Відображення суспільного статусу руської (української) мови у правових документах ХVI ст

ENSocial status of the Rus (Ukrainian) language in the diachrony, namely in the 16th century, is the representation of the language-ethnical (national) consciousness of that time and the ability of the then Rus’ elite to legally maintain the main spiritual backbone of the nation, i.e. language, despite the loss of the own state. The subject of research is the evolution of the Rus language through the prism of significant legal documents of the 16th century and identifying main language problems in the context of: 1. The creation of socio-demographic basis of the language functioning through the prism of opposition domestic-foreign; 2. The legal directions of the social status of the Rus language; 3. Defining motivational components of the struggle for the status of the Rus language. The main sources of research are the Statutes of Lithuania of 1529, 1566 and 1588, and the petitions of the Rus nobility to the king of Rich Pospolyta (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). Keywords: diachrony, Rus (Ukrainian) language, social status of Rus language, Statutes of Lithuania.