Eastern Slovak dialects

Eastern Slovak or Slovjak dialects (Slovak: východoslovenské nárečia,

východniarčina), are dialects of the Slovak language spoken natively in the historical
Eastern Slovak
regions of Spiš, Šariš, Zemplín and Abov,[1] in the east of Slovakia. In contrast to východoslovenské nárečia,
other dialects of Slovak, Eastern dialects are less intelligible with Czech and more východniarčina
with Polish and Rusyn,[2] as well as using a higher number of Hungarian Native to Slovakia
loanwords.[3] The name Slovjak, now somewhat archaic, is derived from the Region Spiš, Šariš, Zemplín
common East Slovak ethnonym.[4] and Abov
Language Indo-European
Features of the dialects vary greatly from region to region, but features that are family
common throughout all dialects include the lack of long vowels, stress on the Balto-Slavic
penultimate syllable, as in Polish and Rusyn, as opposed to the first syllable stress Slavic
normal in standard Slovak,[1] and variation in noun declension endings.[5] Eastern
West Slavic
Slovak dialects also share many features of Western Slovak dialects that are absent
Czech-Slovak
from Central dialects and standard Slovak, supporting the idea that Central Slovakia
.[6]
was colonized more recently than the east and west of the country Slovak
Eastern
Attempts to create an East Slovak literary standard have been varied and Slovak
unsuccessful. Several Slovak newspapers founded in the United States in the late
19th century, including Slovák v Amerike ("Slovak in America") and Amerikánsko-
Language codes
Slovenské Noviny (The American-Slovak News), were initially written in Eastern ISO 639-3 –
Slovak dialects.[7][8][9] Linguist slk-esl
List
Glottolog None

Contents
History
Division
Linguistic features
Example text
Map showing the distribution of the
References Western, Central and Eastern
dialects of Slovak

History
The Slovak language, as codified by Ľudovít Štúr in the 1840s, was based largely on Central Slovak dialects spoken at the time.
Eastern dialects are considerably different from Central and Western dialects in their phonology, morphology and vocabulary, set
apart by a stronger connection to Polish and Rusyn.[4] At the beginning of the 20th century, there was an unsuccessful attempt to
standardise an East Slovak, or Slovjak language.[6]

Diaspora from the region has contributed to a scattered literary presence of Eastern Slovak dialects. The newspaper Slovák v Amerike
("The Slovak in America"), founded in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1889, as well as Amerikánsko-Slovenské noviny (American-
Slovak News), founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1886, were originally written in the Šariš dialect, using Hungarian
orthography, titled Szlovjak v Amerike and Amerikanszko-Szlovenszke Novini.[8] Today, Slovák v Amerike is still in business and
writes in standard Slovak.[10]
Eastern Slovak was the official language of the Slovak Soviet Republic in 1919. The capital of the new state was Prešov in Eastern
Slovakia.

Division
[1]
Eastern Slovak dialects can be divided into four subgroups:

Spiš dialects (spišské nárečia, spiština), to the east of the town ofPoprad, which border with theGoral dialects of
Polish.[1]
Šariš dialects (šarišské nárečia, šariština), spoken around the city ofPrešov, and sharing many features in common
with Polish.[1]
Abov dialects (abovské nárečia), including the Košice dialect (košické nárečia), spoken in south-eastern Slovakia
and sharing several phonological features with Hungarian. [5]

Zemplín dialects (zemplínské nárečia), spoken in the far north-east, which form the transition between Slovak and
Rusyn.[1]

Linguistic features
Linguistic features common to East Slovak dialects include:

Word stress falls on the penultimate syllable, not the first.

Vowel length is not distinguished - all vowels are short.
Consonants n, l, s and z always realised as softenedň, ľ, š and ž before i, and sometimes also beforee, often
assimilating diphthongs (menia > meňa, chvália > chvaľa, siví > šivi, vozia > voža). Until the 14th century, an even
wider array of soft (palatalised) consonants existed in Slovak, and this feature can still be heard in some Zemplín
dialects.[1]
Consonants ť and ď, including t and d when softened, realised asc and dz (deti > dzeci), meaning the infinitive
ending for verbs changes from-ť (robiť) to -c (robic). The consonants ť and ď can only be found in onomatopoeia
(ďub ďub = the cooing of a pigeon), and loanwords including personal names Juraj ( > Ďura) in Eastern dialects.[1]
Syllabic l and r are always complemented by a vowel in Eastern dialects. The tone and position of the vowel greatly
varies from region to region. The wordslza (tear) can be soldza, sliza, silza or selza.[5] The loss of syllabic
consonants is also shared by other dialects of northern Slovakia and southern Poland and even the Lach dialects of
Czech/Silesian.[1]
Especially in Abov dialects,ch is always realised as h (mucha > muha).[1]
Noun declension is different from in standard Slovak. The genitive and locative plurals are always o- ch, regardless of
gender, and the dative plural is always o- m. (bratov > bratoch, žien > ženoch, miest > mestoch, ženám > ženom). V
Košiciach ("in Košice") becomes v Košicoch, except in the Košice dialect, which treats the city's name as a singular
noun and uses v Košici.[5]
The letter ä is realised as e (deväť > dzevec). Accusative personal pronouns ending in -a also end in -e;ma, ťa and
sa become me, ce and še.[5]

Example text
Eastern Slovak (Šariš dialect)

Buľi raz dvojo kmotrove, co furt vjedno chodziľi na jurmaki. Raz tiž tak išľi z jurmaku a našľi gvera. Ta znace, že ešči ftedi ľudze tak
ňechirovali o gveroch, ňebulo teľo vojakoch. Išľi tak popod ľešik a naraz jeden zbačil gver a takoj ku ňemu ucekal… Ten druhi še tiž
mocno zradoval, ta vžaľi totu fujaru a hutorili sebe: "Kmotre, ja budzem do ňej duc a ti budzeš prebirac". Ta začaľi vera ľudze tote
dvomi hrac. Jeden kmoter pocahnul za kohucik, kuľka utrafila do druheho kmotra, co prebiral a ten še takoj prevracil umarti na
žem.[5]

Standard Slovak

Boli raz dvaja kmotrovia, ktorí stále spolu chodili na jarmoky. Raz tiež tak vyšli z jarmoku a našli pušku. To viete, že vtedy ešte ľudia
tak nechyrovali o puškách, nebolo toľko vojakov. Išli tak popod lesík a jeden zazrel pušku a hneď k nej utekal. Ten druhý sa tiež silno
zaradoval, tak vzali fujaru a hovorili si: „Kmotor, ja budem do nej fúkať a ty budeš preberať. Tak začali veru tí dvaja hrať. Jeden
kmotor potiahol za kohútik, guľka trafila druhého kmotra, ktorý pr
eberal, a ten sa prevrátil mŕtvy na zem.

References
1. Polívka E.; Vindiš, I. "Nárečový svojraz východného Slovenska"(http://ilonas.net/valal/pdf/Liska1948_Narecovy_svoj
raz_vS.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 23 November 2012.
2. Štolc, Jozef (1994). Slovenská dialektológia [Slovak dialectology]. Bratislava: Veda.: Ed. I. Ripka.
3. Blichová, Alena. "On the issue of Rusyn-Slovak linguistic contact (in Slovak)"(http://www.saske.sk/cas/archiv/4-200
7/03-blichova.html). Regional and national studies department, University of Prešov . Retrieved 23 November 2012.
4. Lunt, Horace. "Notes on the Rusyn language of Yugoslavia and its East Slovak origins"(http://www.rusyn.org/image
s/9.%20Rusin%20Language%20of%20Y ugoslavia.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 23 November 2012.
5. Buffa, František (1962). "Eastern Slovak dialects (in Slovak)"(http://ilonas.net/valal/pdf/Buffa1962_Vychodoslovensk
e_narecia.pdf) (PDF). Vlastivedný Časopis. IX. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
6. International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. 2003. p. 411.
7. Kamusella, Tomasz (2009). The politics of language and nationalism in modern Central Europe
. Palgrave McMillan.
p. 821. ISBN 0230550703.
8. Švagrovský, Štefan; Ondrejovič, Slavomír (2004)."East Slovak language separatism in the 19th and 20th centuries"
(http://www.juls.savba.sk/ediela/sr/2004/3/sr2004_3.odt). Slovenská Reč (3). Retrieved 23 November 2012.
9. Lifanov, Konstantin (2006). "Once More about the Language of Eastern Slovak Publications in the USA"
(http://www.j
uls.savba.sk/ediela/sr/2006/5/sr2006-5.pdf)(PDF). Slovenská Reč (5): 282. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
10. http://www.slovakvamerike.com/

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