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Etymological aficionado that I am, as I suspected "Ruthenian" is related to "Russian".

Some notes:

Related to Ruthene, Ruthenian, Ruthenic, from Medieval Latin Rutheni, Ruteni, related to Russi, Ruzi as Prutheni, Pruteni is to Prussi, Pruzi (“Prussians”). Compare Rus, Russ, from Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ), compare Byzantine Greek Ῥῶς (Rhôs).

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Ditto for "Rusyn":

From Rusyn руси́н (rusýn), from Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ, “Rus”). Compare Ruthenia.

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Ruthenian Ethnohistory

Ruthenian and Ruthene (Latin: Rutheni) are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. Latin term Rutheni was found in medieval sources to describe all Eastern Slavs of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as an exonym for people of the former Kievan Rus', thus including ancestors of the modern Russians, Ukrainians, Rusyns, and Belarusians. The use of Ruthenian and related exonyms continued through the early modern period, developing several distinctive meanings, both in terms of their regional scopes and additional religious connotations (such as affiliation with the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church).

(source) — includes much more detailed information about Ruthenian terminology in Poland,  Carpatho-Ruthenian ethnonyms, speculative theories emerged regarding the origin and nature of medieval and early modern uses of Ruthenian terms as designations for East Slavs, and geography pertaining to the Ruthenians.

Language

Ruthenian language (Latin: lingua ruthenica, also see other names) is an exonymic linguonym for a closely-related group of East Slavic linguistic varieties, particularly those spoken from the 15th to 18th centuries in East Slavic regions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Regional distribution of those varieties, both in their literary and vernacular forms, corresponded approximately to the territories of the modern states of Belarus and Ukraine. By the end of the 18th century, they gradually diverged into regional variants, which subsequently developed into the modern Belarusian, Ukrainian and Rusyn languages.

(source) — includes plentiful detailed information about linguistic matters relating to the Ruthenians, nomenclature in contemporary and modern use (ethnonyms and exonyms), dialectal matters, and periodization of the literary language

Rusyn Ethnohistory

Rusyns (Rusyn: Русины, romanized: Rusynŷ), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (Rusyn: Карпаторусины or Карпатьскы Русины, romanized: Karpatorusynŷ or Karpaťskŷ Rusynŷ), or Rusnaks (Rusyn: Руснакы or Руснаци, romanized: Rusnakŷ or Rusnacy), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct language or a dialect of the Ukrainian language. As traditional adherents of Eastern Christianity, the majority of Rusyns are Eastern Catholics, though a minority of Rusyns still practice Eastern Orthodoxy. Rusyns primarily self-identify as a distinct Slavic people and they are recognized as such in Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia, where they have official minority status. Alternatively, some identify more closely with their country of residence: as Polish, Slovak, or Ukrainian.

(source) — includes much additional information about the history of the Rusyns, their ethnonyms (such as Rus' and Rusyn, which were used widely by the East Slavs of Kievan Rus' during the medieval period), and their religious affiliations

Language

The Rusyn language (/ˈruːsɪn/; Carpathian Rusyn: русиньскый язык, romanized: rusîn'skyj jazyk; Pannonian Rusyn: руски язик, romanized: ruski jazik), also known by the older term, руснацькый язык, rusnac'kyj jazyk, 'Rusnak language', is an East Slavic language spoken by Rusyns in several parts of Central and Eastern Europe, and written in the Cyrillic script. The majority of speakers live in an area that spans from Transcarpathia, westward into eastern Slovakia and south-east Poland. There is also a sizeable linguistic island in the Vojvodina, Serbia and a Rusyn diaspora throughout the world. Per the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Rusyn is officially recognized as a protected minority language by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Poland (as Lemko), Serbia, and Slovakia.

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Considering all of these ethnic, linguistic, demographic, and other complexities of just this one cluster of Eastern Slavs, it is no wonder that people — including the Eastern Slavs themselves — can get  confused about who they are and what languages they are speaking.

 

Selected readings

• "Rusyn" (3/22/22)
• "'Little Russian'" (3/17/22) — with short bibliography on Ukrainian
• "From Rusyn / Ruthenian and Ukrainian, and on to Russian" (3/25/22)
• "New open-access volume on Rusyn studies" (1/1/22)

 

April 2, 2022 @ 7:35 am · Filed by Victor Mair under Classification, Etymology, Language and ethnicity, Language and history

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