Jassic dialect


Jassic is an extinct language or dialect of the Ossetian language once spoken in Hungary, named after the Jász people, a nomadic tribe that settled in Hungary in the 13th century.

History

The Jasz people came to Hungary together with the Cumans, chased by the Mongols. They were admitted by the Hungarian king Béla IV, hoping that they would assist in fighting against a Mongol-Tatar invasion. But shortly after their entry, the relationship worsened dramatically between the Hungarian nobility and the Cumanian-Jassic tribes and they left the country. After the end of the Mongol-Tatar occupation they returned and were settled in the central part of the Hungarian Plain.
Initially, their main occupation was animal husbandry. During the next two centuries they were assimilated into the Hungarian population and their language disappeared, but they preserved their Jassic identity and their regional autonomy until 1876. Over a dozen settlements in Central Hungary still bear their name. The historical, ethnographical and geographical region of Jászság, as well as of the modern Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County, are among the many place names linked to them. The name of the city of Iași in Romania may also derive from the name of the people.
The only literary record of the Jassic language was found in the 1950s in the Hungarian National Széchényi Library. It is a one-page glossary containing 34 words mainly related to products of agriculture probably compiled for fiscal or mercantile purposes. The glossary was interpreted with the help of Ossetian analogues from the Digor dialect.

Jassic Glossary

Reading

Based on Anton Fekete's transcription, Nagy Gyula Németh read the monument as follows:
1. da ban horz nahechsa Sose
2. panis carnis brodiu
3. khevef fit baza zana wium
4. Jayca она karcen pises
5. dan aqtia manaona furmetum
6. Zabar auena huwaz fenu
7. Karbach arpa huvar kovu les
8. casa cocta Orae boza tabak
9. scutela Chugan olla odok colftjar
10. Gist fomagium Charif
11. vay karak pulltis
12. Caz auca kuraynu molen???
13. lapis Bah ecus acha fuv
14. Gal Bos fvs oves
15. Ere foca khvnge ad f suporc
16. saca capar vas bidellu
17. docega vacca Guza doctillus
18. Bucha pacta

Jassic Words

Most Jassic words are comparable to the Digor dialect of Ossetian. Some examples are:
EnglishJassicOssetian
BreadK'everK'æbær
BullGalGal
ChickenKarkKark
DayBanBon
DuckAssaAss/Assæ
EggJaikaAjkæ
GooseQazQaž/Qaz
HorseBasxBæx
MilletHuvarXor/Xwar
OurΝaNæ
PlateTabacTæbæğ
SheepFusFyš/Fus
SpoonOdokWidyg/Jedug
WaterDanDon
WomanOsa Uš/Osæ

However the Jász-word glossary interpreted by Németh doesn’t actually include the words K'ever, Jaika, Tabac, Kark, Qaz, Basx, and Assa, as listed here above. It has rather Jaÿca, tabak, karak, Caz, Bah, and acha, and the glossary doesn’t include a word for woman at all.