Yurii Shevelov as a linguist, generator of ideas and personality

12.4.2022

Teachers of the Department of Ukrainian Philology and General Linguistics took part in an open scientific event – a lecture “Yurii Shevelov: Return to Ukraine.”

The Department of Ukrainian Philology and General Linguistics of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University is sincerely grateful to Pavlo Yukhymovych Hrytsenko and all the organizers of such a crowded scientific public event, which was a lecture by Yurii Shevelov: return to Ukraine. All present were captivated by this speech of Doctor of Philology, Professor, Director of the Institute of Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The vision of Yu. Shevelyov’s scientific work through the prism of the present, comprehension of the significance of the researcher’s works for the whole Slavic world, and the assessment of the scientific endeavors of one of the prominent representatives of the Kharkiv philological school delighted the audience with its relevance, deep insight into the essence of ideas and general vision of the problem.

Pavlo Yukhymovych calls Yurii Shevelov the author of a major international All-Slavic project not by chance, because the epoch-making work of the scientist “Historical Phonology of the Ukrainian Language” not only allows to read Ukrainian phonology against other Slavic languages, but also became the basis for studying Macedonian and Slovenian phonology and other languages. It encourages linguists to change and clarify their conclusions in mainland Ukraine. The author of the lecture proves that Yurii Shevelyov’s powerful organizational talent and diligence cannot but be surprising, which was highly appreciated by outstanding Ukrainian researchers.

Another page of Shevelyov’s innovative ideas as a historian of language is related to the ability to consider history in the social dimension, including linguistic facts and texts of different eras. Therefore, opinions about the incompleteness of the Ukrainian literary language, although not all scholars acknowledge this fact, give grounds for further research of modern linguists. “This process is difficult, but we have to see in which direction we need to move in the development of literary language,” – said the lecturer. Thus, the works of Yurii Shevelov are currently important, which gives grounds to say: Yurii Shevelov is returning to Ukraine.

Department of Ukrainian Philology and General Linguistics