Learn about the special (13th) letter of the Ukrainian alphabet with Sonia : Letter "Ї"

Letter "Ї"

This letter is not found in other Slavic alphabets. It is a kind of symbol of Ukrainian identity. Without it, you cannot write the words Kyiv and Ukraine : Київ, Україна. And yes, it's the 13th letter of our alphabet. 😉

The 41-th mini sculpture was installed on the facade of the Institute of Philology of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. It complements the walking route drawn by all the sculptures in the University area. Taras Shevchenko is the most famous Ukrainian poet, by the way.

While my hubby Nick was out of town on his military mission, Sonia and I went in search of it on one of the rare sunny days. More precisely, it was on March 2 but any Kyivan will tell you that the last snow in Kyiv falls on March 22-23, and after that comes real spring.

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The place was not chosen by chance. First, the graduates of this institution were a constellation of famous Ukrainian writers and public figures.

Secondly, the elements of the sculpture of the letter "Ї" became the shards of the stained-glass windows of the Kyiv University campus, which were damaged after the Russian missile attack on December 31, 2022 and are no longer subject to restoration.

This letter has ancient roots. It depicts two sounds. For the first time, they tried to depict it in one of the chronicles in 1073. Today it is a symbol of everything Ukrainian. It is depicted on logos and T-shirts, and in the occupied territories graffiti with the letter "Ї" has become a symbol of resistance along with the yellow ribbon.

As an example, this letter is used (very successfully, in my opinion) in the name and logo of our best independent media project about Ukraine - Ukraїner.

During Russian occupation, at first, they banned the Ukrainian language as a whole. Later, when their bans did not help, they began to act more cunningly - they banned individual letters that were not found in the Russian alphabet. One of them disappeared from the schoolbooks after I started going to school. The Russians did not understand that Ukraine will be reborn again and again until it defeats this rotten arch empire.

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By the way, the youngest letter of the Ukrainian alphabet is the letter "Ф" ("F"). I learned about this while writing "All-Ukrainian Radio Dictation". It was the first and the only time when I participated, I was in the team of the National Bank of Ukraine. Radio dictation takes place every year on October 27, the day of Ukrainian writing and language. They say that this is the most massive flash mob of the fall. I wonder is there anything similar in your country?

The dictation consists of 100-120 words. The text for radio dictation is specially ordered. There are no author's signs or contradictory spellings in it, but at the same time their total number is high, so it is not easy to write a radio dictation without errors. (Wiki)

Until 2019, a handwritten radio dictation could be sent by mail or email for verification, and the correct version was available for verification after 2 weeks. Now you can check yourself 15 minutes after the broadcast.

A small digression. There is a term in the Ukrainian language called a Watchman syndrome. I am not sure if there is an appropriate term in English but I believe there should be a similar concept. A Watchman syndrome it is the desire of a person with little power to demonstrate his importance. Did you ever meet this guy? I bet you did.

So. Sonia and I met him too, right here where the mini sculpture is installed. The "security guy". Not the real security, you know, where there is a real threat or security issues. He came out and told me not to do anything here. Don't stick anything - I said I am not sticking anything. "So what are you doing and for is it for?" I tried to explain who I am, what is this for, what is the project about. Then he said "don't do anything you're doing and don't take pictures".

That day, I wished twice that my husband was not with me, because he better find a way to take a picture of Sonya with a mini-sculpture. And he would be able to give a decent rebuff to this arrogant asshole. I was so angry that I couldn't find the right words to fight him back. For the first time, I regretted that I was not a scary guy with a gangster appearance, whose principles do not prohibit punching in the face.

But enough of it. Let's walk across the street. Strictly speaking, the street is Shevchenko Boulevard, and across the street is Shevchenko Park.

And the first you'd see right opposite is the Tram Cafe.

Kyiv Tram

It looks so old. And I tried to get inside many times when I passed by. Would you believe? Yeap, I never was inside. But from its appearance, it has something to do with France and Poland. An unusual combination, I agree. It was closed on that day too, seemed just before my visit, so I have no stories just photos:

Shevchenko Park

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A character from a children's tales.

"Grandma" is watching children's play area, as usual. The best monitoring solution, hehe.

It looks nice and peaceful now. You may not believe it, but every time I walk here, I think of October 10, 2022. It was Monday morning, about 8 am. People were heading to work. When a Russian missile hit here. My colleague's wife was taking her little son to kindergarten here on the subway. They heard the air raid signal and decided to stay in the subway. There were several missiles. One exploded at an intersection of roads, the other fell into a park near a children's playground. Right where the guys with baby carriage stands.

The Kyiv authorities restored everything very quickly. There are still scars though.

I must confess I always liked the view of the Shevchenko Boulevard. In both directions. I know that there are many much more beautiful boulevards in the world. But I love this one, because here is my home, my native land, my people. I would like you to see Kyiv and Ukraine when the war ends. You will love it, I promise. 💙💛

This is another post from the "Sonia and Kyiv mini-sculptures" series about "SHUKAI!" project founded by Yulia Bevzenko, a big lover of Kyiv. The project's idea is to tell the history of Kyiv via bronze mini-sculptures. You search them, scan the QR code, read the story and have fun!.

The page of this mini sculpture.

That's all folks.

I appreciate your time and attention. Hope you like it. 😉