Balachka

The most significant instance of the dialect is in the Kuban region with the language being spoken by the Black Sea Cossacks who moved to there in 1792. The Kuban Cossack Chorus artistic director Viktor Zakharchenko points to the local folk songs dating to early and mid-19th century, where those that originated in the Kuban would have their own unique literary flavour and differ from those in standard Russian and Ukrainian. During the 1897 Russian census it was classified as a dialect of Little Russian (the Imperial-era Russian name for Ukrainian) language rather than Great Russian (Russian). In modern times the everyday usage of Balachka is declining. ==Usage==

Public usage It is not known how widespread the use of Balachka is. Education and strict requirements of the Russian Academy of Sciences mean that local press such as TV and radio adhere to standard Russian, with a notable exception for historical films (particularly those involving Cossacks) and Folk music groups and ensembles, such as the Kuban Cossack Chorus. It was proposed to teach Balachka in the schools and universities of Krasnodar Krai by students and teachers of Kuban State University. This attempts found no support from the federal administration. and some Ukrainian sources actively support the idea of Balachka being a dialect of the Ukrainian language, this is being contested by some Russian linguistic research, and some of the Kuban Cossacks themselves, who point out that already by the 1860s there was a separate dialect that morphed out of Ukrainian and Russian. == Varieties ==

There 3 varieties of Balachka: Kuban, Don and Mountainous subdialects. The most widespread variety is Kuban subdialect which was originally used by the Cossacks of Black Sea Host. == Examples ==

Examples of Balachka written in accordance to Russian and Ukrainian orthographies with translation in English. The latter text is written by Ivan Varavva. The same text in standard Ukrainian and Russian: == Known speakers ==

• Aslan Tkhakushinov — Circassian public figure, former head (2007–2017) of Adyghea, worked on the repatriation program for Circassian people to return from the forced exile. • Mykola Riabovil — Ukrainian political figure, chairman of the Kuban Legislative Council (1918) and the chairman of the Kuban Military Council (1919). •  — Ukrainian writer and poet from Krasnodar Krai, a member of Hromada, Ukrainian national movement and left-wing secret society. •  — appointed otaman (leader) of Azov Cossack Host (1851–1852) and Black Sea Cossack Host (1852–1856), Kuban literature classic, a friend of Taras Shevchenko. •  — Ukrainian singer and public figure, hailing from the resort town of Anapa. ==See also==