TheBanat dialect (subdialectul /graiul bănățean) is one of thedialects of theRomanian language (Daco-Romanian). Its geographic distribution extends over the RomanianBanat and parts of the Serbian Banat, but also in parts of theTimok Valley of Serbia.
The dialect is spoken in southwestern Romania, in the followingcounties:Caraș-Severin,Timiș, the southern part ofArad, and the southern part ofHunedoara. It is also spoken in the SerbianBanat and in theTimok Valley of Serbia.
A transition area towards theWallachian dialect is found in the northwestern ofOltenia, in the counties ofGorj andMehedinți. Mixtures with the southern and centralTransylvanian varieties are found in northeastern parts of Banat, where such a transition area is in theHațeg Country and another one extends towards southernCrișana.
The Banat dialect differs from the others by the following phonetic particularities:
The unstressed mid vowels/e,ə,o/ close to[i,ɨ,u], respectively, and open/a/ to[ə]:[pəˈpuk,pliˈkat,ɨŋɡruˈpat] for standardpapuc,plecat,îngropat.
Dentals/t,d/ become[t͡ʃʲ,d͡ʒʲ], respectively, and consonants/n,l,r/ arepalatalized when followed by[e,i,e̯a]:[d͡ʒʲimiˈnʲat͡sə,ˈfrunt͡ʃʲe,ˈbad͡ʒʲe,ˈvinʲe,ˈlʲemnʲe,ˈmarʲe] fordimineață,frunte,bade,vine,lemne,mare.
Affricates/t͡ʃ,d͡ʒ/ become the palatalized fricatives[ʃʲ,ʒʲ], respectively:[ʃʲas,ˈʃʲinə,ʃʲinʃʲ,ˈfuʒʲe,ˈʒʲinere,ˈsɨnʒʲe] forceas,cină,cinci,fuge,ginere,sânge.
In some varieties, the diphthong/o̯a/ is realized as[wa]:[ˈswarje,ˈmwart͡ʃʲe] forsoare,moarte. In other varieties/o̯a/ becomes the monophthong[ɔ]:[ˈkɔʒə,ˈɔlə] forcoajă,oală.
The stressed vowel/e/ becomes[jɛ] when followed by another[e] in the next syllable:[muˈjɛrʲe,ˈfjɛt͡ʃʲe,poˈvjɛstə,ˈvjɛrd͡ʒʲe,ˈpjɛʃt͡ʃʲe] formuiere,fete,poveste,verde,pește.
After the fricatives[s,z,ʃ,ʒ], affricates[t͡s,d͡z], and the sequence[st],/e/ becomes[ə],/i/ becomes[ɨ], and/e̯a/ reduces to[a]:[ˈsarə,səmn,ˈsɨŋɡur,d͡zər,d͡zɨd,pəˈʃɨm,ʃəd,ʒɨr,ʃɨ,koˈʒaskə,ɨnˈt͡sapə,sɨmˈt͡səsk,prəˈʒaskə,povjesˈtəsk,staɡ] forseară,semn,singur,zer,zid,pășim,șed,jir,și,cojească,înțeapă,simțesc,prăjească,povestesc,steag.
Labials remain unchanged when followed by[e,i,e̯a]:[pept,ˈbivol,oˈbe̯alə,fer,ˈvermʲe,ˈmerkurʲ] forpiept,bivol,obială,fier,vierme,miercuri.
Etymological/n/ is preserved and palatalized, such as in Latin-origin words where it is followed by[e] or[i] in hiatus, words with inflection endings in[i], Slavic borrowings with the sequence[nj], as well as Hungarian borrowings with[nʲ]:[kunʲ,kəlˈkɨnʲ,kəpəˈtɨnʲ,turəˈmɨnʲ,ˈklanʲe,səˈkrinʲ] forcui,călcâi,căpătâi,tu rămâi (from Latincuneus,calcaneum,capitaneum,tu remanēs),claie (from Slavic *klanja, cf. Serbian and Bulgariankladnja),sicriu (from Hungarianszekrény). This phenomenon is distinct from the simple palatalization of/n/ when followed by a front vowel, which is newer, even though the two phenomena can now appear in very similar contexts:[tuˈspunʲ] contains an etymological[nʲ], whereas[jelˈspunʲe] contains a more recently palatalized[n].[3]
The voiced affricate[d͡z] is preserved in words believed to be ofsubstrate origin:[ˈbrɨnd͡zə,ˈbud͡zə,ɡruˈmad͡zə,mɨnd͡z] forbrânză,buză,grumaz,mânz. It is also preserved in Latin-origin words that contain a/d/ followed by a long[e] or[i], by an inflectional[i] or by[e] or[i] in hiatus:[ˈd͡zəʃʲe,aˈud͡z,ˈfrund͡zə] forzece,auzi,frunză (Latin:decem,audīs,frondea).
The monophthong[ɨ]:[ˈkɨnʲe,ˈmɨnʲe,ˈpɨnʲe] is old. In standard Romanian, the palatalization is anticipated, and ametathesis occurs :câine,mâine,pâine are best explained as/ˈkɨnʲe/ >[ˈkɨʲne] (anticipation of palatalization).
Femininenouns ending in-ă tend to form the plural in-i instead of-e:casă –căși ("house(s)", compare with standardcasă –case). This may be explained, in the case of nouns with roots ending in a fricative or an affricate, by the fact that the plural ending-e would be realized as-ă (see the phonetic features above), which would produce ahomonymy between singular and plural.
Genitives and datives in nouns are often built analytically:piciorul de la scaun ("the chair's leg", compare withpiciorul scaunului),dau apă la cal ("I give water to the horse", compare withdau apă calului).
The possessive article is invariable:a meu,a mea,a mei,a mele ("mine", compare with standardal meu,a mea,ai mei,ale mele) as in most Romanian dialects.
The simple perfect ofverbs is actively used in all persons and numbers, a feature the Banat dialect shares with the western areas of theWallachian dialect.
The auxiliary verb used for the compound perfect in the 3rd person has the formso andor:o mărs,or mărs ("he went", "they went", compare with standarda mers,au mers).
The newer extended conjugation does not replace the olderforms in the 1st and 4th conjugation groups:el lucră,ea înfloare ("he works", "it blooms", compare with standardel lucrează,ea înflorește, with-izo and-isko suffixes borrowed by Late Latin from Greek).[citation needed]
In indicative forms of verbs of the 4th conjugation group, homonymy is found between the 1st person singular and the 3rd person plural:eu cobor,ei cobor ("I come down", "they come down", compare with standardeu cobor,ei coboară).
Periphrasis is used to express the pluperfect:am fost avut,m-am fost dus,o fost mâncat ("I had had", "I had gone", "he had eaten", compare with standardavusesem,mă dusesem,mâncase).
The negative plural prohibitive (not imperative)[clarification needed] continues the Latin imperfect subjunctive:nu fugireț (< lat.ne fugiretis),nu mâncareț ("don't run", don't eat", compare with standardnu fugiți,nu mâncați).
The auxiliaryfi used in the past subjunctive is variable:eu să fiu mâncat,tu să fii mâncat,el să fie mâncat ("that I / you / he ate", compare with standardeu să fi mâncat,tu să fi mâncat,el să fi mâncat).
In some areas, the auxiliary verb used to construct the conditional isa vrea:eu vreaș face,tu vreai face,el vrea face ("I / you / he would do", compare with standardeu aș face,tu ai face,el ar face). Sometimes thev of the auxiliary is dropped:reaș, etc.
In south-western areas, under theSerbian influence, signs of a verbalaspect are found, relying on the use of prefixes:a dogăta ("to finish completely", froma găta),a zăuita ("to forget completely", froma uita),a se proînsura ("to marry again", froma se însura).
Specificindefinite pronouns and adjectives are found:[ˈaltəʃʲe] ("something", standardceva),[məˈkarˈʃʲnʲe] ("anyone", standardoricine),tot natul ("each one",fiecare).
Other specific words:șcătulă ("box", standardcutie),șnaidăr ("tailor",croitor),ai ("garlic",usturoi),farbă ("dye",vopsea),golumb ("pigeon",porumbel),cozeci ("measles",pojar), etc.
Use of[sɨm] as the first person singular indicative form of the verba fi - to be.[4]
Standard Romanian:Întâmplarea a fost așa: l-am luat de lanț. El mi-a pus capu-n spinare și-a plecat cu mine din perete în perete. I-am pus mâna într-un corn și cealaltă într-alt corn și m-a trântit jos.
English translation: "It happened like this: I took (the bull) by the chain. It pushed its head into my back and drove me from a wall to another. I grabbed its horn with one hand and its other horn with another, and it knocked me down."
^Mozes Gaster,Chrestomație română, vol. I, Leipzig – București, 1891, pp. XC–CVIII, cited by Vasile Ursan,Despre configurația dialectală a dacoromânei actuale
Ilona Bădescu,"Dialectologie", teaching material for the University of Craiova(in Romanian)
Elena Buja, Liliana Coposescu, Gabriela Cusen, Luiza Meseșan Schmitz, Dan Chiribucă, Adriana Neagu, Iulian Pah,Raport de țară: România, country report for the Lifelong Learning Programme MERIDIUM(in Romanian)
