Kurpie dialect

The Kurpie dialect (Polish: gwara kurpiowska) belongs to the Masovian dialect group and is located in the part of Poland. It borders the Masurian dialects to the north and the Far Mazovian dialect to the south.^[1] The Kurpie dialect is generally well preserved, and a strong cultural connection to the dialect can be felt amongst speakers. Standard Polish is used by most people in the region, often alongside Kurpian, and code-switching between the two frequently happens.^[2]

Typical of Masovian dialects, devoicing of word-final consonants before vowels and liquids is present here, including before clitics. Also typical of Masovian dialects is the presence of mazuration, however, due to influence from Standard Polish, this is disappearing.^[2]

y phonemically merges with i (approaching it phonetically to ɪ), leaving the hardness of the previous consonant as the main phonemic determining factor: potraw·i (potrawy). Often the group er shifts to ir: dopsiro. Ablaut is often levelled: ziedro (wiadro), bzierzo (biorą). The shift of initial ja-, ra- > je-, re- is present: jek, (jak), redził (radzil). This was more common in the past, but often Standard Polish forms can be seen now. The shift of medial -ar- > -er- is also present: terło (tarło). This was more common in the past, but often Standard Polish forms can be seen now.^[2]

Slanted á is generally retained as á, or may sometimes raise and merge with o, or uncommonly merge with a. Slanted é is generally retained as é, with much phonetic variation, or may also be merged with e due to influence from Standard Polish. Slanted ó is generally retained as ó, with much phonetic variation, and may also appear in places different than in Standard Polish.^[2]

Typically medial ę as well as the group eN are lowered, and ę generally decomposes: bańdzie. However, much variety depends on the village, non-lowered or raised variants (to éN, yN/iN) also exist: bendzie, as well as non-decomposed forms. Lowering of ę is becoming less popular, and can mostly be seen in final position (with denasalization): na ziosna (na wiosnę), and either eN or yN/iN are more dominant. Word finally, -ę denalasaizes to -e. The lowering of eN is still relatively common: przed progam (przed progiem). Hypercorrections also occurs: peniętam (pamiętam). Medial ą tends to decompose to oN, or sometimes raises to uN: ciungnik (ciągnik). Word finally, -ą denasalizes to -o in the east; in the west nasality is retained. The group oN tends to raise to óN and sometimes further to uN: stróny (strony), but the standard realization oN also can be heard. iN, yN, and uN often lowers, particularly iN: jenacej (inaczej). o before a liquid often raises: kórole (korale), and e before a liquid often lowers to a: sztalmach (sztelmach). ył/ił often shifts to uł: pozwoluł (pozwolił). The groups ęł, ęl, ął tend to replace l, ł with n: wzieno (wzięło).^[2]

Initial o- often labializes to ô-, and to a lesser extend u- to û-. However, non-labialized forms are also present. Initial i- and e- can rarely gain a prothetic j-.^[2]

Soft labials are decomposed, most often to a labial and a palatal sibilant; rarely the palatalizing element is instead strengthened to j, or sometimes h, ch is the second element: robzio (robią), ustąpsiuł (ustąpił), wzino (wino). Sometimes the resulting cluster simplifies, particularly wź, fś, mń to ź, ś, ń: ziecora (wieczora). This decomposition can vary somewhat village to village. ki, gi, kie, gie are often hardened, but soft pronunciations are more common: kedyś (kiedyś). kt shifts to cht: chto (kto). chrz shifts to krz: krzesny (chrzestny). Geminated kk dissimilates to tk: letko (lekko).^[2]

Verbs may appear in both contracted and uncontracted forms here: stojała, stała (stała).^[2]

Typical Masovian features of inflection are present here.

The instrumental plural ending is generally -ani (from -ami). The typical Masovian ending is -amy, via hardening, which is exceptional here. The masculine dative singular ending for nouns is -oziu (rarely -owju or -oju) (from earlier -owiu) from contamination of -owi and -u: konioziu (koniowi). Masculine and neuter nouns ending in sz, ż, as a result of mazuration, sometimes take -e instead of -u in the locative singular: o kosie (o koszu). The nominative plural of masculine personal nouns is formed with -e more commonly than in Standard Polish: ojce byli (ojcowie byli). Alternatively, masculine personal nouns are often converted to masculine animal nouns: te majstry (ci majstrowie/majstrzy). There is a preference for -ów as the genitive plural ending regardless of gender or the softness of the stem. Feminine nouns ending in -ew are often declined differently: za krokwe (za krokiew), as if from the nominative singular krokwa. A few nouns have a gender different than in Standard Polish. Often neuter nouns ending in -ę do not take -n- in declensions: dwa wynia (dwa wymiona).^[2]

Adjectives, pronouns, and numerals take -em in the masculine instrumental/locative singular instead of standard -ym/-im: po tem wszystkiem (po tym wszystkim). The plural is often -eni (from earlier -emi): całeni dniani (całymi dniami). Similarly, the genitive/locative plural is -ech: tech (tych).^[2]

The first person plural present tense of verbs is formed with the archaic -m: idziem (idziemy). In the past tense, -m is also present in place of standard -śmy: robilim (robiliśmy). The second person plural past tense and imperative of verbs is sporadically formed with -ta in place of -cie: daliśta (daliście). The third person plural past tense if often formed with -eli in place of standard -ali: sieli (siali). Forms and derivatives often appear without j: przyde (przyjdę).^[2]

Typical Masovian features of word-formation are present here.

Nouns denoting young animals and people are formed with -ak: dziewcoki (dziewczęta).^[2]

Frequentatives may be formed with -ać where in Standard Polish is often -ywać/-ować: kupać (kupować).^[2]

Dwa may be used for feminine nouns instead of dwie: dwa krowy (dwie krowy).^[2]

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