Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Masovian dialect

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Pronunciation
  
[mazɔˈvʲɛt͡skʲɛ]

Glottolog
  
None

Native to
  
Poland

Masovian dialect

Region
  
Mazovian Voivodeship, Podlaskie Voivodeship

Language family
  
Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic West Slavic Lechitic Polish Masovian dialects

Writing system
  
Latin (Polish alphabet)

The Masovian dialect, also written Mazovian, is the dialect of Polish spoken in Mazovia and historically related regions, in northeastern Poland. It is the most distinct of the Polish dialects and the most expansive.

Masovian emerged in the process of mixing the Polish and the Mazovian language existing as a separate language well until 20th century, according to various scholars. Mazovian dialects may exhibit such features as mazurzenie, liaison (intervocallic voicing of obstruents on word boundaries), and asynchronous palatal pronunciation of labial consonants (so-called softening). The Kurpie region has some of the most distinctive phonetic features due to isolation. Characteristics include:

  • Depalatalization of velars before /ɛ/ and palatalization of velars before /ɛ̃ /; e.g. standard Polish rękę, nogę ('arm', 'leg', in the accusative case) is rendered [ˈreŋkʲe], [ˈnogʲe] respectively instead of [ˈrɛŋke], [ˈnɔge];
  • /li/ sequences realized [lɪ] instead of [lʲi];
  • merger of the retroflex series sz, ż, cz, dź into the alveolar s, z, c, dz;
  • /ɨ/ > /i/ before certain consonants;
  • the Old Polish dual number marker -wa continues to be attached to verbs;
  • the open-mid vowels /ɛ, ɔ/ are realized as close-mid [e, o];
  • Standard Polish /ɔ̃/ and /ɛ̃/ merged with /u/ and /a/ respectively, in most situations;
  • certain instances of a > e;
  • [mʲ] > [ɲ]

    • Masovian dialects also contain certain vocabulary that is distinct from the standard Polish language and shares common characteristics with the Kashubian language.

    Subdialects

    Mazovian dialects include but are not limited to subdialects of:

  • Białystok dialect (Polish: gwara białostocka)
  • Suwałki dialect (Polish: gwara suwalska)
  • Warmia dialect (Polish: gwara warmińska)
  • Kurpie dialect (Polish: gwara kurpiowska)
  • Masurian dialect (Polish: gwara mazurska)
  • Malbork-Lubawa dialect (Polish: gwara malborsko-lubawska)
  • Ostróda dialect (Polish: gwara ostródzka)
  • Near Mazovian dialect (Polish: gwara mazowsze bliższe)
  • Far Mazovian dialect (Polish: gwara mazowsze dalsze)
  • Warsaw dialect (Polish: gwara warszawska)

    • References

    Masovian dialect Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA