Crişana subdialect of Romanian
Encyclopedia
The Crișana subdialect is one of the several varieties of the Romanian language
, specifically of the Daco-Romanian
dialect. Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Crișana
, in western Transylvania
.
, along with the Maramureș subdialect
. As such, the Crișana subdialect is a member of the northern grouping of Romanian varieties, which also includes the Moldavian
and the Banat subdialects
, and shares with them a large number of characteristics, as opposed to the Wallachian subdialect
.
As with all other subdialects of Romanian, the one of Crișana is distinguished primarily by its phonetic features and to a lesser degree by its morphological, syntactic, and lexical features. However, in the context of the more fragmented Transylvanian speech varieties, these characteristics are less distinct than those of other dialectal areas. As a consequence, in some classifications the Crișana subdialect is not individualized, such as those of Gustav Weigand
, Alexandru Philippide, Iorgu Iordan
and Emanuel Vasiliu. Other analyses, however, include the Crișana subdialect in their classifications of four or five subdialects (the fifth would be the even less distinct Maramureș subdialect
); this view is supported particularly by more recent studies, such as those of Romulus Todoran, Emil Petrovici
, and Ion Coteanu. This divergence is a matter of definition.
, although the dialectal area and the historical region only partially overlap. More precisely, the subdialect is spoken in the following Romanian counties
: Bihor
, Sălaj
, Satu Mare
, Alba
(north-western part), Cluj
(western half), Arad
(northern half, delimited by the Mureș river
), Hunedoara
(northern part), Maramureș
(south-western part).
, Țara Moților
, the area of the Someș River
, and Țara Oașului
.
Standard Romanian: Atunci iar a ieșit și s-a uitat. Am ridicat mîna. Și domnul a zis: Așa cîine încă n-am văzut. Și-atunci cîinele a venit cu oile și s-a uitat la mine [așteptînd să vadă] ce-i mai spun. Că el a știut că-i mai spun ceva.
English translation: "The it went out again and watched. I raised my hand. And the gentleman said: I've never seen a dog like this. And then the dog brought the sheep back and looked at me [waiting to see] what else I was going to say. Because it knew I was going to say something again."
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, specifically of the Daco-Romanian
Daco-Romanian
Daco-Romanian is the term used to identify the Romanian language in contexts where distinction needs to be made between the various Eastern Romance languages...
dialect. Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Crișana
Crisana
Crișana is a geographical and historical region divided today between Romania and Hungary, named after the Criș River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru and Crișul Repede....
, in western Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
.
Classification
The Crișana subdialect is part of the group of relatively fragmented Transylvanian varietiesTransylvanian varieties of Romanian
The Transylvanian varieties of Romanian are a grouping of speech varieties of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
, along with the Maramureș subdialect
Maramureş subdialect of Romanian
The Maramureş subdialect is one of the several varieties of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
. As such, the Crișana subdialect is a member of the northern grouping of Romanian varieties, which also includes the Moldavian
Moldavian subdialect of Romanian
The Moldavian subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language...
and the Banat subdialects
Banat subdialect of Romanian
The Banat subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
, and shares with them a large number of characteristics, as opposed to the Wallachian subdialect
Wallachian subdialect of Romanian
The Wallachian subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect. Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Wallachia, occupying the southern part of Romania, roughly between the Danube and the Southern...
.
As with all other subdialects of Romanian, the one of Crișana is distinguished primarily by its phonetic features and to a lesser degree by its morphological, syntactic, and lexical features. However, in the context of the more fragmented Transylvanian speech varieties, these characteristics are less distinct than those of other dialectal areas. As a consequence, in some classifications the Crișana subdialect is not individualized, such as those of Gustav Weigand
Gustav Weigand
Gustav Weigand , was a German linguist and specialist in Balkan languages, especially Rumanian and Aromanian. He is known for his seminal contributions to the dialectology of the Romance languages of the Balkans and to the study of the relationships between the languages of the Balkan...
, Alexandru Philippide, Iorgu Iordan
Iorgu Iordan
Iorgu Iordan was a Romanian linguist, philologist, diplomat, journalist, and left-wing agrarian, later communist, politician. The author of works on a large variety of topics, most of them dealing with issues of the Romanian language and Romance languages in general, he was elected a full member...
and Emanuel Vasiliu. Other analyses, however, include the Crișana subdialect in their classifications of four or five subdialects (the fifth would be the even less distinct Maramureș subdialect
Maramureş subdialect of Romanian
The Maramureş subdialect is one of the several varieties of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect...
); this view is supported particularly by more recent studies, such as those of Romulus Todoran, Emil Petrovici
Emil Petrovici
Emil Petrovici was a Romanian linguist, who studied both Romanian and the Slavic languages. His studies included Romanian phonetics, phonology, and Romanian and Slavic dialectology....
, and Ion Coteanu. This divergence is a matter of definition.
Geographic distribution
The Crișana subdialect has its name from the historical region of CrișanaCrisana
Crișana is a geographical and historical region divided today between Romania and Hungary, named after the Criș River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru and Crișul Repede....
, although the dialectal area and the historical region only partially overlap. More precisely, the subdialect is spoken in the following Romanian counties
Counties of Romania
The 41 judeţe and the municipality of Bucharest comprise the official administrative divisions of Romania. They also represent the European Union' s NUTS-3 geocode statistical subdivision scheme of Romania.-Overview:...
: Bihor
Bihor County
Bihor is a county of Romania, in Crişana, with capital city at Oradea. Together with Hajdú-Bihar County in Hungary it constitutes the Biharia Euroregion.-Demographics:...
, Sălaj
Salaj County
Sălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crișana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of ....
, Satu Mare
Satu Mare County
Satu Mare County is a county of Romania. The capital city is Satu Mare. Besides Romanians , Satu Mare features a significant ethnic minority of Hungarians .-Demographics:...
, Alba
Alba County
Alba is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, its capital city being Alba-Iulia with a population of 66,406.- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 382,747 and the population density was 61/km².* Romanians - 90.4%* Hungarians - 5.4%...
(north-western part), Cluj
Cluj County
Cluj ; is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Cluj-Napoca.-Demographics:In 2007, it had a population of 692,316 and a population density of 104/km².*Romanians – 80%*Hungarians – 17.5%*Roma – 2.5%-Geography:...
(western half), Arad
Arad County
Arad is an administrative division of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crişana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center of the county lies in the city of Arad...
(northern half, delimited by the Mureș river
Mures River
The Mureș is an approximately 761 km long river in Eastern Europe. It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, and joins the Tisza river at Szeged in southeastern Hungary....
), Hunedoara
Hunedoara County
Hunedoara is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 485,712 and the population density was 69/km².*Romanians - 92%*Hungarians - 5%*Romas - 2%*Germans under 1%....
(northern part), Maramureș
Maramures County
Maramureș 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...
(south-western part).
Subdivisions
Several varieties can be further distinguished within the Crișana subdialect, specifically those of BihorBihor County
Bihor is a county of Romania, in Crişana, with capital city at Oradea. Together with Hajdú-Bihar County in Hungary it constitutes the Biharia Euroregion.-Demographics:...
, Țara Moților
Tara Motilor
Țara Moților , also known as Țara de Piatră is an ethnogeographical region of Romania in the Apuseni Mountains, on the superior basin of the Arieș and Crişul Alb River rivers...
, the area of the Someș River
Somes River
The river Someş flows through Romania and Hungary.It rises from two headstreams, the Someşul Mare, in the Rodna Mountains in Bistriţa-Năsăud County and the Someşul Mic in the Apuseni Mountains of Cluj County...
, and Țara Oașului
Oas Country
Oaş Country is an etnographic region of Romania located in the North-East part of Satu Mare County, 50 km from the city of Satu Mare...
.
Phonetic features
- Unstressed vowels [a, e, o] often close to [ə, i,u], respectively: [pəˈhar, ˈpuni, akupeˈrit] for standard pahar, pune, acoperit.
- Conversely, vowel [ə] sometimes opens to [a]: [paˈduri, kapaˈtat] for standard pădure, căpătat.
- The diphthong [o̯a] is systematically monophthongized to [ɔ]: [ˈpɔtʲe, ˈkɔʒə] for standard poate, coajă.
- After labials, [e] becomes [ə] and the diphthong [e̯a] is monophthongized to [a]: [mərɡ, ˈmarɡə] for standard merg, meargă.
- After the consonants [s, z, t͡s, d͡z], front vowels become central, and the diphthong [e̯a] monophthongizes to [a]: [ˈsɨnɡur, ˈsarə, ˈzamə, t͡sɨn] for standard singur, seară, zeamă, țin. In certain areas, the same occurs with the consonants [ʃ, ʒ], whereas in other areas these become palatal and lead to following central vowels to become frontal: [ˈkwɔʒʲe, ˈuʃʲe] for standard coajă, ușă.
- The vowel [o] in word-initial positions diphthongizes to [wə]: [wəj, wərb] for standard oi, orb.
- Asyllabic word-final vowels [ʲ, ʷ] occur: [a spusʷ] for standard a spus.
- The diphthong [ɨj] monophthongizes to [ɨ]: [ˈkɨne, ˈmɨne, ˈpɨne] for standard cîine, mîine, pîine.
- The diphthong [ja] becomes [je] in certain words: [bəˈjet, təmɨˈjet] for standard băiat, tămîiat.
- The archaic consonant [d͡z] becomes [z] in most of the dialectal area, whereas [d͡ʒ] is preserved, although in free variationFree variationFree variation in linguistics is the phenomenon of two sounds or forms appearing in the same environment without a change in meaning and without being considered incorrect by native speakers...
with [ʒ]. - The labials and the labio-dentals are palatalized in specific ways when followed by front vowels: [p, b, m] become [ptʲ, bdʲ, mnʲ], respectively; [f] becomes [hʲ] or [ʃʲ], and [v] becomes [ɦʲ] or [dʲ]. Examples: [ˈptʲele, ˈbdʲinʲe, mnʲik, ˈhʲi.e / ˈʃʲi.e, ɦʲiˈt͡səl / dʲiˈt͡səl] for standard piele, bine, (să) fie, vițel. However, the palatalization is not generalized (it is more widespread in the northern part of the dialectal area) and fluctuations occur.
- Dentals [t, d] palatalize when followed by front vowels: [ˈfratʲe, ˈbadʲe] for standard frate, bade.
- The affricate [t͡ʃ] remains unchanged, while [d͡ʒ] becomes [ʒ]: [ˈsɨnʒe, ˈfuʒe] for standard sînge, fuge.
- The sequence [sl] receives an epentheticEpenthesisIn phonology, epenthesis is the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially to the interior of a word. Epenthesis may be divided into two types: excrescence, for the addition of a consonant, and anaptyxis for the addition of a vowel....
[k] and becomes [skl]: [sklab, skləˈninə] for standard slab, slănină. - In Țara MoțilorTara MotilorȚara Moților , also known as Țara de Piatră is an ethnogeographical region of Romania in the Apuseni Mountains, on the superior basin of the Arieș and Crişul Alb River rivers...
, a specific kind of rhotacismRhotacismRhotacism refers to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r :*the excessive or idiosyncratic use of the r;...
occurs, by which intervocalic [n] is replaced with [r] in old words: [ˈwamirʲ, lumnʲirə] for standard oameni, lumină. An identical phenomenon, which may be historically related, occurs in Istro-RomanianIstro-Romanian languageIstro-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language that is still spoken today in a few villages and hamlets in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in what is now Croatia as well as in other countries around the world where the Istro-Romanian people settled after the two...
. - In Țara OașuluiOas CountryOaş Country is an etnographic region of Romania located in the North-East part of Satu Mare County, 50 km from the city of Satu Mare...
, when [l] is followed by a consonant, it is velarizedVelarized alveolar lateral approximant-See also:* Lateral consonant* Velarization* l-vocalization* Ł...
to [ɫ] or even [w]: [aɫb / awb] for standard alb. - In Țara Oașului, the consonant [r] is realized with multiple vibrations.
Morphological and syntactical features
- The possessive article is invariable: a meu, a mea, a mei, a mele ("mine", compare with standard al meu, a mea, ai mei, ale mele).
- Some verbsRomanian verbsThis article on Romanian verbs is related to the Romanian grammar and belongs to a series of articles on the Romanian language.Unlike English but similar to other Indo-European languages, verbs in Romanian are highly inflective. They conjugate according to mood, tense, voice, person and number....
of the 1st and 4th conjugation groups do not take the -ez and -esc suffixes: lucră, străluce ("he works", "it shines", compare with standard lucrează, strălucește). On the other hand, the suffix -esc does occur sometimes where in the standard language it doesn't: împărțăsc, înghițăsc, simțăsc ("I divide", "I swallow", "I feel", compare with standard împart, înghit, simt). - The auxiliary used for the compound perfect of verbs in the 3rd person is o for the singular and or / o for the plural: [o zɨs, or zɨs] ("he said", "they said", compare with standard a zis, au zis).
- The conjunction used for subjunctives is și: și facă ("for him to do, that he does", compare with standard să facă).
- The following forms occur for the 3rd person of the subjunctive, both singular and plural: să deie, să steie, să beie, să vreie, ending in [ˈeje], where the standard language has să dea, să stea, să bea, să vrea, ending in [ˈe̯a].
- The past tense of the optative-conditional mood is formed using the auxiliary a vrea and the infinitive, for instance o vu cînta, totally different from the standard ar fi cîntat.
- When the object of a verb is another verb, the latter is in its infinitive form.
- A preference is found for analytic instead of syntactic constructions, such as the use of the preposition cătă ("towards", standard către) to express the dative: [o zɨs ˈkətə ˈminʲe] ("he said to me", compare with standard mi-a zis).
- In certain areas, the imperative is formed using the long infinitive: nu plecareți!, nu vă lăudareți! (standard: nu plecați!, nu vă lăudați!).
- In the northern and central parts of the dialectal area, certain verb forms have [n] replaced with other sounds: [spuj, viw, viˈind] ("I say", "I come", "coming", compare with standard spun, vin, venind). This feature is shared with the Wallachian subdialectWallachian subdialect of RomanianThe Wallachian subdialect is one of the several subdialects of the Romanian language, specifically of the Daco-Romanian dialect. Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Wallachia, occupying the southern part of Romania, roughly between the Danube and the Southern...
.
Lexical particularities
- Particular forms of the indefinite pronouns (and their corresponding adjectives) occur: oarecine ("someone", standard cineva), oarece ("something", standard ceva).
- Other specific words: arină ("sand", standard nisip), brîncă ("hand", mînă), cotătoare ("mirror", oglindă), ștergură ("towel", prosop), vă! ("go!", du-te!), tulai! ("oh!", vai!), etc.
Sample
Crișana subdialect: [aˈtunt͡ʃ jar o jeˈʃɨt ʃɨ so ujˈtat ‖ am rədʲiˈkat ˈbrɨŋka ‖ ʃɨ ˈdomnu o zɨs ‖ ˈɨŋkaʃa nã vəˈzut ˈkɨnʲe ‖ ʃaˈtunt͡ʃ ˈkɨnʲile o vint ku ˈwə.ile ʃɨ so ujˈtat la ˈminʲe t͡ʃej maj spun ‖ kə jel o ʃtʲiˈut kəj maj spun t͡ʃeˈva]Standard Romanian: Atunci iar a ieșit și s-a uitat. Am ridicat mîna. Și domnul a zis: Așa cîine încă n-am văzut. Și-atunci cîinele a venit cu oile și s-a uitat la mine [așteptînd să vadă] ce-i mai spun. Că el a știut că-i mai spun ceva.
English translation: "The it went out again and watched. I raised my hand. And the gentleman said: I've never seen a dog like this. And then the dog brought the sheep back and looked at me [waiting to see] what else I was going to say. Because it knew I was going to say something again."