The European imprint in the linguistic picture of the world of an educated Ukrainian of the eighteenth century (based on private Cossack diaries)
Authors:   Oleksandr Bohomolets-Barash Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Bohomolets-Barash Oleksandr 
Published: September 2023

Background. In the context of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine, when its relations with European countries are strengthening as Ukrainians are defending not only themselves but the whole of Europe, it is important to examine the history of Ukrainian-European relations at the linguistic level. It is known that Ukrainian students studied at European universities already in XV–XVI centuries, mainly in Germany. Moreover, some embarked on a long educational journey through Europe, including studies in France and Italy. Later, in XVII–XVIII centuries, a significant role in the educational system played Kyiv (now Kyiv-Mohyla) Academy, the all-Ukrainian center of education, science, and culture of that period, from where the students went to Europe to deepen their knowledge. Following the best European educational practices, Kyiv Academy contributed to the rapid adaptation of Ukrainian students to the international environment in Europe. Amongst these students, were descendants from the families of the Ukrainian nobility and Cossack officers, including the Markovych and Khanenko families, whose diaries are the subject of research in this article. Aims and approach. Cossack diaries were the subject of in-depth historical & linguistic research, including educational background, intellectual interests, and individual style of writing of Yakiv Markovych, Mykola Khanenko, and Petro Apostol – the authors of the analyzed documents. However, so far, the lexical units related to Europe have not been the object of a separate study in the above-mentioned texts, which determines the scientific novelty of our research. Methodology. To fulfill the tasks, set out in the article, we used the method of analyzing the semantic space of the concept, which involves grouping the studied vocabulary according to the ideographic principle, which, in turn, makes it possible to reconstruct the linguistic picture of the world. The peculiarities of the functioning of adjectival-substantive phrases in the texts of the diaries were analyzed from the perspective of combinatorial linguistics. Results and findings. Cossack diaries are a valuable source of conceptual knowledge about Europe from the perspective of 18th-century Ukrainians. The authors of the diaries, the most educated people of their time, were quite rich both materially and spiritually. Accordingly, they studied foreign languages (Latin, French, German, Italian, Polish), read and translated from them, provided education for their descendants; were interested in the latest in European literature, science, and philosophical thought; exchanged books and communicated about what they had read; followed the cultural life of Europe, attending new performances by European authors. In everyday life, they paid tribute to fashion by buying fabrics for clothing from European countries, and as representatives of the Cossack elite, they had access to physical pleasures (drinks, tobacco) of European origin. As memoirists, they were particularly interested in history: they were aware of Europe’s social and political life by subscribing to European newspapers; at the same time, they were participants and witnesses of important historical events. Based on the analyzed diaries, a variety of lexical items, primarily adjectival and substantive phrases, have been identified to refer to items of European spiritual/material culture, phenomena, and persons related to Europe. Accordingly, the semantic fields “Spiritual Culture” and “Material Culture” were built in the semantic space of the concept of Europe. Conclusion. Europe left a noticeable impact on the linguistic picture of the world of educated Ukrainians of the eighteenth century, which is a natural result of the historical continuity of Ukrainian-European relations in the cultural, educational, scientific, art, and international trade fields.