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The term Ruthenians (Rusyny) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially it was the ethnonym used for the Ukrainian
Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavs ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly?citizens of Ukraine . Some 200 years ago and times prior to that, Ukrainians were usually referred to and known as Rusyny ....
 people. With the emergence of Ukrainian self-awareness
Ukrainian nationalism

Ukrainian nationalism refers to the Ukraine version of nationalism.Although the first state using the name "Ukraine" is fairly recent, some historians, such as Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, have cited medieval princes of Kievan Rus, who ruled over a confederation of city-based states spread over what became northern Ukraine, Belarus and the southe...
 in the mid 19th century, the term initially went out of use first in eastern Ukraine, then central Ukraine and later in western Ukraine. In western Ukraine and in Ukrainian ethnic territories outside of Ukraine it is often still used.

Etymology
Originally the term Rusyn was a ethnonym applied to eastern Slavic-speaking ethnic groups, who inhabit or inhabited the cultural and ethnic region of Rus' often written through its Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 variant Ruthenia
Ruthenia

Ruthenia is a geographic and culturo-ethnic name applied to the parts of Eastern Europe populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to the past Russian states that existed in these territories....
.

Then, the terms "Ruthenians" or "Ruthenes" were the Latin terms referring to Slavic
Slavic peoples

The Slavic Peoples are a linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans....
 Orthodox people who lived in Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until the 18th century. It was founded by Lithuanians, at the time one of the Lithuanian mythology Baltic tribes, whose initial lands covered Auk?taitija, the eastern part of present day Lithuania....
 (inhabiting the area that is now Belarus
Belarus

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north....
 and Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
..






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The term Ruthenians (Rusyny) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially it was the ethnonym used for the Ukrainian
Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavs ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly?citizens of Ukraine . Some 200 years ago and times prior to that, Ukrainians were usually referred to and known as Rusyny ....
 people. With the emergence of Ukrainian self-awareness
Ukrainian nationalism

Ukrainian nationalism refers to the Ukraine version of nationalism.Although the first state using the name "Ukraine" is fairly recent, some historians, such as Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, have cited medieval princes of Kievan Rus, who ruled over a confederation of city-based states spread over what became northern Ukraine, Belarus and the southe...
 in the mid 19th century, the term initially went out of use first in eastern Ukraine, then central Ukraine and later in western Ukraine. In western Ukraine and in Ukrainian ethnic territories outside of Ukraine it is often still used.

Etymology


Originally the term Rusyn was a ethnonym applied to eastern Slavic-speaking ethnic groups, who inhabit or inhabited the cultural and ethnic region of Rus' often written through its Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 variant Ruthenia
Ruthenia

Ruthenia is a geographic and culturo-ethnic name applied to the parts of Eastern Europe populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to the past Russian states that existed in these territories....
.

Then, the terms "Ruthenians" or "Ruthenes" were the Latin terms referring to Slavic
Slavic peoples

The Slavic Peoples are a linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans....
 Orthodox people who lived in Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until the 18th century. It was founded by Lithuanians, at the time one of the Lithuanian mythology Baltic tribes, whose initial lands covered Auk?taitija, the eastern part of present day Lithuania....
 (inhabiting the area that is now Belarus
Belarus

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north....
 and Ukraine
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
.. They spoke the Ruthenian language
Ruthenian language

Ruthenian is a term used for the Variety of East Slavic language spoken in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the East Slavic territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
). It was also the ethnonym used by the Ukrainian
Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
 kozaks to describe themselves.

After the area of White Russia
White Russia

"White Russia " is a name that has historically been applied to various regions in Eastern Europe, most often to that which roughly corresponds to present-day Belarus....
 (Belarus
Belarus

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north....
) became part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
, the people of the area were seen as a sub-group of Russians
Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavs ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.The English language term Russians is used to refer to the citizens of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity ; in Russian language, the demonym Russian is translated as Rossiyanin ....
, and they were named White Russians as the name of the region of White Russia
White Russia

"White Russia " is a name that has historically been applied to various regions in Eastern Europe, most often to that which roughly corresponds to present-day Belarus....
 (Belorusians in Ruthenian
Ruthenian language

Ruthenian is a term used for the Variety of East Slavic language spoken in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the East Slavic territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
 and Russian
Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
 means White Russians). The Belorusian language in the area evolved from the Ruthenian language
Ruthenian language

Ruthenian is a term used for the Variety of East Slavic language spoken in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the East Slavic territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
.

Later "Ruthenians" or "Ruthenes" were used as a generic term for Greek Catholic inhabitants of Galicia and adjoining territories up until the early 20th century who spoke Western dialects of the Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic languages of the Slavic languages. It is the official language of Ukraine. In some areas of Russia there are dialects, Balachka or Surzhyk, which are the Ukrainianized versions of the Russian language....
 and called themselves "??????" (Rusyny). The other English name for the same ethnic group was "Little Russians" (see Little Russia
Little Russia

Little Russia, sometimes Little or Lesser Etymology of Rus and derivatives , was the name for a part of the historically settled territory of modern-day Ukraine before the twentieth century, at the time of the Russian Empire and earlier....
).

The language these "Ruthenians" or "Ruthenes" spoke was also called the "Ruthenian language
Ruthenian language

Ruthenian is a term used for the Variety of East Slavic language spoken in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the East Slavic territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
"; the name "Ukrajins’ka mova" (Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic languages of the Slavic languages. It is the official language of Ukraine. In some areas of Russia there are dialects, Balachka or Surzhyk, which are the Ukrainianized versions of the Russian language....
) became accepted by much of the Ukrainian literary class only in the early twentieth century in Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Kaiserlich und k?niglich Monarchy was a state in Central Europe ruled by the House of Habsburg, constitutionally a personal union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary....
 Galicia. After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918 the term "Ukrainian
Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavs ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly?citizens of Ukraine . Some 200 years ago and times prior to that, Ukrainians were usually referred to and known as Rusyny ....
" was usually applied to all Ukrainian-speaking inhabitants of Galicia.

See also

  • Ruthenia
    Ruthenia

    Ruthenia is a geographic and culturo-ethnic name applied to the parts of Eastern Europe populated by Eastern Slavic peoples, as well as to the past Russian states that existed in these territories....
  • Rusyns
    Rusyns

    Rusyns are an Eastern Slavic ethnic group which speak Rusyn language. The group is descended from the minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the ethnonym Ukrainians to describe their ethnic identity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries....
  • Ukrainians
    Ukrainians

    Ukrainians are an East Slavs ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly?citizens of Ukraine . Some 200 years ago and times prior to that, Ukrainians were usually referred to and known as Rusyny ....


External links