Help: Rusyn

This is 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. This also includes some dated Western Ukrainian dialectal forms which are not strictly Rusyn. It errs on the side of including forms which are considered improper or are no longer used in the interest of aiding in understanding when these appear in songs.

What is Rusyn?

Rusyn is generally considered a transitional language between Ukrainian, Polish, and Slovak, though some consider it to be a dialect of Ukrainian. Lemko is a dialect of Rusyn, and Lemko is sometimes (incorrectly) used as a synonym for Rusyn, but there are other dialects as well. Due to the strong degree of mutual intelligibility and proximity, Rusyn songs are frequently sung by Ukrainians, especially in the Ukrainian diaspora, many of whom came from these regions.

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 Rusyn. 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 an F sound, depending on the dialect. Also sometimes makes a W sound (see "Л").
• Л - Some speakers always pronounce this L, but some pronounce it L it some positions and W in others (equivalent to Polish ł or Belarusian ў). Details. Oftentimes this letter will be rendered as a "в" instead when it should be pronounced as a "w" (e.g. you may see the spelling "горівка" instead of "горілка" - this would be pronounced "horeewka")
• Ё - Йо / Ьо
• Ы - This is not a Russism! In Rusyn there are three "I" sounds, and Ы is distinct from І and И. This letter makes more of an "uh" sound, like the second "I" in "position". In Ukrainian cognates, this is usually an "и", and we usually represent it with "и" in our lyrics.
• Сь - This sound is pronounced more like "шь" (and the same is true when a softened "С" occurs automatically by proximity, e.g. with the word "ся"). So "ся" would be pronounced "shya" in Lemko but "sya" in Ukrainian. This pronunciation was once common in all of western Ukraine and it's often heard in the diaspora.

Personal pronouns (Accusative)

Personal pronouns (Genitive)

Personal pronouns (Dative)

Personal pronouns (Locative)

Personal pronouns (Instrumental)

Demontrative pronouns

TODO

Reflexive Personal Pronouns

In Ukrainian, the pronoun "ся" has become a suffix, whereas in Rusyn it continues to be a separate 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"

• While "ся" is literarily only for genitive and accusative and "си" or "сі" is literarily only for dative, in spoken language all 3 of these are commonly used interchangeably.

To Be: Быти (Бити/Бути)

Aside: Бим (1 особа однини), бись (2 особа однини), бисьмо (1 особа множни), бисьте (2 особа множини) = б (би) ( https://slovnyk.ua/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4947 )

Past Tense - Быти endings

There are 2 ways to form past tense, either the way it's done in Ukrainian (e.g. "Я бесідувала / Ти бесідувала") or by appending the conjugated form of "быти" (e.g. "Бесідувала єм" or "Бесідувала єс"). These in turn are commonly shortened (e.g. "Бесідувалам" or "Бесідувалас").

We see this in a number of songs. For example, "Би-м ся рум'янила" in Іванку, Іванку, купи ми рум'янку could be translated thusly:

• Би-м ся рум'янила (original)
• Би єм ся рум'янила (unshortening "єм")
• Я би ся рум'янила (replacing conjugated "єм", with "я")
• Я би рум'янилася (turning reflexive "ся" into a suffix)

Common Vocab

Some common Rusyn vocabulary used in songs which is different enough from the Ukrainian word that it might not be recognized.

Dictionaries

• Закарпатський словник

Examples of Rusyn Pronunciation

• Тиха Вода - Lemko Wedding
• Jordan na Łemkowyni
• Hrdza - Штефан

Additional Resources

• Русинська мова на Пряшівщині
• Ukrainian Grammar (wikipedia)
• Ukrainian Grammar
• Lemko Video Tutorials
• Rusin/Rusyn <===> American Dictionary (Nancy J Kelly)
• Lemko.org