Help:Rusyn

Hello! Here's a crash course in Rusyn for English speakers fluent in Ukrainian, which should help for understanding the vast majority of content in Lemko songs and songs in other Rusyn dialects.

Alphabet

There are a few Rusyn alphabets in common use. On WikiSpiv, we render the songs with the closest phonetic Ukrainian approximation rather than aiming for faithful reproduction of the Rusyn letters. We occasionally use "ы" and "ў" in addendums as part of explaining the correct pronunciation, but the main lyrics of a song will not contain them.

Here's a summary of Rusyn letters which differ from Ukrainian which you might encounter:

• В - Usually V, but sometimes makes a F sound or a W sound (like Polish ł or Belarusian ў).
• Ё - Йо
• Ы - This is not a Russism! In Rusyn there are three "I" sounds, and it is distinct from І and И. This letter makes more of an "uh" sound, like the second "I" in "position"

Personal pronouns (Accusative)

Reflexive Personal Pronouns

In Ukrainian, the pronoun "ся=себе" has become a suffix, whereas in Rusyn it continues to be a separate, alternate word, as it was in old Ukrainian (which is still preserved in some expressions, like "Бог ся рождає" = "Бог рoждається")

Ukrainian: "Він помився" = "Він помив себе" = "Він себе помив"

Rusyn: "Він помыв ся" = "Він ся помыв" = "Він помыв себе" = "Він себе помыв"

Common Vocab