Is нг pronounced as ng or just as н + г?

[Chico-Nico]

It's the no reduction of vowels that trips me up the most. It took me a good while to learn how to do that with Russian, and since Ukrainian doesn't seem to do that, it's a hard habit to break.

[Nukalurk]

Why don't you use the discussion thread?

[Roma33]

Hello Zhiguli,

Actually, you are somewhat mistaken comparing the pronunciation of the russian equivalent to that of its Ukrainian sound. The actual Ukrainian pronunciation of this letter is like the sound of British/American english word: IhT- a very deep sound, the h is there to point out how its pronounced. Say "it" several times without the Russian bi pronunciation and you will get somewhat close to the proper pronunciation. Ja nadijusja shche tse dopomohab.

Roma Melnychuk

I too am a little rusty on my Ukrainian, but unlike most Ukrainians here in America who were born here, I have a passive to fluent knowledge of the language.

Jakshcho majesh bil'sh pytan', proshu, pytaj mene!

[zhiguli]

Hi Roma
Thanks for the note - you are right, it is somewhere in between і and ы.

[Oleksij]

Ja nadijusja shche tse dopomohab

Ja spodivajusia, shcho ce dopomozhe.
Pane Mel'nychuk, chy mozhete Vy pysaty Kyrylyceju?