Мовна пам’ять українців у вимірі історичної лексикології / Language memory through the lens of historical lexicology

The proposed article is devoted to the problem of linguistic memory as an integral component of the historical memory and cultural memory of Ukrainians—a historical and cultural phenomenon that unites oral and written traditions realized in linguistic form and reflected in verbal (lexical), nonverbal (painting and sculpture), and audiovisual (film) semiotic systems. The concept of “linguistic memory” is examined in conjunction with the concept of “linguistic identity,” and it is noted that these categories directly influence the formation of the Ukrainian national worldview; in particular, today, during the Russian–Ukrainian war, language plays a paramount role as a factor of national security. The study examines the Ukrainian lexicon of that period based on a rich source base. This includes Ukrainian written monuments of various genres from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, such as testaments, chronicles, and sermons. These sources provide vivid evidence of how words and expressions shape the linguistic picture of the Ukrainian world. They also serve as a manifestation of its unique worldview and attest to its place within the broader Slavic and pan-European cultural heritage. The development of the Ukrainian lexical stock from the 16th to the 18th centuries is examined from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives. For this, a comparative lexical analysis was conducted. The analysis included data from the modern Ukrainian literary lexicon, along with relevant lexical parallels from contemporary dialects of the southwestern Ukrainian dialect group. The study shows that lexemes actively used in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries have moved to the margins of the modern Ukrainian lexical base. However, these words retain traces of the long-term development of the Ukrainian language and culture as a whole in their semantic structure. Through language, historical memory, and cultural memory, ethnic and national communities integrate, ensuring the holistic development of states in general and of each citizen in particular.