TheMaramureș dialect (subdialectul/graiul maramureșean) is one of thedialects of theRomanian language (Daco-Romanian). Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region ofMaramureș, now split betweenRomania andUkraine.
The Maramureș dialect belongs to the group of relatively fragmentedTransylvanian varieties, along with theCrișana dialect. This places the Maramureș dialect in the northern group of Romanian dialects, which also includesMoldavian dialect andBanat, as opposed to the southern grouping which consists of theWallachian subdialect alone.
In the context of the transition-like and very fragmented speech varieties of Transylvania, the classification of the Maramureș dialect as a separate variety is made difficult—like the Crișana dialect, or even more so—by the small number of distinctive phonetic features. This difficulty made many researchers, in particular in earlier stages of the dialectal studies of Romanian, to not recognize an individual Maramureș dialect; this view was held byGustav Weigand,Alexandru Philippide,Iorgu Iordan, andEmanuel Vasiliu among others. Subsequent analyses admit the existence of this variety, albeit with some reluctance, leading some researchers (such asEmil Petrovici andSextil Pușcariu) to elaborate different classifications according to different criteria, depending on which the Maramureș variety is or is not individualized. Current classifications, owed toRomulus Todoran,Ion Coteanu and others, recognize a separate Maramureș dialect.
The Maramureș dialect is spoken in the approximate area of the Maramureș historical region, including parts of bothRomania andUkraine. In Romania, the dialectal area covers the north-eastern part of theMaramureș County, along the valleys of theTisza,Vișeu,Mara, andCosău; many people are concentrated inSighetu Marmației,Vișeu andBorșa. In Ukraine, speakers are found in the eastern part of theZakarpattia Oblast (Northern Maramureș); their number is decreasing.
Although spoken on a small area, the Maramureș dialect can be further divided, by using particularities that are mostly lexical, into three branches:[1]
a wide central part of the area, which is the most representative;
the north-western part has influences from the variety spoken in theOaș Country;
Mid vowels[e,ə,o] close to[i,ɨ,u], respectively, or to intermediate positions. The most frequent is the change of[e] to[i̞]:[di̞,di̞la] for standardde,de la.
When[e] appears in two consecutive syllables, the first[e] opens to[ɛ]:[ˈfɛte] (standardfete[ˈfete]).
The diphthong[o̯a] monophthongizes to[ɔ]:[uˈʃɔrə,ˈnɔptʲe] for standardușoară[uˈʃo̯arə],noapte[ˈno̯apte].
After the consonants[s,z,ʃ,ʒ,t͡s,d͡z,r] front vowels become central, whereas the diphthong[e̯a] monophthongizes to[a]:[ˈsɨŋɡur,ˈsarə,ˈzamə,ʒɨr,t͡sɨn,d͡zɨ] for standardsingur,seară,zeamă,jir,țin,zi.
Consonants[t͡ʃ,d͡ʒ] are less palatal than in the standard language and have the effect of centralizing a following[e] to[ə]:[t͡ʃər,d͡ʒər] for standardcer,ger.[2]
After labials,[e] becomes[ə] and the diphthong[e̯a] is monophthongized to[a]:[mərɡ,ˈmarɡə,pə] for standardmerg,meargă,pe.
The stressed diphthong[e̯a] monophthongizes to[ɛ] in word-final positions:[aˈvɛ,vrɛ] for standardavea,vrea.
The diphthong[ja] becomes[je] in certain words:[bəˈjet,muˈjet] for standardbăiat,muiat.
Devocalized[i,u] are found in word-final positions:[pəkuˈrarʲ,ˈt͡ʃərʲʷ] for standardpăcurar,cer.
The diphthong[ɨj] monophthongizes to[ɨ]:[ˈkɨnʲe,ˈmɨnʲe,ˈpɨnʲe] for standardcâine,mâine,pâine.
Etymologic[ɨ] is preserved in words likeîmblu,îmflu,întru (standardumblu,umflu,intru).
Archaic[d͡z,d͡ʒ] are preserved in words like[d͡zɨk,d͡ʒos,d͡ʒok] (compare with standard[zik,ʒos,ʒok]).[3]
The consonants[l,n] are palatalized when followed by front vowels:[ˈlʲemnʲe,ˈvinʲe] forlemne,vine.
The palatalization of labials before front vowels takes specific forms:
Someverbs of the 1st and 4th conjugation groups do not take the-ez and-esc suffixes:lucră,mă rușin,străluce ("he works", "I feel shy", "it shines", compare with standardlucrează,mă rușinez,strălucește). On the other hand, the suffix-esc does sometimes occur in verbs conjugated without it in the standard language:împărțăsc,omorăsc,simțăsc ("I divide", "I kill", "I feel", compare with standardîmpart,omor,simt).
Certain verb forms have[n] replaced with other sounds:[spuj,viw,viˈind] ("I say", "I come", "coming", compare with standardspun,vin,venind). This feature is shared with theWallachian dialect.
The auxiliary used for the compound perfect of verbs in the 3rd person iso for the singular andor / o for the plural:[od͡zɨs,ord͡zɨs] ("he said", "they said", compare with standarda zis,au zis).
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 hassă dea,să stea,să bea,să vrea, ending in[ˈe̯a].
The pluperfect can also be built analytically:m-am fost dus,am fost venit ("I had gone", "I had come", compare with the standard syntactic formsmă dusesem,venisem).
Verbsa aduce "to bring" anda veni "to come" have particular imperative forms:adă,vină (standardadu,vino).
There is a general tendency toward shorting the words:o fo (standarda fost),Gheo (instead ofGheorghe, a male first name), etc.
Standard Romanian:Se roagă lui Dumnezeu, își face cruce și zice: Doamne, ajută-mi. Și femeia ia un ou și-l sparge de car, ca să-i fie ușoară arătura, ca și oul.
English translation: "She prays to God, she crosses herself, and says: God, help me. And the woman takes an egg and breaks it on the cart, so that the plowing will be light [easy] like the egg."
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)
