CONTINUITY PRINCIPLE IN THE STATE LANGUAGE POLICY IN UKRAINE: HISTORICAL ASPECT

Abstract

The development of a sovereign state at all times has involved determining the official status of the language as a mandatory nation- and state-building factor. The formation and restoration of the independent Ukrainian state allows us to speak of the sequence of its steps in implementing certain aspects of language status planning. The period of the Ukrainian Revolution (1917–1921) was characterized by the adoption of a large number of laws and bylaws that defined the state character of the Ukrainian language. The peculiarities of the further implementation of the state language policy up to the present day are evidenced by a number of joint steps taken by the Ukrainian state at different stages of its existence to strengthen the position of the Ukrainian language in the official governmental space. First of all, the requirement to have an adequate level of Ukrainian language proficiency to perform representative functions in government was put forward both during the Central Rada, the Hetmanate, the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (WUPR), and at the beginning of Ukrainianization in the Soviet republic, and especially after the restoration of independence in 1991. The documentary evidence of such skills in the early twentieth century was a certificate, in the early twentyfirst century – a certificate of the attestation commission of authorized higher education institutions, and now – an international certificate from the National Commission for Ukrainian Language Standards, as prescribed by the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language." At the time of Ukrainian statehood in the early twentieth century, it was possible to achieve an adequate level of practical language skills by completing appropriate courses for government employees. The current language legislation also provides for the organization of free Ukrainian language courses for everyone. Finally, the institution of language inspectors, which operated during the period of Ukrainization and was also proposed in the first version of the current language law, is another common point that demonstrates the implementation of the principle of continuity. The continuity in the implementation of these steps by the Ukrainian state to strengthen the position of the state language as a means of public and governmental communication demonstrates their undeniable effectiveness, and thus the effectiveness of the principle of continuity in the state language policy of Ukraine.