The Rusyn Language
A Grammar of the Literary Standard of Slovakia
with Reference to Lemko and Subcarpathian Rusyn
Stefan M. Pugh
Wright State University
The Rusyn Language is the first grammar of Rusyn in English, and the first of the Rusyn of Slovakia (termed “Prešov” Rusyn) in any language. In many ways, the book is a traditional grammar: it treats the phonology and every morphological category of the language, as well as providing basic syntactic information and a selection of illustrative texts in Rusyn.
In addition to describing Prešov Rusyn, this grammar also supplies comparative data from Lemko and Subcarpathian Rusyn – variants spoken in Poland and Ukraine, respectively. This is done in order to identify the central linguistic core of the Rusyn linguistic continuum; this information will be of interest to Slavists as well as to language planners who are contemplating the formulation of a supra-regional Rusyn literary language. Prešov Rusyn – just like every other variant of the language – is a fascinating linguistic entity because it is characterized by a great deal of variation. It is of especially great interest to Slavists because it is a language that can be seen as a bridge between East and West Slavic: Rusyn is clearly East Slavic, but has been in contact with West Slavic for a very long time, with clear consequences for the present-day state of the language.
ISBN 9783895869402. Languages of the World/Materials 476. 238pp. 2009.