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Rusyn is an East Slavic language (along with Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian to which it shares a common linguistic ancestry) that is spoken by the Rusyns. Opinions differ among linguists concerning whether Rusyn is a separate East Slavic language or a dialect of Ukrainian. The political implications of the dispute add to the controversy.

Rusyn is spoken in the Transcarpathian Region of Ukraine, in northeastern Slovakia, southeastern Poland (where it is often called łemkowski 'Lemko', from their characteristic word lem/лєм 'only'), and Hungary (where the people and language are called Ruten). The Pannonian Rusyn language in Serbia is sometimes considered part of the Rusyn language, although some linguists consider that language to be West Slavic. In Ukraine, Rusyn is usually considered a dialect of Ukrainian, as it is very close to the Hutsul dialect, but speakers sometimes prefer to consider themselves distinct from Ukrainians.

Attempts to standardize the language suffer from its being divided between four countries, so that in each of these countries there has been devised a separate orthography (in each case with Cyrillic letters) and grammatical standard, based on different Rusyn dialects. The cultural centres of Carpatho-Rusyn are Prešov in Slovakia, Uzhhorod and Mukacheve in Ukraine, Krynica and Legnica in Poland, and Budapest in Hungary. Many very active Rusyns also live in Canada and the USA.

It is very difficult to count the speakers of Rusyn, but their number is sometimes estimated at almost a million, most of them in Ukraine and Slovakia. The first country to officially recognize Rusyn, more exactly Pannonian Rusyn, as an official language was former Yugoslavia. In 1995, Rusyn was recognized as a minority language in Slovakia, enjoying the status of official language in municipalities where more than 20% of the inhabitants speak Rusyn.

• The Rusyn language is divided as follows:
  • Hutsul is spoken in the mountainous part of Suceava County and Maramures County in Romania and the extreme southern parts of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (as well as in parts of the Chernivtsi and Transcarpathian Oblasts, and on the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains.
  • Boyko is spoken on the northern side of the Carpathian Mountains in the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts. It can also be heard across the border in the Subcarpathian Voivodship of Poland
  • Lemko is spoken outside Ukraine in the Prešov Region of Slovakia along the southern side of the Carpathian Mountains.
  • Dolinian Rusyn or Subcarpathian Rusyn is spoken in the Transcarpathian Oblast.
  • Pryashiv Rusyn is the Rusyn spoken in the Prešov (in Rusyn: Pryashiv/Pryashuv) region of Slovakia, as well as by some émigré communities, primarily in the United States of America.
  • Pannonian Rusyn is spoken in northwestern Serbia and eastern Croatia. Also called Bačka dialect, it is one of the official languages of the Serbian Autonomous Province of Vojvodina).

In the introduction to the book "Slavic languages," written in 1973, ten years before glasnost, Samuel Bernshtein writes about "western Ukrainians" and the "literary language" which they "until recently " had.

Alphabet

Lemko Rusyn Cyrillic alphabet

See also

• Old Ruthenian
• Pannonian Rusyn
• Rusyns
• Pannonian Rusyns
• Alexander Duchnovič's Theatre

Literature

• A new Slavic language is born. The Rusyn literary language in Slovakia. Ed. Paul Robert Magocsi. New York 1996.
• Magocsi, Paul Robert. Let's speak Rusyn. Бісідуйме по-руськы. Englewood 1976.
• Дуличенко, Александр Дмитриевич. Jugoslavo-Ruthenica. Роботи з рускей филолоґиї. Нови Сад 1995.

References

• Rusyn language at the World Academy of Rusyn Culture
• Ethnologue report for Rusyn
• Руска Матка (Ruska Matka), the central cultural organization of the Pannonian Rusyns
• Transliterating Rusyn into the Latin alphabet

ru-sib:Русинской говор

• East Slavic languages
• Carpathian Ruthenia
• Ruthenia