The Ukrainian language is classified, along with Russian and Belorussian, as a Slavic language. Several hypotheses exist about the origins of the Ukrainian language.

Phonetic, grammatical and lexical characteristics of the Ukrainian language are already apparent in literature from the XII century. The evolution of the language can be traced from the early texts, such as the Gospel of Kamieniets-Strumilov (1411), written in Old Ukrainian, through the Peresopnytskyi Gospel (1556-1561), where a more developed, livly language was used (Middle Ukrainian), to Modern Ukrainian, first used in literature by Ivan Kotliarevskyi in the 1700's.

Due to historical conditions it was difficult for the Ukrainian language to develop. Ukraine was the target of invasions from neighbouring states for ages. From 1362 Ukraine was under Lithuania; later under Poland, Austria-Hungary, and most ricently under Russia for over 300 years. Language and culture were stifled; the population little by little denationalized.