TheWallachian dialect (subdialectul/graiul muntean/muntenesc) is one of the severaldialects of theRomanian language (Daco-Romanian). Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region ofWallachia, occupying the southern part ofRomania, roughly between theDanube and theSouthern Carpathians. Standard Romanian, in particular itsphonology, is largely based on Wallachian.[1]
As with all other Romanian dialects, Wallachian is distinguished primarily by its phonetic characteristics and only marginally by morphological, syntactical, and lexical features.
The Wallachian dialect is the only member of the southern grouping of Romanian dialects. All the other dialects and speech varieties are classified in the northern grouping, whose most typical representative is theMoldavian dialect.
The Wallachian dialect is spoken in the southern part ofRomania, in the region ofWallachia. More accurately, it covers the followingcounties:
inMuntenia (Muntenian dialect, but in Teleorman there is a little influence from Oltenian dialect):Argeș,Brăila (mostly in southern half and central also spoken in north but with some Moldavian influences),Buzău (mostly in southern half and central also spoken in north but with some Moldavian influences),Călărași,Dâmbovița,Giurgiu,Ialomița,Ilfov andBucharest,Prahova,Teleorman;
Some researchers further divide the Wallachian dialect into finer speech varieties. This division, however, can no longer rely on clear and systematic phonetic features, but on morphological, syntactical, and lexical differences.
For instance, Sextil Pușcariu and others consider a separate speech variety inOltenia. This has very few distinct features – such as the extensive use of the simple perfect tense – and is most often considered a transition speech variety from the Wallachian to the Banat dialect.
Even less distinct is the particular speech variety ofDobruja. This too is often considered a transition variety, between the Wallachian and the Moldavian dialects.
The Wallachian dialect has the following phonetic particularities that contrast it with the other dialects and varieties. Many of these phonetic features are also found in the pronunciation of Standard Romanian.
The postalveolars[t͡ʃ,d͡ʒ] are preserved:[t͡ʃiˈreʃe,ˈd͡ʒemete].
Contrast is made between the affricate[d͡ʒ] and the fricative[ʒ].
Except in Oltenia, after the dentals[s,z,t͡s], the vowels[e,i] and the diphthong[e̯a] are preserved:[semn,siŋɡur,ˈse̯arə,zer,zid,ˈze̯amə,t͡ses,t͡siw,ˈt͡se̯apə]. This occurs simultaneously with a slight palatalization of those dentals.
After the fricatives[ʃ,ʒ] and after[r], the vowel[ə] changes to[e]:[ˈuʃe,ˈstraʒe,t͡siˈɡare]. The two fricatives are pronounced slightly palatalized.
The diphthong[o̯a] is preserved:[ˈdo̯areˈko̯aʒe].
The diphthong[e̯a] in old Romanian becomes[e] in certain phonetic contexts:[ˈled͡ʒeˈmeseˈsemne]. (It remains[e̯a] when it is followed by a consonant or a consonant cluster and then by[ə], as in[ˈle̯aɡəˈkre̯at͡sə].)
The front vowel ending is anticipated by inserting[j] in the words[ˈkɨjneˈmɨjneˈpɨjne].
The labials[pbfv] remain unchanged before front vowels and[j]:[piˈt͡ʃoralˈbinəˈfjerbeˈvitə]. In some areas of Wallachian, palatalized labials can be found today, but these appeared as a consequence of recent population migrations.
The dentals[tdn] do not change before front vowels and glides:[ˈkarteˈte̯aməde̯aldimiˈne̯at͡sə].
A devocalized[u] is found at the end of some words:[omʷ,pomʷ] forom,pom.
In word-initial position sometimes[h] is pronounced weakly or completely removed:[ˈajnə,wot͡s] forhaină,hoț. Hypercorrection sometimes leads to adding a word-initial[h]:[ˈharipə,ˈhale̯a,ˈhalbij] foraripă,alea,albii.
In Muntenia, after[d] and[p],[e] is replaced with[ə] and[i] with[ɨ] in prepositions and prefixes:[də,dəˈkɨt,dəstuˈpat,dəsˈpart,dəʃˈkid,ˈdɨntre,pə] for standardde,decât,destupat,despart,deschid,dintre,pe.
In north-eastern and eastern Muntenia, labials followed by front sounds are palatalized:[ˈpʰʲjele,ˈbʰʲine,fʰʲjer,vʰʲin,ˈmʲjere] forpiele,bine,fier,vin,miere.
In Oltenia, like in the Banat dialect, after the fricatives[s,z,ʃ,ʒ] and the affricate[t͡s],[e] becomes[ə],[i] becomes[ɨ], and[e̯a] reduces to[a]:[ˈsarə,səˈkure,ˈsɨŋɡur,zɨk,zər,ˈzamə,ʒɨr,t͡sapə,t͡sɨw,t͡səˈpuʃ] forseară,secure,singur,zic,zer,zeamă,jir,țeapă,țin,țepușă.
In Oltenia,[j] is inserted before[k] when this is palatalized or followed by a front vowel:[wojkʲ,rajˈkiw,ˈstrajkinə] for standardochi,rachiu,strachină.
In southern Oltenia, a particular type of palatalization occurs when labial fricatives are followed by front vowels:[f] becomes[fkʲ] or even[skʲ], and similarly[v] becomes[vɡʲ] or[zɡʲ]:[fkʲer/skʲer,ˈvɡʲerme/ˈzɡʲerme] forfier,vierme.
The possessive article is variable:al,a,ai,ale (the same as in standard Romanian), whereas it is invariable in all other dialects.[2]
When the object of a verb is another verb, the latter is in its subjunctive form:vreau să plec,știe să înoate ('I want to leave, he knows how to swim').
The following subjunctive forms are found:să stea,să dea,să bea,să ia,să vrea.
The following imperative forms are found:adu,vino.
Feminine names in the vocative case end in-o:Leano,Anico.
An additional vowel alternation occurs from[a] to[ə] to mark the plural.
Verbs of the 2nd conjugation group tend to switch the 3rd, and vice versa:a cade,a place,a vede, anda cusea,a țesea ('to fall, like, see; sew, weave', compare with standarda cădea,a plăcea,a vedea, anda coase,a țese).
The imperfect of verbs in the 3rd person plural ends in[a] in Muntenia and[aw] in Oltenia:ei lucra vs.ei lucrau ('they were working', compare with standardei lucrau). This makes the Muntenian plural homonymous with the singular in the 3rd person.
The syllable-ră- in the plural forms of the pluperfect is dropped:noi cântasem,voi cântaseți,ei cântase ('we/you/they had sung', compare with standardnoi cântaserăm,voi cântaserăți,ei cântaseră).
In Muntenia, an additional-ără is attached to the compound perfect of verbs:am cântatără,am făcutără ('I/we sang', compare with standardam cântat,am făcut).
In Muntenia, the present indicative, the subjunctive, and the gerund of some verbs have[j] or[i] instead of the last consonant in the root:eu cei,eu spui,eu să spui,eu țâu,eu viu,ceind,țâind,viind (compare with standardeu cer,eu spun,eu să spun,eu țin,eu vin,cerând,ținând,venind).
In Oltenia, the simple perfect is frequently used in all persons and reflects theaspect of a recently finished action. For speakers of other Romanian dialects, this is by far the single most known particularity of the Oltenian speech, which most readily identifies its speakers.
In Oltenia, feminine nouns ending in-ă tend to form the plurals with the ending-i to avoid the homonymy that would occur in nouns whose root ends in[s,z,ʃ,ʒ,t͡s,d͡z]:casă–căși ('house – houses', compare with standardcasă–case).
In Oltenia, the demonstrative adjectiveăștea is invariable:băieții ăștea,fetele ăștea,drumurile ăștea ('these boys/girls/roads', compare with standardaceștia/acestea and colloquialăștia/astea).
In Oltenia, verbs of the 4th conjugation group do not take the infix-esc- in their indicative and subjunctive forms:amoárte,se pérpele,să jéluie,ciugoále,jumoále (compare with standardamorțește,se perpelește,să jelească,ciugulește,jumulește).
In Oltenia, the adverbdecât is used without negation:Are decât un copil ('She has only one child', compare with standardNu are decât un copil). This phenomenon is also increasingly found in Muntenia.
The demonstrative article isăl,a,ăi,ăle in Muntenia, andal,a,ai,ale in Oltenia (compare with standardcel,cea,cei,cele).
An intermediate polite pronoun is found:tale,tălică ('you', standard Romanian hastu,dumneata, anddumneavoastră on a three-stage scale of increasing politeness).
Demonstrative adverbs use the emphasis particle-șa:aicișa,icișa,acoloșa,coloșa,coleașa (compare with standardaici,acolo).
There is a tendency to add the prefixîn-/îm- to verbs:a îngăuri,a se împlimba,a împarfuma ('to drill, walk, scent', compare with standarda găuri,a se plimba,a parfuma).
In Oltenia, the derivation with the suffix-ete is very productive:brabete ('male sparrow', standardvrăbioi),unghete ('corner',unghi),dovlete ('pumpkin',dovleac). It also appears in proper names:Ciuculete,Ionete,Purcărete.
Other specific words:drugă ('corn cob', standardștiulete),clupsă ('mouse trap',cursă de șoareci),tron ('coffin',sicriu),sacsie ('flower pot',ghiveci),dul ('swelling',umflătură), etc.
Standard Romanian:Se duc părinții copilului la moașă cu copilul. Duc plocon pâine, vin, carne, țuică. Și moașa îi pune un covrig în cap și-l saltă-n sus, îl dă de grinda casei și zice: Să trăiască nepotul și părinții![citation needed]
English translation: "The child's parents go to the midwife with the child. They bring as a present bread, wine, meat,țuică. And the midwife puts a pretzel on his head and hoists him up, touches him to the house's girder, and says: Long live the child and his parents!"[citation needed]
^Mioara Avram, Marius Sala,May we introduce the Romanian language to you?, The Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House, 2000,ISBN973-577-224-8,ISBN978-973-577-224-6, p. 111
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: RomâniaArchived 2011-08-21 at theWayback Machine, country report for the Lifelong Learning Programme MERIDIUM(in Romanian)
