View source for Banat Romanian dialect

{{short description|Type of dialects}}
The '''Banat dialect''' (''subdialectul'' / ''graiul bănățean'') is one of the [[Romanian dialects|dialects]] of the [[Romanian language]] (Daco-Romanian). Its geographic distribution extends over the Romanian [[Banat]] and parts of the Serbian Banat, but also in parts of the [[Timok Valley]] of Serbia.
The Banat dialect is a member of the northern grouping of Romanian dialects, along with the [[Moldavian dialect]] and the group of [[Transylvanian varieties of Romanian|Transylvanian varieties]]. Features of the Banat dialect are found in southern dialects of Romanian: [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]], [[Megleno-Romanian language|Megleno-Romanian]], and [[Istro-Romanian language|Istro-Romanian]].
The Banat dialect has been long classified separately from the Transylvanian varieties, but in early studies such as those by [[Mozes Gaster]]<ref>Mozes Gaster, ''Chrestomație română'', vol. I, Leipzig – București, 1891, pp. XC–CVIII, cited by Vasile Ursan, ''Despre configurația dialectală a dacoromânei actuale''</ref> these were sometimes grouped together as a single variety. The Banat dialect was considered separately by [[Heimann Tiktin]], [[Gustav Weigand]], [[Sextil Pușcariu]] (in his latter studies), [[Emil Petrovici]], [[Romulus Todoran]], [[Ion Coteanu]], [[Alexandru Philippide]], [[Iorgu Iordan]], and others.
==Geographic distribution==
The dialect is spoken in southwestern Romania, in the following [[Counties of Romania|counties]]: [[Caraș-Severin County|Caraș-Severin]], [[Timiș County|Timiș]], the southern part of [[Arad County|Arad]], and the southern part of [[Hunedoara County|Hunedoara]]. It is also spoken in the Serbian [[Banat]] and in the [[Timok Valley]] of Serbia.
===Transition areas===
A transition area towards the [[Wallachian dialect]] is found in the northwestern of [[Oltenia]], in the counties of [[Gorj County|Gorj]] and [[Mehedinți County|Mehedinți]]. Mixtures with the southern and central [[Transylvanian varieties of Romanian|Transylvanian varieties]] are found in northeastern parts of Banat, where such a transition area is in the [[Hațeg|Hațeg Country]] and another one extends towards southern [[Crișana]].
==Particularities==
===Phonetic features===
The Banat dialect differs from the others by the following phonetic particularities:
*The unstressed mid vowels {{IPA|/e, ə, o/}} close to {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|i}}, {{IPAplink|ɨ}}, {{IPAplink|u}}]}}, respectively, and open {{IPA|/a/}} to {{IPAblink|ɜ|ə}}: {{IPA|[pəˈpuk, pliˈkat, ɨŋɡruˈpat]}} for standard ''papuc'', ''plecat'', ''îngropat''.
*Dentals {{IPA|/t, d/}} become {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|t͡ɕ|t͡ʃʲ}}, {{IPAplink|d͡ʑ|d͡ʒʲ}}]}}, respectively, and consonants {{IPA|/n, l, r/}} are [[palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] when followed by {{IPA|[e, i, e̯a]}}: {{IPA|[d͡ʒʲimiˈnʲat͡sə, ˈfrunt͡ʃʲe, ˈbad͡ʒʲe, ˈvinʲe, ˈlʲemnʲe, ˈmarʲe]}} for ''dimineață'', ''frunte'', ''bade'', ''vine'', ''lemne'', ''mare''.
*Affricates {{IPA|/t͡ʃ, d͡ʒ/}} become the palatalized fricatives {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɕ|ʃʲ}}, {{IPAplink|ʑ|ʒʲ}}]}}, respectively: {{IPA|[ʃʲas, ˈʃʲinə, ʃʲinʃʲ, ˈfuʒʲe, ˈʒʲinere, ˈsɨnʒʲe]}} for ''ceas'', ''cină'', ''cinci'', ''fuge'', ''ginere'', ''sânge''.
*In some varieties, the diphthong {{IPA|/o̯a/}} is realized as {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|w}}{{IPAplink|ä|a}}]}}: {{IPA|[ˈswarje, ˈmwart͡ʃʲe]}} for ''soare'', ''moarte''. In other varieties {{IPA|/o̯a/}} becomes the monophthong {{IPAblink|ɔ}}: {{IPA|[ˈkɔʒə, ˈɔlə]}} for ''coajă'', ''oală''.
*The stressed vowel {{IPA|/e/}} becomes {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|j}}{{IPAplink|ɛ}}]}} when followed by another {{IPA|[e]}} in the next syllable: {{IPA|[muˈjɛrʲe, ˈfjɛt͡ʃʲe, poˈvjɛstə, ˈvjɛrd͡ʒʲe, ˈpjɛʃt͡ʃʲe]}} for ''muiere'', ''fete'', ''poveste'', ''verde'', ''pește''.
*After [[labial consonant|labials]], {{IPA|/je/}} reduces to {{IPAblink|e}}: {{IPA|[ˈferʲe, ˈmerkurʲ, ˈpelʲe, pept]}} for ''fiere'', ''miercuri'', ''piele'', ''piept''.
*After the fricatives {{IPA|[s, z, ʃ, ʒ]}}, affricates {{IPA|[t͡s, d͡z]}}, and the sequence {{IPA|[st]}}, {{IPA|/e/}} becomes {{IPA|[ə]}}, {{IPA|/i/}} becomes {{IPA|[ɨ]}}, and {{IPA|/e̯a/}} reduces to {{IPA|[a]}}: {{IPA|[ˈsarə, səmn, ˈsɨŋɡur, d͡zər, d͡zɨd, pəˈʃɨm, ʃəd, ʒɨr, ʃɨ, koˈʒaskə, ɨnˈt͡sapə, sɨmˈt͡səsk, prəˈʒaskə, povjesˈtəsk, staɡ]}} for ''seară'', ''semn'', ''singur'', ''zer'', ''zid'', ''pășim'', ''șed'', ''jir'', ''și'', ''cojească'', ''înțeapă'', ''simțesc'', ''prăjească'', ''povestesc'', ''steag''.
*Labials remain unchanged when followed by {{IPA|[e, i, e̯a]}}: {{IPA|[pept, ˈbivol, oˈbe̯alə, fer, ˈvermʲe, ˈmerkurʲ]}} for ''piept'', ''bivol'', ''obială'', ''fier'', ''vierme'', ''miercuri''.
*Etymological {{IPA|/n/}} is preserved and palatalized, such as in Latin-origin words where it is followed by {{IPA|[e]}} or {{IPA|[i]}} in hiatus, words with inflection endings in {{IPA|[i]}}, Slavic borrowings with the sequence {{IPA|[nj]}}, as well as Hungarian borrowings with {{IPA|[nʲ]}}: {{IPA|[kunʲ, kəlˈkɨnʲ, kəpəˈtɨnʲ, tu rəˈmɨnʲ, ˈklanʲe, səˈkrinʲ]}} for ''cui'', ''călcâi'', ''căpătâi'', ''tu rămâi'' (from Latin {{lang|la|cuneus}}, ''calcaneum'', ''capitaneum'', ''tu remanēs''), ''claie'' (from Slavic *''klanja'', cf. Serbian and Bulgarian ''kladnja''), ''sicriu'' (from Hungarian {{lang|hu|szekrény}}). This phenomenon is distinct from the simple palatalization of {{IPA|/n/}} when followed by a front vowel, which is newer, even though the two phenomena can now appear in very similar contexts: {{IPA|[tu ˈspunʲ]}} contains an etymological {{IPA|[nʲ]}}, whereas {{IPA|[jel ˈspunʲe]}} contains a more recently palatalized {{IPA|[n]}}.<ref>{{cite book|first=Matilda|last=Caragiu Marioțeanu|author-link=Matilda Caragiu Marioțeanu|title=Compendiu de dialectologie română|language=ro|year=1975|page=172}}</ref>
*The voiced affricate {{IPAblink|d͡z}} is preserved in words believed to be of [[Eastern Romance substratum|substrate]] origin: {{IPA|[ˈbrɨnd͡zə, ˈbud͡zə, ɡruˈmad͡zə, mɨnd͡z]}} for ''brânză'', ''buză'', ''grumaz'', ''mânz''. It is also preserved in Latin-origin words that contain a {{IPA|/d/}} followed by a long {{IPA|[e]}} or {{IPA|[i]}}, by an inflectional {{IPA|[i]}} or by {{IPA|[e]}} or {{IPA|[i]}} in hiatus: {{IPA|[ˈd͡zəʃʲe, aˈud͡z, ˈfrund͡zə]}} for ''zece'', ''auzi'', ''frunză'' (Latin: ''decem'', ''audīs'', ''frondea'').
*The monophthong {{IPA|[ɨ]}}: {{IPA|[ˈkɨnʲe, ˈmɨnʲe, ˈpɨnʲe]}} is old. In standard Romanian, the palatalization is anticipated, and a [[metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]] occurs : ''câine'', ''mâine'', ''pâine'' are best explained as {{IPA|/ˈkɨnʲe/}} > {{IPA|[ˈkɨʲne]}} (anticipation of palatalization).
===Morphological features===
*Feminine [[Romanian nouns|nouns]] ending in ''-ă'' tend to form the plural in ''-i'' instead of ''-e'': ''casă'' – ''căși'' ("house(s)", compare with standard ''casă'' – ''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 a [[homonym]]y between singular and plural.
*Genitives and datives in nouns are often built analytically: ''piciorul de la scaun'' ("the chair's leg", compare with ''piciorul scaunului''), ''dau apă la cal'' ("I give water to the horse", compare with ''dau apă calului'').
*The possessive article is invariable: ''a meu'', ''a mea'', ''a mei'', ''a mele'' ("mine", compare with standard ''al meu'', ''a mea'', ''ai mei'', ''ale mele'') as in most Romanian dialects.
*The simple perfect of [[Romanian verbs|verbs]] is actively used in all persons and numbers, a feature the Banat dialect shares with the western areas of the [[Wallachian dialect]].
*The auxiliary verb used for the compound perfect in the 3rd person has the forms ''o'' and ''or'': ''o mărs'', ''or mărs'' ("he went", "they went", compare with standard ''a mers'', ''au mers'').
*The newer extended conjugation does not replace the older [[Romanian verbs|forms]] in the 1st and 4th conjugation groups: ''el lucră'', ''ea înfloare'' ("he works", "it blooms", compare with standard ''el lucrează'', ''ea înflorește'', with ''-izo'' and ''-isko'' suffixes borrowed by Late Latin from Greek).{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}
*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 standard ''eu 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 standard ''avusesem'', ''mă dusesem'', ''mâncase'').
*The negative plural prohibitive (not imperative){{clarify|date=July 2014}} continues the Latin imperfect subjunctive: ''nu fugireț'' (< lat. ''ne fugiretis''), ''nu mâncareț'' ("don't run", don't eat", compare with standard ''nu fugiți'', ''nu mâncați'').
*The auxiliary ''fi'' 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 standard ''eu să fi mâncat'', ''tu să fi mâncat'', ''el să fi mâncat'').
*In some areas, the auxiliary verb used to construct the conditional is ''a vrea'': ''eu vreaș face'', ''tu vreai face'', ''el vrea face'' ("I / you / he would do", compare with standard ''eu aș face'', ''tu ai face'', ''el ar face''). Sometimes the ''v'' of the auxiliary is dropped: ''reaș'', etc.
*In south-western areas, under the [[Serbo-Croatian grammar#Aspect|Serbian]] influence, signs of a verbal [[aspect (grammar)|aspect]] are found, relying on the use of prefixes: ''a dogăta'' ("to finish completely", from ''a găta''), ''a zăuita'' ("to forget completely", from ''a uita''), ''a se proînsura'' ("to marry again", from ''a se însura'').
===Lexical particularities===
*The [[demonstrative]] articles are: ''ăl'', ''a'', ''ăi'', ''ale'' {{IPA|[ˈalʲe]}} (standard ''cel'', ''cea'', ''cei'', ''cele'').
*Specific [[indefinite pronoun]]s and adjectives are found: {{IPA|[ˈaltəʃʲe]}} ("something", standard ''ceva''), {{IPA|[məˈkar ˈʃʲnʲe]}} ("anyone", standard ''oricine''), ''tot natul'' ("each one", ''fiecare'').
*Other specific words: ''șcătulă'' ("box", standard ''cutie''), ''șnaidăr'' ("tailor", ''croitor''), ''ai'' ("garlic", ''usturoi''), ''farbă'' ("dye", ''vopsea''), ''golumb'' ("pigeon", ''porumbel''), ''cozeci'' ("measles", ''pojar''), etc.
===Sample===
Banat dialect: {{IPA|[ɨntɨmˈplare̯a o fost aˈʃa ‖ lã luˈvat d͡ʒʲe lant͡s ‖ jel mo pus ˈkapũ spiˈnare ʃo pleˈkat ku ˈminʲe d͡ʒʲm pəˈrjɛt͡ʃʲem pəˈrʲɛt͡ʃʲe ‖ jam pus ˈmɨnantruŋ kʷorn ˈʃajlaltənˈtralt kʷorn ʃɨ mo trɨnˈt͡ʃʲit ʒos]}}
Standard Romanian: {{lang|ro|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."
==Subdivisions==
The Banat dialect is further divided into several areas, based on finer distinctions in linguistic facts:
*south-western varieties, with particularities such as:
**{{IPA|/ə/}} becomes {{IPA|[ɛ]}}: {{IPA|[fɛˈkut, pɛˈmɨnt]}} for ''făcut'', ''pământ'';
**{{IPAslink|ʷ}} becomes {{IPA|[v]}}: {{IPA|[luˈvat]}} for ''luat'';
**a verbal [[aspect (grammar)|aspect]] appears: ''am dogătat'', ''am zăuitat'', ''s-a pronsurat'' (see morphological features above);
*eastern varieties;
*northern varieties, where {{IPA|[ɨ]}} becomes more frontal, between {{IPA|[ɨ]}} and {{IPA|[i]}}, in words like {{IPA|[rɨd]}} (in varieties around [[Lugoj]]);
*north-eastern varieties, in the [[Hațeg|Hațeg Country]].
==See also==
*[[Romanian phonology]]
*[[Romanian language in Serbia]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
*Vasile Ursan, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120120003357/http://www.revistatransilvania.ro/arhiva/2008/pdf/numarul1/art18.pdf "Despre configurația dialectală a dacoromânei actuale"], ''Transilvania'' (new series), 2008, No. 1, pp.&nbsp;77–85 {{in lang|ro}}
*Ilona Bădescu, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120407025704/http://cis01.central.ucv.ro/litere/idd/cursuri/an_3/dialectologie/dialectologie_an3_badescu.pdf "Dialectologie"], teaching material for the University of Craiova {{in lang|ro}}
*Elena Buja, Liliana Coposescu, Gabriela Cusen, Luiza Meseșan Schmitz, Dan Chiribucă, Adriana Neagu, Iulian Pah, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110821193751/http://meridium.unistrapg.it/sites/meridium.unistrapg.internal/files/Country_report_RO_90_pagini_1_aprilie_2010_final.pdf ''Raport de țară: România''], country report for the Lifelong Learning Programme MERIDIUM {{in lang|ro}}
{{Eastern Romance languages and dialects}}
{{Romanian language}}
[[Category:Romanian language varieties and styles]]
[[Category:Banat]]
[[Category:Timok Valley]]