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[UKRAINIAN PHILOLOGY] Ukrainskii iazyk. Kratkii ocherk istoricheskoi fonetiki i morfologii [i.e. Ukrainian Language. Brief Outline of Historical Phonetics and Morphology]

Kul’bakin, S.

Item #1701

Kharkiv: Tipografiia “Pechatnoe delo”, 1919. IV, 104 pp., 1 map. 26,5x17,5 cm. In original printed wrappers. No spine, some soiling and foxing, pencil marks, private stamp and ink note on t.p., otherwise very good.

First edition. In Russian.
One of a few Kharkiv publications by Russian philologist Stepan Kul’bakin (1873-1941) known for his works on Slavic languages. He graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of the Imperial Novorossiyskii University in Odessa in 1896. In 1901-1903, he researched old manuscripts in Slavic countries, as well as the contemporary state of their languages and dialects. In 1911-1912, his fundamental work “The Old Church Slavonic Language” was published in Kharkov, in three issues. He was a professor at the Department of Slavic Philology of the Kharkov University and the Higher Women’s Courses in Kharkov. In 1917, he also began to lecture at the local People’s University.

In June 1919, Kul’bakin welcomed General Denikin who liberated the city from the Reds. In December he left the city after the retreat of Denikin. In 1920, he emigrated to Yugoslavia and taught at the University of Skopje. In 1924 he moved to the University of Belgrade. This edition was prepared as a textbook for university study. Before the publication, the material was read at courses for instructors in teaching the Ukrainian language in May 1919. "This book was ready for printing in the summer, but a printers’ strike delayed its release by 3 months”, the author writes. In the foreword, Kul’bakin explains that the terminological question “the Ukrainian language or the Little Russian dialect” is rather political, since the word “dialect” implies the denial of people’s rights to independent cultural development or independent state life. Avoiding political issues, the author only emphasizes that Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian languages descend from a particular common language. Then he overviews a territory where these languages neighbor and mix. Finally, Kul’bakin selects Northern, Southern and Carpathian dialects of the Ukrainian language and shows them on a folding map. Two main sections of this book are historical development of phonetics and morphology of the Ukrainian language. In all, this monograph compares contemporary Ukrainian language with the Old East Slavic language.
Kulbakin’s works weren't later published in the Soviet state.

Paper copies are located in LoC, Yale and Harvard Universities.

Price: $1,500.00