Maramureş subdialect of Romanian
Encyclopedia
The Maramureş subdialect (subdialectul / graiul maramureşean) is one of the several varieties of the Romanian language
, specifically of the Daco-Romanian
dialect. Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Maramureş
, now split between Romania
and Ukraine
.
, along with the Crişana subdialect
. This places the Maramureş subdialect in the northern grouping of Romanian varieties, which also includes the Moldavian
and the Banat subdialects
, as opposed to the southern grouping which consists of the Wallachian subdialect
alone.
In the context of the transition-like and very fragmented speech varieties of Transylvania, the classification of the Maramureş subdialect as a separate variety is made difficult – like the Crişana subdialect, or even more so – by the small number of distinctive phonetic features. This difficulty made many researchers, in particular in earlier stages of the dialectal studies of Romanian, to not recognize an individual Maramureş subdialect; this view was held by Gustav Weigand
, Alexandru Philippide, Iorgu Iordan
, and Emanuel Vasiliu among others. Subsequent analyses admit the existence of this variety, albeit with some reluctance, leading some researchers (such as Emil Petrovici
and Sextil Puşcariu) to elaborate different classifications according to different criteria, depending on which the Maramureş variety is or is not individualized. Current classifications, owed to Romulus Todoran, Ion Coteanu and others, recognize a separate Maramureş subdialect.
historical region, including parts of both Romania
and Ukraine
. In Romania, the dialectal area covers the north-eastern part of the Maramureş County
, along the valleys of Tisza, Vişeu
, Mara
, and Cosău
; many people are concentrated in Sighetu Marmaţiei
, Vişeu
and Borşa
. In Ukraine, speakers are found in the eastern part of the Zakarpattia Oblast
(Northern Maramureş); their number is decreasing.
as well as with the other neighboring Transylvanian varieties
, and some with the Moldavian subdialect
.
} becomes [ptʲ]: [ˈptʲelʲe] for standard piele;
} becomes [bdʲ]: [ˈbdʲinʲe] for standard bine;
} becomes [mnʲ]: [mnʲik] for standard mic;
} becomes [s]: [sə ˈsije] for standard să fie;
} becomes [z]: [ˈzjerme] for standard vierme.
Standard Romanian: Se roagă lui Dumnezeu, își face cruce și zice: Doamne, ajută-mi. Și femeia ia un ou și-l sparge de car, ca să-i fie ușoară arătura, ca și oul.
English translation: "She prays to God, she crosses herself, and says: God, help me. And the woman takes an egg and breaks it on the cart, so that the plowing will be light [easy] like the egg."
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, specifically of the Daco-Romanian
Daco-Romanian
Daco-Romanian is the term used to identify the Romanian language in contexts where distinction needs to be made between the various Eastern Romance languages...
dialect. Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Maramureş
Maramures
Maramureș may refer to the following:*Maramureș, a geographical, historical, and ethno-cultural region in present-day Romania and Ukraine, that occupies the Maramureș Depression and Maramureș Mountains, a mountain range in North East Carpathians...
, now split between Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
Classification
The Maramureş subdialect belongs to the group of relatively fragmented Transylvanian varietiesTransylvanian varieties of Romanian
The Transylvanian varieties of Romanian are a grouping of speech varieties of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
, along with the Crişana subdialect
Crişana subdialect of Romanian
The Crișana subdialect is one of the several varieties of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
. This places the Maramureş subdialect in the northern grouping of Romanian varieties, which also includes the Moldavian
Moldavian subdialect of Romanian
The Moldavian subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language...
and the Banat subdialects
Banat subdialect of Romanian
The Banat subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
, as opposed to the southern grouping which consists of the Wallachian subdialect
Wallachian subdialect of Romanian
The Wallachian subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect. Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Wallachia, occupying the southern part of Romania, roughly between the Danube and the Southern...
alone.
In the context of the transition-like and very fragmented speech varieties of Transylvania, the classification of the Maramureş subdialect as a separate variety is made difficult – like the Crişana subdialect, or even more so – by the small number of distinctive phonetic features. This difficulty made many researchers, in particular in earlier stages of the dialectal studies of Romanian, to not recognize an individual Maramureş subdialect; this view was held by Gustav Weigand
Gustav Weigand
Gustav Weigand , was a German linguist and specialist in Balkan languages, especially Rumanian and Aromanian. He is known for his seminal contributions to the dialectology of the Romance languages of the Balkans and to the study of the relationships between the languages of the Balkan...
, Alexandru Philippide, Iorgu Iordan
Iorgu Iordan
Iorgu Iordan was a Romanian linguist, philologist, diplomat, journalist, and left-wing agrarian, later communist, politician. The author of works on a large variety of topics, most of them dealing with issues of the Romanian language and Romance languages in general, he was elected a full member...
, and Emanuel Vasiliu among others. Subsequent analyses admit the existence of this variety, albeit with some reluctance, leading some researchers (such as Emil Petrovici
Emil Petrovici
Emil Petrovici was a Romanian linguist, who studied both Romanian and the Slavic languages. His studies included Romanian phonetics, phonology, and Romanian and Slavic dialectology....
and Sextil Puşcariu) to elaborate different classifications according to different criteria, depending on which the Maramureş variety is or is not individualized. Current classifications, owed to Romulus Todoran, Ion Coteanu and others, recognize a separate Maramureş subdialect.
Geographic distribution
The Maramureş subdialect is spoken in the approximate area of the MaramureşMaramures
Maramureș may refer to the following:*Maramureș, a geographical, historical, and ethno-cultural region in present-day Romania and Ukraine, that occupies the Maramureș Depression and Maramureș Mountains, a mountain range in North East Carpathians...
historical region, including parts of both Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. In Romania, the dialectal area covers the north-eastern part of the Maramureş County
Maramures County
Maramureș is a county of Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare.- History :* The 10th century frontier county of Borsova was founded by Stephen I of Hungary. Since then Máramaros served as the north-eastern border of the Hungarian Kingdom until 1920, the Trianon Peace...
, along the valleys of Tisza, Vişeu
Viseu River
The Vişeu River in northern Romania is a tributary of Tisa River, passing through the following villages:Borşa, Moisei, Vişeu de Sus, Vişeu de Jos, Leordina, Petrova, Bistra, Valea Vişeului...
, Mara
Mara River (Iza)
The Mara River is a tributary of the Iza River in Romania. The upper reach of the river, upstream of the village of Mara is also known as Valea Brazilor River-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti...
, and Cosău
Cosau River
The Cosău River is a tributary of the Mara River in Romania. The upper reach of the river, upstream of Budeşti is also known as the Râul Mare River-References:* Administraţia Naţională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - Bucureşti...
; many people are concentrated in Sighetu Marmaţiei
Sighetu Marmatiei
Sighetu Marmației , formerly Sighet, is a city in Maramureş County near the Iza River, in north-western Romania. It administers five villages: Iapa, Lazu Baciului, Șugău, Valea Cufundoasă and Valea Hotarului.-Geography:...
, Vişeu
Viseu de Sus
Vişeu de Sus is a town in Maramureş County, northern Romania, located at the confluence of the Vişeu and the Vaser. It has an area of 443 km² and administers one village, Vişeu de Mijloc.-Population:Its population is under 17,000...
and Borşa
Borsa
Borșa is a town in eastern Maramureş County, northern Romania, in the valley of the Vişeu River and near the Prislop Pass. Linking Transylvania to Bukovina, Prislop Pass is surrounded by the Rodna and Maramureş Mountains, both ranges of the Carpathians...
. In Ukraine, speakers are found in the eastern part of the Zakarpattia Oblast
Zakarpattia Oblast
The Zakarpattia Oblast is an administrative oblast located in southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Uzhhorod...
(Northern Maramureş); their number is decreasing.
Subdivisions
Although spoken on a small area, the Maramureș subdialect can be further divided, by using particularities that are mostly lexical, into three branches:- a wide central part of the area, which is the most representative;
- the north-western part has influences from the variety spoken in the Oaș CountryOas CountryOaş Country is an etnographic region of Romania located in the North-East part of Satu Mare County, 50 km from the city of Satu Mare...
; - the south-eastern part.
Particularities
Many particularities are shared with the Crișana subdialectCrişana subdialect of Romanian
The Crișana subdialect is one of the several varieties of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
as well as with the other neighboring Transylvanian varieties
Transylvanian varieties of Romanian
The Transylvanian varieties of Romanian are a grouping of speech varieties of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
, and some with the Moldavian subdialect
Moldavian subdialect of Romanian
The Moldavian subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language...
.
Phonetic features
- Mid vowels [e, ə, o] close to [i, ɨ, u], respectively, or to intermediate positions. The most frequent is the change of [e] to [i̞]: [di̞, di̞ la] for standard de, de la.
- When [e] appears in two consecutive syllables, the first [e] opens to [ɛ]: [ˈfɛte] (standard fete [ˈfete]).
- The diphthong [o̯a] monophthongizes to [ɔ]: [uˈʃɔrə, ˈnɔptʲe] for standard ușoară [uˈʃo̯arə], noapte [ˈno̯apte].
- After the consonants [s, z, ʃ, ʒ, t͡s, d͡z, r] front vowels become central, whereas the diphthong [e̯a] monophthongizes to [a]: [ˈsɨnɡur, ˈsarə, ˈzamə, ʒɨr, t͡sɨn, d͡zɨ] for standard singur, seară, zeamă, jir, țin, zi.
- Consonants [t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ] are less palatal than in the standard language and have the effect of centralizing a following [e] to [ə]: [t͡ʃər, d͡ʒər] for standard cer, ger.
- After labials, [e] becomes [ə] and the diphthong [e̯a] is monophthongized to [a]: [mərɡ, ˈmarɡə, pə] for standard merg, meargă, pe.
- The stressed diphthong [e̯a] monophthongizes to [ɛ] in word-final positions: [aˈvɛ, vrɛ] for standard avea, vrea.
- The diphthong [ja] becomes [je] in certain words: [bəˈjet, muˈjet] for standard băiat, muiat.
- Devocalized [i, u] are found in word-final positions: [pəkuˈrarʲ, ˈt͡ʃərʲʷ] for standard păcurar, cer.
- The diphthong [ɨj] monophthongizes to [ɨ]: [ˈkɨnʲe, ˈmɨnʲe, ˈpɨnʲe] for standard cîine, mîine, pîine.
- Etymologic [ɨ] is preserved in words like îmblu, îmflu, întru (standard umblu, umflu, intru).
- Archaic [d͡z, d͡ʒ] are preserved in words like [d͡zɨk, d͡ʒos, d͡ʒok] (compare with standard [zik, ʒos, ʒok]).
- The consonants [l, n] are palatalized when followed by front vowels: [ˈlʲemnʲe, ˈvinʲe] for lemne, vine.
- The palatalization of labials before front vowels takes specific forms:
} becomes [ptʲ]: [ˈptʲelʲe] for standard piele;
} becomes [bdʲ]: [ˈbdʲinʲe] for standard bine;
} becomes [mnʲ]: [mnʲik] for standard mic;
} becomes [s]: [sə ˈsije] for standard să fie;
} becomes [z]: [ˈzjerme] for standard vierme.
Morphological and syntactical features
- The possessive article is invariable: a meu, a mea, a mei, a mele ("mine", compare with standard al meu, a mea, ai mei, ale mele).
- The proximal demonstrative pronouns are closer to their Latin etymons: aista, aiasta.
- Some verbsRomanian verbsThis article on Romanian verbs is related to the Romanian grammar and belongs to a series of articles on the Romanian language.Unlike English but similar to other Indo-European languages, verbs in Romanian are highly inflective. They conjugate according to mood, tense, voice, person and number....
of the 1st and 4th conjugation groups do not take the -ez and -esc suffixes: lucră, mă rușin, străluce ("he works", "I feel shy", "it shines", compare with standard lucrează, mă rușinez, strălucește). On the other hand, the suffix -esc does sometimes occur in verbs conjugated without it in the standard language: împărțăsc, omorăsc, simțăsc ("I divide", "I kill", "I feel", compare with standard împart, omor, simt). - Certain verb forms have [n] replaced with other sounds: [spuj, viw, viˈind] ("I say", "I come", "coming", compare with standard spun, vin, venind). This feature is shared with the Wallachian subdialectWallachian subdialect of RomanianThe Wallachian subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect. Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Wallachia, occupying the southern part of Romania, roughly between the Danube and the Southern...
. - The auxiliary used for the compound perfect of verbs in the 3rd person is o for the singular and or / o for the plural: [o d͡zɨs, or d͡zɨs] ("he said", "they said", compare with standard a zis, au zis).
- The following forms occur for the 3rd person of the subjunctive, both singular and plural: să deie, să steie, să beie, să vreie, ending in [ˈeje], where the standard language has să dea, să stea, să bea, să vrea, ending in [ˈe̯a].
- The pluperfect can also be built analytically: m-am fost dus, am fost venit ("I had gone", "I had come", compare with the standard syntactic forms mă dusesem, venisem).
- Verbs a aduce "to bring" and a veni "to come" have particular imperative forms: adă, vină (standard adu, vino).
- There is a general tendency toward shorting the words: o fo (standard a fost), Gheo (instead of Gheorghe, a male first name), etc.
Lexical particularities
- Specific words: a cușăi ("to taste", standard a gusta), cocon ("child", standard copil), pup ("flower bud", standard boboc), potică ("drugstore", standard farmacie), zierme ("snake", standard șarpe).
Sample
Maramureș subdialect: [sə ˈrɔɡə lu dumnʲeˈd͡zəw ɨʃ ˈfat͡ʃə ˈkrut͡ʃə ʃɨ ˈd͡zɨt͡ʃə ‖ ˈdɔmnʲe aˈd͡ʒutəm ‖ ʃɨ feˈmɛja jɛ ũ wow ʃɨl ˈspard͡ʒə dʲe kar ka səj sije uˈʃɔrə arəˈtura ka ʃɨ wowu]Standard Romanian: Se roagă lui Dumnezeu, își face cruce și zice: Doamne, ajută-mi. Și femeia ia un ou și-l sparge de car, ca să-i fie ușoară arătura, ca și oul.
English translation: "She prays to God, she crosses herself, and says: God, help me. And the woman takes an egg and breaks it on the cart, so that the plowing will be light [easy] like the egg."
Further reading
- Mioara Avram, Marius Sala, Enciclopedia limbii române, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 2001
See also
- Romanian subdialects
- Romanian phonologyRomanian phonologyThis article discusses the phonology of the Romanian language. For other details on this language the reader is referred to that article....