PREREQUISITES FOR THE FORMATION OF POLISH AND UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE AREAS OF THE POST-PROTO-SLAVIC PERIOD

Abstract

The article defines the prerequisites for the formation of Polish and Ukrainian areas of the post-proto-Slavic period. The cognation of Slavic languages, their genetics and typology is substantiated in connection with the information about the territory used by the ancient Slavs before settling in historically attested places of residence. The prevalent hypotheses of the ancestral homeland of the Slavs: Danubian-Carpathian, Vistula-Oder, Vistula- Dnieper, are analyzed. It is remarked that although the Danubian hypothesis has not found general acceptance due to the absence of reliable archaeological and linguistic data, the chronicler Nestor gives an important account of the historical past of the Slavs. The Vistula-Oder hypothesis identifies the territory of modern Poland between the Vistula and the Oder as the oldest land of the Slavs. In the 21st century W. Mańczak proves it from the linguo-statistical points of view. The arguments presented by the scientist suggest the emergence of Proto-Slavic and Indo-European languages on the territory of modern Poland, but historical and archaeological contradictions and the problem of the absence of a Proto-Slavic substrate on this territory remain unanswered. According to the Vistula-Dnieper hypothesis, the Proto-Slavs are the autochthons of Europe. The ancestral homeland of the Slavs coincides with the core of Ukrainian ethnic territories and covers the northwestern part of Ukraine. The hypothesis is recognized by the majority of scientists, confirmed by the data of archeology and toponymy, and is consistent with the factors identified by V. Luchyk for determining the ancestral homeland of the Slavs. Therefore, the origins of the Ukrainian and Polish peoples and their languages are closely related to the problem of the origin of Slavs in the northwestern part of ethnic Ukrainian territories. The ethnogenesis of Poles and Ukrainians, despite certain specific historical features, has common patterns and close chronological boundaries. It is important to delineate the common territories of the speakers of Proto-Slavic dialects in order to study further periods of language development and to understand the current state of Slavic languages, in particular for the purpose of comparative typological analysis of the Polish and Ukrainian linguistic systems.