Hutsul dialect


Hutsul or Eastern Carpathian dialect is a variety of the Ukrainian language spoken by Hutsuls, a subethnic group living in Western Ukraine. It belongs to the Galician-Bukovinian group of Southwestern Ukrainian dialects.

Geographic area

In Ukraine Hutsul dialect is spoken in eastern parts of Zakarpattia oblast and southwestern parts of Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. Outside of Ukraine Hutsul dialect is spoken in northern parts of Suceava County in Romania.
In the west the area of Hutsul dialect borders Transcarpathian dialect, in the north - Boyko and Dniester dialects, in the east - Pokuttia-Bukovina dialect.

Main features

Phonetics

  • Varying development of certain phonemes in stressed and unstressed positions:
  • * in stressed position may take the form of : клäн , сäрце , берäза ;
  • * in unstressed position is realized as : гýслінка , вечéр’іти , кол’іднéк ;
  • is replaced by or, sometimes, in both stressed and unstressed positions: крéла , жéто , бек'é , вí'мн’е ;
  • prefix ви- is replaced with ві-: вíтратити, віповíсти;
  • widespread pronunciation of , , , in place of etymological : вин, вын, вун etc.;
  • change of into before stressed , , sometimes : гуд’íўл’а, кужýх, похувáти;
  • palatalization of in various positions: косáр’, вер’х; palatalization of sibilants and affricates: жоўч’, душ’é;
  • dispalatalization of , , in word-final and some other positions: хлóпец, на вýлицу, шчос, кр’із;
  • transition of into /, into /: к’éшко , ґ’іт ;
  • assimilation of consonant clusters with : перéнний, мéнник, мéник.
  • in some varieties: moving of the stress on the first syllable.

    Morphology

  • forms -им, -их in dative and locative case of plural nouns: кон’им, пол’им, на кон’их, на пол’их;
  • nouns ending with -а, -ja in instrumental case have endings -оў, -еў: рукóў, землéў;
  • active use of dual forms with numbers 2,3,4: дві йéблуці, три ґ’íўці;
  • creation of comparative adjectives with particle май ;
  • absence of epenthetical in verb forms of 1st person single and 3rd person plural in present and future tense: бáвйу, лóмйу, л’ýбйе;
  • loss of word-final in 3rd person single of 2nd declension verbs in present: вони́ хóдä, си́д’и;
  • shortened ending -т in 3rd person single of 1st declension verbs in present: вони́ знат, співáт;
  • conjunctive mood can be created with the use of particles бих, би: носи́ў бих, проси́елие бисмé;
  • future tense can take forms like му ходи́ти or ходи́ти му, меш роби́ти and роби́ти меш;
  • past tense - сме ходи́ли, ходи́ли сме;
  • creation of personal verb forms with the use of infinitive: йíхайу, йíхайе, йíхайуть, смійáиутси etc.

    In literature

Elements of Hutsul dialect are present in works of several Ukrainian writers including Hnat Khotkevych, Marko Cheremshyna and Vasyl Stefanyk.