Far Mazovian dialect

Far Mazovian dialect
Native to	Poland
Region	Central Masovia
Language family	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic West Slavic Lechitic Polish Masovian Far Mazovian dialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

The Far Mazovian dialect (Polish: gwary Mazowsza dalszego) belongs to the Masovian dialect group and is located in the part of Poland. It borders the Near Mazovian dialect to the south, the Podlachia dialect to the east, the Kurpie dialect and Masurian dialects to the north. and the Greater Polish Chełmno-Dobrzyń dialect to the west. Generally this dialect is fading, and many typical Masovian features are being replaced with Standard Polish features.

Phonology

Typical of Masovian dialects, devoicing of word-final consonants before vowels and liquids is present here, including before clitics. This does not affect prepositions. Also typical of Masovian dialects is the presence of mazuration , but it is now a sporadic change, and forms not having undergone mazuration are more common. Hypercorrections may also occur.

Vowels

The shift of initial ja-, ra- > je-, re- is present but limited to particular words: jek (jak), remię (ramię). Often this process is undone, as well. The shift of medial -ar- to -er- is found only in forms of the verbs trzeć, drzeć, żreć, umrzeć, uprzeć się, zaprzeć, zawrzeć and the nouns tartak, tarcica, umarlak, darń. This process is also being undone, particularly in the north. The shift of final -aj to -ej is rare here. Ablaut is sometimes levelled here, but often forms that of Standard Polish are preferred. y sometimes merges with i, but inconsistently, and usually the Standard Polish pronunciation of y is preferred. i can sometimes lower before liquids, but this is generally restricted to certain words.

Slanted vowels

Slanted á was generally retained as á until at least the 1950’s, and could sometimes raise to ó, u before a nasal, but in recent years is generally realized as a, as in Standard Polish. Slanted é is usually merged with e due to influence from Standard Polish. Slanted ó may be retained as ó, more frequently merge with u, or rarely merge with o.

Nasal vowels

ę tends to be realized like in Standard Polish: it decomposes medially except before sibilants (with exceptions). Medial ę sometimes lowers, but this is fading, it also sporadically raises to yN, iN, but this is also uncommon. Final -ę generally denasalizes to -e. Medial ą tends to also decompose to oN, and sometimes then rises to óN, uN. Final -ą often denasalizes to -o or sometimes -oł, and sporadically raises to -ó or -u. However, before sonorants, both ę and ą may lose nasality and/or gain j or ł: gęjśor, gołsior (gęsior), cięłżkie (ciężkie), ciełzar (ciężar). They may also sometimes decompose: krawenżnik (krawężnik), dzionsła (dziąsła). The group eN sometimes lower to aN, or sometimes raise to éN, yN/iN. However, a realization that of Standard Polish is becoming more common. The group oN also frequently raises to óN, uN. o may sporadically raise before r in certain words.

Prothesis

Initial i- sometimes takes prothetic j-, but more common are forms without this prothesis. Initial o- may labialize to ô-, but weakly, and this is often avoided, sometimes leading to hypercorrections: okieć (łokieć). Even less frequently, initial u- may also undergo weak labialization to û-.

Consonants

Soft labials tend to decompose here, and in various ways. The most common ways is for the palatal element to become stronger and become j, but soft ḿ may become mń, or rarely a palatal consonant may be inserted. The result consonant clusters can then sometimes further reduce: ofiara > ofsiara > osiara, miasto > mniasto > niasto. This final shift is rare here, but hypercorrections can occur: śmjodanie (śniadanie). The groups śf’, ćf’, and dźw’ may also harden: śfynie (świnie). However, this change is limited to the word świnia and its derivatives. m may also harden in the instrumental plural ending -ami, -ymi/-imi: wołamy (wołami), takymy (takimi). The group li may harden to ly, but this is rare, and has been rare since after World War II. In the northwest, kie, gie, ki, gi tend to remain soft; elsewhere, they tend to harden: cukerek (cukierek), takymy (takimi). chy may also soften: chiba (chyba). The groups chrz, chw sometes change to krz, kw: krzan (chrzan), kwasty (chwasty). The group kt tends to shift to cht: chto (kto). The group kk tends to reduce to k: lekki i (lekkie), mjenkie (miękkie).

See also

• Dialects of the Polish language
• Languages of Europe
• Polish language