Verb forms / constructions in the Prešov variant and the Bačka-Srem variant of the Rusyn language*

Abstract

Abstract There are four variants of the Rusyn language: the Bačka-Srem variant (in Serbia and in Croatia), the Prešov variant (in Slovakia), the Lemko variant (in Poland), and the Transcarpathian variant (in Ukraine). The author of this paper compares the verb forms /constructions in the Bačka-Srem variant of the Rusyn language (South Rusyn / Ruthenian; руски язик) and the Prešov variant of the Rusyn language (West Rusyn; русински язик) and determines the similarities and differences between them. The work essentially represents one of the rare comparisons of a language segment of the existing Rusyn language variants and the author pleads for comparing other language segments too, including the respective language segments of the Lemko variant and the Transcarpathian variant, which could lead to a wider comparative project on an international level. The comparison of the verb forms / constructions in the Bačka-Srem and the Prešov literary standard is based on contemporary grammars.