Podhale dialect

Phonology

Typical of Lesser Polish dialects (as well as Greater Polish dialects), voicing of word-final consonants before vowels and liquids is present here. Also typical of Lesser Polish dialects is the presence of mazuration. Initial accent is found here: ‘pôwiadajom (powia’dają).

Vowels

i is retained after rz, which is pronounced as y in Standard Polish, or may shift to ś, ‘warziwa (warzywa), psinieśli (przynieśli). Most famously, the so-called “Podhalanian archaism” is present here; after etymological cz, ż, sz (now c, z, s) as well as after etymological cy, zy, sy, i is retained, which is the original pronunciation: dzisiyjs-im (dzisiejszym). This is also present in loanwords: bic-igiel. However, before ł and l, i shifts to y, both heterosyllabically and tautosyllabically, regardless of the Podhalanian archaism: strzelył (strzelił), naucył mie (nauczył mnie). Often ablaut is levelled: mietła, wiesna (miotła, wiosna).

Slanted vowels

Slanted vowels are generally retained: górále (górale), however it is quickly merging with o, notably without labialization. Slanted é has merged with y after both hard and soft consonants: biyda (bieda). Slanted ó is retained as ó: górále.

Nasal vowels

Nasal vowels retain nasality word-medially before sibilants, otherwise ę is decomposed into yN and ą into oN. In the past tense of verbs ending in -ąć, -on, -yn is common: wzion, wziyna (wziął, wzięłą). Word-final nasals’ realizations can vary depending on their morphological characteristics. Final -ę is realized as -ym in the first-person present/future singular of verbs: widzym (widzę), as -e in the accusative singular of feminine nouns that end in historical jasne a in the nominative: babe (babę), but -om for feminine nouns that historically ended in slanted -á in the nominative: odbyć msom świyntom (odbyć mszę świętą). Final -ą is realized as -om in the third person present/future plural of verbs: zapuscajom (zapuszczajom), and in the accusative and instrumental singular of feminine adjectives, numerals, and pronouns: w drugom strone (w drugą stronę); przed drugom wojnom (przed drugą wojną).

Prothesis

o typically labializes word-initially to ô and also sometimes medially. Initial a sometimes has a prothetic h, and prothetic j is also found initially and medially before various vowels; these latter two processes are generally restricted to certain words.

Consonants

Word-final -ch shifts to -k in the locative plural of nouns: ‘pô pôtôkak (po ptakach); the genitive/locative plural of adjectives, numerals, and pronouns: drugik (drugich); the first person past (aorist) singular of verbs: byłek (byłem). This also occurs in stem-final -ch: duk (duch), the particle niek (niech). Initial ch- shifts to k- in clusters in certain words: krzciny (chrzciny). ch- shifts to f- in the verb chcieć: nie fce (nie chce). Dark ł was present more commonly in the past, but in younger generations is replaced with /w/.

Inflection

Typical Goral inflectional traits are found here.

Adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and numerals

The genitive of numerals is typically levelled to -ik or -uk: siedmik lot (siedmiu lat), do trzidziestuk piynciu stopni (do trzydziestu pięciu stopni).

Vocabulary

Word-Formation

Typical Goral word-formation tendencies can be seen here.

Nouns

The noun-forming suffixes -acka (-aczka) and -ba are more common here: sarpacka (szarpaczka) ‘szamotanina, rękoczyny’, chciyjba ‘chcenie, chęć’.

Verbs

Verbs containing -á- create the passive participle with -t-: siáty (siany).

References

References

1. Karaś, Halina. (2010). "Podhale".
2. Karaś, Halina. (2010). "Podhale".
3. "Gwara, ciekawostki gwarowe w regionach - Górale Podhalańscy - Etnozagroda".
4. Kąs, Józef. (2010). "Gwara regionu - Podhale".