Masurian dialects

Masurian
Mazurská Gádka
Native to	Poland
Region	Masuria
Native speakers	5,000–15,000
Language family	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic West Slavic Lechitic Masurian
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Extension of Old Prussia: Masuria in blue

The Masurian ethnolect (Masurian: Mazurská gádkä; Template:Lang-pl; German: Masurisch), according to some linguists, is a dialect group of the Polish language; others consider Masurian as a separate language, spoken by Masurians in a part of East Prussia that is now in Poland.

History

Since the 14th century, some settlers from Masovia started to settle in southern Prussia, which had been devastated by the crusades of the Teutonic Knights against the native Old Prussians. According to other sources, people from Masovia did not move to southern Prussia until the time of the Protestant Reformation, Prussia having become Lutheran in 1525. The Masurians were mostly of the Protestant faith, in contrast to the neighboring Roman Catholic people of the Duchy of Masovia, which was incorporated into the Polish kingdom in 1526. A new dialect developed in Prussia, isolated from the remaining Polish language area. The Masurian dialect group has many Low Saxon, German and Old Prussian words mixed in with Polish-language endings.

Beginning in the 1870s, Imperial German officials restricted the usage of languages other than German in Prussia's eastern provinces. While in 1880 Masurians were still treated as Poles by the German Empire, at the turn of century the German authorities undertook several measures to Germanise and separate them from the Polish nation by creating a separate identity. After World War I the East Prussian plebiscite was held on July 11, 1920 according to the Treaty of Versailles, in which the Masurians had to decide whether they wanted to be part of the Second Polish Republic or remain in German East Prussia; about 98% voted for Germany.

By the early 20th century, most Masurians were at least bilingual and could speak Low Saxon and German; in some areas about half of them still spoke Masurian, at least at home. In 1900, according to the German census there were 142,049 Masurians speaking Masurian. In 1925, only 40,869 people gave Masurian as their native language, many considering German their first language, considering Masurian merely as their domestic dialect, By the early 1920s there were also some Masurians who had their separate identity, claiming that Masurians are a nation. Most of them were members of Masurenbund. Their main goal was to grant Masurians some minority laws inside Germany, but there were also some separatists. In the early 1930s, support for the Nazi Party was high in Masuria, especially in elections in 1932 and 1933. Nazi political rallies were organized in the Masurian dialect during the campaigning.

After 1933 the usage of the Masurian dialect was prohibited by the National Socialist authorities. By 1938 most Masurian place and personal names had been changed to "pure" German substitutes. From 1939 on it was forbidden to hold church services in Masurian.

The replacement of Masurian in favor of German was not completed by the time the Soviet Red Army conquered Masurian East Prussia in January 1945, in World War II. The territory was transferred to Poland according to the postwar Potsdam Conference. During the wartime fighting and post-war deportations in the subsequent decades, most Masurian-speakers left Masuria for western Germany, especially to post-war West Germany, where they were quickly assimilated into the German mainstream.

Situation in 21st century

According to some scientists like Andrzej Sakson, there are about 5,000 – 10,000 ethnic Masurians left in Poland. According to the Polish census from 2011 there are only 1,376 of them who identify themselves as Masurians. Most Masurians live in Germany now, but due to the German law the ethnicity and nationality are not determined in their census.

There is a lack of surveys on the knowledge of the ethnolect both in Poland and Germany, but there are mostly elders who can communicate in Masurian with some fluency. The sole group who speak Masurian on a daily basis are so called Russian Masurians, who are the descendants of colonists who arrived to Siberia at the end of the 19th century. They have lived in isolation from the other groups, thus they were neither Germanised, nor Polonised. Their speech acquired many Russian loanwords, though.

The situation is starting to get better. Since 2015, the Sorkwity Masurian Culture Festival started to promote Masurian dialect, locals are starting to create folk music, some schools are organizing competitions of Masurian speech, and in the Internet people started to promote the ethnolect using social media. In 2016, the Masurian Union was founded to promote the Masurian ethnolect and culture. Meanwhile, some activists have also started a process of linguistical normalization to promote and save the ethnolect.

In 2016 online dictionary Glosbe.com introduced Masurian to their data.

Books in Masurian

The oldest book written in Masurian probably is "Ta Swenta Woyna", written by Jakub Szczepan in 1900.

Dialect or language

Several scientists consider Masurian to be a separate language in its own right others argue that Masurian is a dialect of Polish, or even just a subdialect.

Linguistic features

• Mazurzenie: the consonants corresponding to Standard Polish cz, sz, dż, ż are pronounced c, s, dz, z
• Asynchronous pronunciation of soft labials b', p', f', w' – bj/bź, pj/pś, fj/fś, wj/wź
• Sometimes, intensive palatalization of k, g, ch to ć, dź, ś (a similar process to the Kashubian palatalization)
• Labialization of the vowel o (sometimes also u) in Anlaut
• Vowel y approaching i
• Before ł vowels i and y pronounced like u, e.g. buł, zuł (był, żył)
• Denasalization of the nasal vowels ą and ę as o and e
• In some varieties ę becomes ã (nasal a), which is pronounced after denasalization an, analogical changes for groups eN, like. dzień – dzian

Dialects of Masurian

Masurian has three to five dialects:

• Ostróda dialect (Ostróda, Olsztynek) – Denasalization of the nasal vowels ą and ę as o and e – No Mazurzenie (the consonants corresponding to Standard Polish cz, sz, dż, ż are pronounced c, s, dz, z) – Common á – Labialization (ô, û – uo, uu) – Before ł vowels i and y pronounced like u, e.g. buł, zuł (był, żył).
• West-Masurian dialect (Działdowo, Nidzica, Szczytno) – Irregularly occurring á and labialization – Mni where Polish mi ( mniasto, kamnień) – As in Ostróda district appear and have dominant position psi, bzi, (w)zi, f(si) to pchi, bhI etc. - Denasalization of the nasal vowels ą and ę as o and e.
• Center-Masurian dialect (Giżycko, Mrągowo, Pisz, Biała Piska) – The most common intermediate á – The most common archaic ř (in Polish sound as rż) – Frequent labialization – Appear and have dominant position pchi, bhI to psi, bzi etc. - Dominate pronunciation ni instead of mni – niasto, kanień etc. - Soft k, g, ch when is before a for example kia, gia, chia – Polish ą i ę like ón, on, én, en.
• East-Masurian dialect (Łek, Ôleck) – Polish ś, ć, ź pronounced like sz, cz, ż (for example spacz, bÿcz) – Á almost does not exist – Frequently a is something between a and e (ä – mätkiä) – Synchronous pronunciation of soft labials b', p', f', w' change to bj, pj, fj, wj – Ch change to ś (kosianÿ, siätä) – Less frequent é and ó.
• North-Masurian dialect (Węgorzewo, Gołdap) – in the early 20th century almost disappeared, in the area Węgorzewa known for up to a few percent of the population (in the nineteenth century, more than half), in district of Gołdap 1% (in the nineteenth century, approx. 20%). - Very archaic sound for r – A relatively frequent á.

Grammatical cases

Cases

Singular		Plural
Nominative	ksiát	ksiátÿ
Genitive	ksiátu/ksiáta	ksiátów
Dative	ksiát|oju, ochiu, oziu	ksiátám
Accusative	ksiát, ksíáta	ksiátÿ
Instrumental	ksiátem	ksiát|ani, amni, ami
Locative	ksiácie	ksiátach
Vocative	ksiácie!	ksiátÿ!

The verb "to be"

	"To be" in past tense	"To be" in present tense		"To be" in future tense
Masurian general pronouns	Masurian	Masurian	Polish	Masurian
Já	já buł / ém buł / bułém	Em je	Ja jestem	bénde/béde
Tÿ	tÿsź buł / tÿsź buła / esź buł (+a)	Tÿś je	Ty jesteś	béndžes/bédžes
Ón/Óna/Óno	ón buł, óna buła, óno buło/bÿło	Ón/Óna jes	On/Ona jest	béndže/bédže
Mÿ	mÿ bÿli / mÿ bÿlim / mÿ bÿliźwa	Em só/Mÿ jest	My jesteśmy	béndžém/bédžém/bédžewa
Wÿ	wÿ bÿli / wÿ bÿlisźta / (e)sźta bÿli	Wyśta só/Wÿ jeśteśta	Wy jesteście	bédžeta/béndžeta
Óni/Óne	óne/óni bÿli	Óni/Óne só	Oni/One są	bédó/béndo

In singular it is possible to change u to ÿ for example: (Já) buł/bÿł, tÿsź buł/bÿł, (Ón) buł/bÿł.

It is possible to create future perfect tense putting verb to be in future + infinitive for example "(Já) Bénde koménderowač"

The conjugation in present tense

• AČ

The conjugation of regular verbs which usually ends with -ač ", with example "znač" (know).

Já	znám
Tÿ	znás
Ón/Óna	zná
Mÿ	znawa
Wÿ	znata
Óni/Óne	znajó

"Á" disappear when word has more than one syllable.

- Other examples:

dumač – think (dumam, dumas, dumá, dumawa, dumata, dumajó),

kupač – buy (kupam, kupas, kupá, kupawa, kupata, kupajó)

• EČ

The conjugation of regular verbs which usually ends with -eč ", with example "mÿšléč" (think).

Já	mÿšle
Tÿ	mÿšlis
Ón/Óna	mÿšli
Mÿ	mÿšlim/mÿšliwa
Wÿ	mÿšlita
Óni/Óne	mÿšló

• OWAČ

The conjugation of regular verbs which usually ends with -owač ", with example "koménderowač" (give orden to someone).

Já	koménderuje
Tÿ	koménderujes
Ón/Óna	koménderuje
Mÿ	koménderujém
Wÿ	koménderujeta
Óni/Óne	koménderujó

Conditional

Conditional in Masurian

Pronouns
Já	verb+bÿ/bÿm
Tÿ	verb+bÿsź
Ón/Óna	verb+bÿ
Mÿ	verb+bÿ/bÿm
Wÿ	verb+bÿsźta
Óni/Óne	verb+bÿ

Creating conditional, as in majority of slavic languages, one takes a verb and cuts the last part of verb which correspond for infinitive mode (for example verb terminations ač, eč) and then we should add the part that correspond for conditional mode. For example, "znač" (know) -> znabÿ.

"Bÿ" in Masurian has also one more function, can be used making questions at the begging of some sentence or also can mean "whether", "or" and "if". For example, "Lejduje ni niénso/niéso, bÿ sźwÿnina, bÿ réntozina". Translation to Polish: "Lubię mięso, czy to wieprzowinę, czy wołowinę"

Some grammatical differences

	Masurian	Polish
Formal forms	Wÿ/Pan/Pani robziče Matkia mogli	Pan/Pani robi Matka mogła
Past tense	Niáł	Miał
Present tense	Mám, Dám Má, Padá Zró	Mam, Dam Ma, Pada, Żrą
Present Pasive Participle	Zrobziónÿ	Zrobiony
Transgressive	Robzióncÿ	Robiąc
Reflexive Verb	Zrobzióno bÿło	Zrobiło się
Noun ("ja")	Francÿjá, stacÿjá	Francja, stacja
Noun ("ka")	Matkia, Dékia	Matka, Nakrycie
Accusative case (sing.)	Gádkie, Zÿcherkie	Gadkę, Agrafkę
Instrumental case (pl.)	Ludžani / Ludžoma Łapani / Łapóma	Ludźmi Łapami
Genitive (sing.)	Zÿčá, Pisaniá	Życia, Pisania
Genitive (pl.)	Ludžám Džečám	Ludziom Dzieciom
Dative (sing.)	Psoziu Kónikoziu	Psu Konikowi
Adjective (in genitive, pl.)	Dobréch Głupsiéch	Dobrych Głupich
Adjective (in instrumental, pl.)	Dobrém	Dobrym
Adjective (in genitive, feminine sing.)	Mazurski Dobrÿ	Mazurskiej Dobrej
Adjective (in genitive, masculine sing.)	Małégo Ziélgiégo	Małego Wielkiego
Adjective (superlative form)	Náziénksÿ	Największy
Adjective ("ni")	Zÿtnÿ Ôstatnÿ	Żytni Ostatni
z + s z + z	z sobó z zgniłéch	ze sobą ze zgniłych
w + w	w Francÿji	we Francji

Grammatical construction with verb of senses

Verb of senses + object + verb

Grammatical construction with verb of senses

In Masurian	Translation to Polish
Zidżiáł go stojicź	Widział, jak stał
Pozawcor já słÿsała jéch spsiéwacź kole kosźczioła	Przedwczoraj słyszałam ich, jak śpiewali koło kościoła
Já wténcas zidżiał go w tÿ jizbzie stojicź	Wówczas widziałem go, jak stał w tym pokoju

Writing system

Masurian alphabet	Examples
a, A	pask, Nikołajki
á, Á	wáju
ä, Ä	matkä
b, B	bór
c, C	cółno
cz, Cz	spacz
d, D	dóra
e, E	psies
é, É	mléko
f, F	fejfka
g, G	giesz, gesz
h, H	hut
i, I	migi
j, J	jo
k, K	klémpa
l, L	listkárż
ł, Ł	głupsi
m, M	moznoszcz
n, N	nelkä
ń, Ń	prżińdó
o, O	muchór
ó, Ó	dómb
ô, Ô	ôcziec
p, P	prask
r, R	rek
rż, Rż	wéngorż
s, S	saniec
sz, Sz	szwam
ś (si), Ś	psiwo, Gołdapś
t, T	tlo
u, U	muszi
û, Û	ûlica
w, W	wáju
ÿ, Ÿ	-	z, Z	zégáwkä
ż, Ż	kiżlák
ź, Ź	bzije, gołómbź
digraph
dż	} Masurian phonetics rż – Raised alveolar non-sonorant trill ó – Close-mid back rounded vowel á – Open back unrounded vowel é (after i) – Close-mid front unrouended vowel ä – Near-open front unrouended vowel w – Voiced bilabial fricative f – Voiceless bilabial fricative sz – Voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant ż – Voiced palato-alveolar sibilant cz – Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate dż – Voiced palato-alveolar affricate ÿ – Near-close near-front unrounded vowel Small dictionary Masurian ethnolect Masurian German Polish abštÿsikant Junggeselle walarek, zalotnik aštÿchnÿ hastig porywczy bach Kind dziecko best flieder bez bónowač herumschwirren bzykać bónÿ Bohnen fasola brédek Brötchen bułka buber Saubohne bób bulwÿ Kartoffeln ziemniaki bursa Geldbörse portmonetka cajtunek Zeitung gazeta cegój warum? dlaczego? čiskač werfen rzucić chrachór Taucher nurek cÿtrona Zitrone cytryna dek Dach dach drómel Trommel bęben drón Drohn truteń drózdÿ Stare szpaki durowač bestehen trwać dÿšlo Deichsel dyszel érdbera Walderdbeere poziomka fana Fahne flaga farÿna Zucker cukier feler Fehler błąd fifák schlitzohr nieszczery flanca Sämling sadzonka frÿštÿk Frühstück śniadanie gbur Bauer, Landwirt rolnik, gospodarz geš Gans gęś giérÿ Beine nogi gréfnÿ flink sprytny gřniota Gewitter burza z piorunami háka Hacke motyka háuptniasto Hauptstadt stolica hučik Hut kapelusz huncfot Weiberheld kobieciarz jébel Hobel strug jegoda Heidelbeere jagoda káfej Kaffee kawa káncÿnał Gesangbuch śpiewnik kościelny kasta Kasten skrzynia keksÿ Kekse ciasteczka klapštula Butterbrot kanapka kléta Gerücht plotka kléwer Klee koniczyna knéfel Knopf guzik klónkra Holzlöffel drewniana łyżka kokošiniec Hühnerstall kurnik košór Feuerhaken pogrzebacz kówera Umschlag koperta krakia Krähe wrona krÿstómbrÿ Stachelbeeren agrest kukáwkia Kuckuck kukułka kupač kaufen kupować kurpsie Latschen chodaki łapém offen otwarte Mazurÿ Masuren (Volk) Mazurzy méntel Schmetterling motyl muchor Fliegenpilz muchomor nicht niemand nikt niések Sack worek, torba ôbléta Kleidung odzież oddazinÿ Hochzeit ślub piláki Entenküken kaczuszki pitróla Petroleum nafta plik Glatze łysina plómpa Pumpe pompa plumÿ Pflaumen śliwki práwÿ Röhrling borowik prÿnc Prinz książę psiwo, bir Bier piwo pupa Puppe lalka redošč freude radość régal Wandregal półka rektór Lehrer nauczyciel scérnÿ echter prawdziwy scubeł Hecht szczupak stérač verlieren zgubić stimač fotografieren fotografować stréfle Strümpfe pończochy šurek Knabe chłopczyk šwam Badeschwamm gąbka táskia Tasse filiżanka téja Tee herbata tÿna Tonne beczka topek Töpfchen nocnik tropki Tropfen kropelki waba Wabe włoszczyzna wálnÿ gross duży wašlap Geschirrtuch ścierka wej lo! sieh mal! spójrz tylko! wéla Welle fala wérÿ Bett łóżko zaft Saft sok za šiła ziemlich viel zbyt wiele zaûsnik Ohrring kolczyk zdrednie Gefährlich niebiezpiecznie zégáwka, zégáwkia Brennesseln pokrzywa zietř Wind wiatr zrének Morgen poranek zÿcher ze jo selbstverständlich oczywiście Example – Lord's Prayer Masurian Polish Czech English Ôjce nas, chtórnÿš je w niebzie Niech še šwénči Twoje mniano, Niech přÿńdže Twoje królestwo ji béndže Twoja wola Jek w niebzie tozéz ji na žémni. Chléba naségo powsedniégo daj náma džišaj. Ji ôtpušč náma nase zinÿ, Jek ji mÿ ôtpuscawa nasém zinowajcám. Ji nie wódž náju na pokusenie Lo zbaw’ náju ôt złégo Amen Ojcze nasz, któryś jest w niebie, święć się imię Twoje, przyjdź królestwo Twoje, bądź wola Twoja jako w niebie tak i na ziemi. Chleba naszego powszedniego daj nam dzisiaj. I odpuść nam nasze winy, jako i my odpuszczamy naszym winowajcom. I nie wódź nas na pokuszenie, ale zbaw nas ode złego. Amen. Otče náš, jenž jsi na nebesích, posvěť se jméno Tvé Přijď království Tvé. Buď vůle Tvá, jako v nebi, tak i na zemi. Chléb náš vezdejší dej nám dnes A odpusť nám naše viny, jako i my odpouštíme naším viníkům a neuveď nás v pokušení, ale zbav nás od zlého. Amen. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our dailybread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Toponymy List of city names Masurian Polish Bziáłá Biała Dżiałdowo, Dżiałdów Działdowo Gołdapś Gołdap Jánsbork, An(d)zbork Pisz Léc Giżycko Łek Ełk Nibork Nidzica Nikołajki Mikołajki Ôléck Olecko Ôlstinek Olsztynek Ôrżés Orzysz Ôstród Ostróda Pasÿń/Pasÿmek Pasym Rastémbork Kętrzyn Rin Ryn Scÿtno Szczytno Wéngobork Węgorzewo Zielbark Wielbark Zóndzbork Mrągowo Names of months Month – Nieszióndz German-Latin system Slavic system Januar, Anuar Sticéń Fébruar Luti Marc Maržec Aprél, April Ksiecziéń Mej Maj Juni Cérziec Juli Lipsiec, Lÿpsiec Áugust Sziérżpsiéń Zeptémber Wrżesziéń Ôktóber Paźdžiérnik Nowémber Listopat, Listopad Décémber Grudnik Song Short Masurian song. In Masurian In Polish Mazurskie Korżénie Skiela mi Mazuri ajw szie naráz wżiéni? Mi só tu wirosłe ôde tržéch koržéni Starégo Prusáka pokój erbowalim Jek ôt Rejchu Niémce robote swó wchalim Ôt Poláków bzierżém, co mi só naperte Take só Mazuri – nigdi nie ûmérte! Mazurskie Korzenie Skąd my Mazurzy się tu nagle wzięliśmy? Wyrośliśmy z trzech korzeni Odziedziczyliśmy spokój Starego Prusa Niczym Niemcy z Rajchu chwalimy sobie pracę Od Polaków bierzemy upór Tacy są Mazurzy – nigdy nie wymarli! Example of poem Réjza siodám ná koło kiej féin pogodá dumám tédÿ nád zÿciem Mazurá ajw násu ziamiá ôddÿcha w dáli ány rÿchtÿk pozwalá mniá do dumániá nád mójá réjzá přéd siébie chućko jidé ná drogách zÿciá chtóré ûmÿká chtórégo nie zabácé po śmiérci, chtóra z latámi přéniká … wsÿtko je féin ajw ji téraz jék budzié po tym co přÿjdzié nié ziém…? jédno jé péwné zé ajw jé féin ná mójéj réjzié .. See also Dialects of the Polish language Languages of Europe Polish language Silesian language References