Rusyn also known in English as
Ruthenian, is an
East SlavicThe East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. It is the group with the largest numbers of speakers, far out-numbering the Western and Southern Slavic groups. Current East Slavic languages are Belarusian, Russian,...
language variety spoken by the
RusynsCarpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...
of Central Europe. Some linguists treat it as a distinct language and it has its own ISO 639-3 code; others treat it as a dialect of
UkrainianUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
. Each categorisation has controversial political implications.
Geographical distribution
Rusyn (and more specifically Carpatho-Rusyn) is the vernacular spoken in the
Transcarpathian RegionThe Zakarpattia Oblast is an administrative oblast located in southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Uzhhorod...
of
UkraineUkraine 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 northeastern
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, southeastern
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(where it is often described as
łemkowski 'Lemko', from their characteristic word лем /
lem 'only', or Lyshak) and
HungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(where the people and language are called
Ruten).
Ukrainian scholars and politicians do not recognise
RusynsCarpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...
as a separate ethnicity, despite the fact that some Rusyn speakers prefer to consider themselves as ethnically distinct from Ukrainians. Ukrainian linguists consider Rusyn a dialect of Ukrainian, related to the Hutsul dialect in the neighbouring Carpathian region of Ukraine.
Attempts to standardise the various variants of Rusyn have been unsuccessful. Rusyns live in four countries, and efforts are hampered because Rusyns living outside the traditional home region often do not speak the language fluently. Different
orthographiesThe orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
have been developed (in most cases using variants of the
Cyrillic alphabetThe Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
) and a number of different grammatical standards exist, based on regional dialects.
The major cultural centres of Carpatho-Rusyns are located in
PrešovPrešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...
in Slovakia,
UzhhorodUzhhorod or Uzhgorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast...
and
MukacheveMukachevo or Mukacheve is a city located in the valley of the Latorica river in the Zakarpattia Oblast , in southwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Mukachivskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
in Ukraine, Krynica and
LegnicaLegnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
in Poland,
Ruski KrsturRuski Krstur is a village in Serbia, in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. It is located in the municipality of Kula, West Bačka District. The village has a Rusyn ethnic majority. Its population numbered 5,213 in the 2002 census...
in
VojvodinaVojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
and
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
in Hungary. There are many Rusyns living in
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the
USAThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and
South AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
.
It is not possible to make an accurate estimate of the number of fluent speakers of Rusyn, however their number is estimated at almost a million, primarily living in Ukraine and Slovakia.
Yugoslavia has recognized Rusyn, more precisely
Pannonian RusynPannonian Rusyn or simply Rusyn is a Slavic language or dialect spoken by Pannonian Rusyns in north-western Serbia and eastern Croatia...
in
VojvodinaVojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
, as an official minority language. Since 1995, Rusyn has been recognized as a
minority languageA minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities.-International politics:...
in
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, enjoying the status of
official languageAn official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
in municipalities where more than 20 percent of the inhabitants speak Rusyn.
Rusyn is listed as a protected language by
European Charter for Regional or Minority LanguagesThe European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a European treaty adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe...
in
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
,
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
,
CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and
RomaniaRomania 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...
.
Grammars and codification
Early grammars include Dmytrij Vyslockij's (Дмитрий Вислоцкий)
Карпаторусский букварь (Karpatorusskij bukvar') Vanja Hunjanky (1931) and
Metodyj TrochanovskijMetodyj Trochanovskij , Lemko activist, was born in Binczarowa, Poland, when it was part of the province of Galicia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on May 5, 1885. At the onset of World War I, he was accused of treason against Austria-Hungary, arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to death in 1916...
's
Буквар. Перша книжечка для народных школ. (Bukvar. Perša knyžečka dlja narodnŷch škol.) (1935).
The Rusyn language is one of the newest Slavic literary languages, and was codified in Slovakia in 1995.
Newspapers
- Karpatska Rus'
Karpatska Rus is a Rusyn language newspaper published in the United States for the Rusyn-speaking Lemko immigrant community. It is the successor to Lemko, which began publication in 1927....
- Русинська бесіда
- Нанродны новинкы
- Podkarpatská Rus - Подкарпатська Русь
- Amerikansky Russky Viestnik
Amerikansky Russky Viestnik was the longest-running Rusyn-American newspaper in the United States.The paper was the official publication of the Greek Catholic Union of Rusyn Brotherhoods, a fraternal benefit society based in Pennsylvania...
†
- Lemko
Lemko was a weekly ethnic newspaper, published in the United States in Philadelphia by Lemkos for the immigrant population. It was succeeded by Karpatska Rus'....
†
Dialects
The
Carpatho Rusyn language can be divided as follows:
| Name |
Language area |
Annotation |
| Hutsul |
In the mountainous part of Suceava CountySuceava is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Moldavia and few villages in Transylvania, with the capital city at Suceava.- Demographics :...
and Maramures CountyMaramureș 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...
in RomaniaRomania 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 the extreme southern parts of the Ivano-Frankivsk OblastIvano-Frankivsk Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. As is the case with most other oblasts of Ukraine this region has the same name as its administrative center – which was renamed by the Soviets after the Ukrainian writer, nationalist...
(provinceUkraine is subdivided into 24 oblasts , one autonomous republic, and two "cities with special status".- Overview :...
) of UkraineUkraine 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...
(as well as in parts of the ChernivtsiChernivtsi Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine, bordering on Romania and Moldova. It has a large variety of landforms: the Carpathian Mountains and picturesque hills at the foot of the mountains gradually change to a broad partly forested plain situated between the Dniester and Prut rivers....
and Transcarpathian Oblasts), and on the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains. |
|
| Boyko |
Northern side of the Carpathian Mountains in the LvivLviv Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Lviv.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 4, 1939...
and Ivano-FrankivskIvano-Frankivsk Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. As is the case with most other oblasts of Ukraine this region has the same name as its administrative center – which was renamed by the Soviets after the Ukrainian writer, nationalist...
Oblasts of UkraineUkraine 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...
. It can also be heard across the border in the Subcarpathian Voivodship (provinceThe administrative division of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The territory of Poland is divided into voivodeships ; these are further divided into powiats , and these in turn are divided into gminas . Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat...
) of Poland |
| Lemko |
Outside Ukraine in the Prešov Region The Prešov Region is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of 13 districts.-Geography:It is located in north-eastern Slovakia and has an area of 8,975 km². The region has diverse types of landscapes occurring in Slovakia, but mostly highlands and hilly lands dominate the...
of SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
along the southern side of the Carpathian Mountains. It was formerly spoken on the northern side of the same mountains, in what is now southeastern Poland, prior to Operation Vistula - now used in several diaspora communities scattered in northern Poland |
Being revived; in Poland it has the status of an ethnic minority language. A newspaper, Karpatska Rus' Karpatska Rus is a Rusyn language newspaper published in the United States for the Rusyn-speaking Lemko immigrant community. It is the successor to Lemko, which began publication in 1927....
has been published in this dialect since 1939. |
| Dolinian Rusyn |
Transcarpathian Oblast of UkraineUkraine 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...
. |
|
| Subcarpathian Rusyn |
| Pryashiv Rusyn |
The Prešov Region The Prešov Region is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of 13 districts.-Geography:It is located in north-eastern Slovakia and has an area of 8,975 km². The region has diverse types of landscapes occurring in Slovakia, but mostly highlands and hilly lands dominate the...
(in Rusyn: "Пряшів" Pryashiv) of SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, as well as by some émigré communities, primarily in the United States of America. |
| Pannonian Rusyn |
Northwestern SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and eastern CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
|
One of the official languages of the Serbian Autonomous Province of VojvodinaVojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
. |
| Bačka Bačka is a geographical area within the Pannonian plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east of which confluence is located near Titel...
|
Boiko, Hutsul, Lemko and Dolinian are identified (and for the same speakers) as Ukrainian dialects since most of their speakers identify themselves as Ukrainians.
Alphabet
Letters and symbols of the Carpatho-Rusyn alphabet
| Capital |
Small |
Name |
Translit. |
PronunciationThe International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
|
Notes |
| А |
а |
a |
a |
/a/ |
|
| Б |
б |
бы |
b |
/b/ |
| В |
в |
вы |
v |
/v/ |
| Г |
г |
гы |
h |
/ɦ/ |
| Ґ |
ґ |
ґы |
g |
/ɡ/ |
| Д |
д |
ды |
d |
/d/ |
| Е |
е |
e |
e |
/e/ |
| Є |
є |
є |
je |
/je/ |
| Ё |
ё |
ё |
jo |
/jo/ |
not present in Pannonian Rusyn |
| Ж |
ж |
жы |
ž |
/ʒ/ |
|
| З |
з |
зы |
z |
/z/ |
| И |
и |
и |
y |
/ɪ/ |
| І |
і |
i |
i |
/i/ |
not present in Pannonian Rusyn |
| Ы |
ы |
ы |
y |
/ɨ/ |
| Ї |
ї |
ї |
ji |
/ji/ |
|
| Й |
й |
йы |
j |
/j/ |
| К |
к |
кы |
k |
/k/ |
| Л |
л |
лы |
l |
/l/ |
| М |
м |
мы |
m |
/m/ |
| Н |
н |
ны |
n |
/n/ |
| О |
о |
o |
o |
/o/ |
| П |
п |
пы |
p |
/p/ |
| Р |
р |
ры |
r |
/r/ |
| С |
с |
сы |
s |
/s/ |
| Т |
т |
ты |
t |
/t/ |
| У |
у |
у |
u |
/u/ |
| Ф |
ф |
фы |
f |
/f/ |
| Х |
х |
хы |
x, ch |
/x/ |
| Ц |
ц |
цы |
c |
/ts/ |
| Ч |
ч |
чы |
č |
/t͡ʃ/ |
| Ш |
ш |
шы |
š |
/ʃ/ |
| Щ |
щ |
щы |
šč |
/ʃt͡ʃ/ |
| Ѣ |
ѣ |
їть |
|
/ji/, /i/ |
Used before World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
|
| Ю |
ю |
ю |
ju |
/ju/ |
|
| Я |
я |
я |
ja |
/ja/ |
| Ь |
ь |
мнягкый знак (ірь) |
′ |
/ʲ/ |
marks preceding consonant's palatalization |
| Ъ |
ъ |
твердый знак (ір) |
′ |
|
not present in Pannonian Rusyn |
See also
- Besida
Besida is a journal edited by Petro Trochanowski in Krynica, Poland. It is known as a source of information about the Lemkos people....
- Alexander Duchnovič's Theatre
- Old Ruthenian
Ruthenian, or Old Ruthenian , is a term used for the varieties of Eastern Slavonic spoken in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the East Slavic territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth....
- Pannonian Rusyns
Rusyns in Pannonia, or simply Rusyns or Ruthenians , are a Slavic minority in Serbia and Croatia...
- Rusyns
Carpatho-Rusyns are a primarily diasporic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language, or Ukrainian dialect, known as Rusyn. Carpatho-Rusyns descend from a minority of Ruthenians who did not adopt the use of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in the early twentieth century...
- Metodyj Trochanovskij
Metodyj Trochanovskij , Lemko activist, was born in Binczarowa, Poland, when it was part of the province of Galicia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on May 5, 1885. At the onset of World War I, he was accused of treason against Austria-Hungary, arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to death in 1916...
, Lemko Grammarian
- Petro Trochanowski
Petro Trochanowski or Piotr Trochanowski was born in Silesia in the southwestern part of Poland to Lemko parents from Binczarowa. He is the editor of Besida, published in Krynica since 1989. He is a spokesperson for the Lemko ethnic group in Poland and internationally...
, contemporary Rusyn poet.
Further reading
- A new Slavic language is born. The Rusyn literary language in Slovakia. Ed. Paul Robert Magocsi
Paul Robert Magocsi is an American professor of history, political science, and Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He has been with the University since 1980, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1996...
. New York 1996.
- Magocsi, Paul Robert. Let's speak Rusyn. . Englewood 1976.
- Aleksandr Dmitrievich Dulichenko. Jugoslavo-Ruthenica. Роботи з рускей филолоґиї. Нови Сад 1995.
- Taras Kuzio, "The Rusyn question in Ukraine: sorting out fact from fiction", Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism, XXXII (2005)
- Elaine Rusinko, "Rusinski/Ruski pisni" selected by Nataliia Dudash; "Muza spid Karpat (Zbornik poezii Rusiniv na Sloven'sku)" assembled by Anna Plishkova. Books review. "The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 42, No. 2. (Summer, 1998), pp. 348-350. JSTOR archive
- Плішкова, Анна [Anna Plishkova] (ed.): Муза спід Карпат (Зборник поезії Русинів на Словеньску). [Muza spid Karpat (Zbornik poezii Rusiniv na Sloven'sku)] Пряшів: Русиньска оброда, 1996. on-line
- Marta Harasowska. "Morphophonemic Variability, Productivity, and Change: The Case of Rusyn", Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 1999, ISBN 3110157616.
- Book review by Edward J. Vajda, Language, Vol. 76, No. 3. (Sep., 2000), pp. 728–729
- I. I. Pop, Paul Robert Magocsi
Paul Robert Magocsi is an American professor of history, political science, and Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He has been with the University since 1980, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1996...
, Encyclopedia of Rusyn History and Culture, University of Toronto Press, 2002, ISBN 0802035663
- Plišková, Anna: Rusínsky jazyk na Slovensku: náčrt vývoja a súčasné problémy. Prešov : Metodicko-pedagogické centrum, 2007, 116 s. Slovak Rusyn
External links