West Slavic Languages Research Articles

Czech and Slovak in the mirror of Czech-Slovak relations in the 19th and 21st centuries

Czech and Slovak are two close West Slavic languages spoken by two close peoples - Czechs and Slovaks. The socio-historical circumstances led to the emergence of a special coexistence and the creation of a specific passive bilingualism, which was applied in the so-called semi-communication. That semi-communicativeness and passive Czech-Slovak bilingualism was strengthened by the joint broadcasting of Czechoslovak Radio and Czechoslovak Television. After 1989, a new period of democratic development of Czech and Slovak society and language begins. The return to democracy, a new social and economic situation, and new international contacts caused a whole series of changes in both languages as well. Expressions connected with the communist past gradually disappeared from both languages, and expressions that had ceased to be used in the 1950s returned to active use in both languages. On January 1, 1993, based on a law of the Federal Assembly, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic ceased to exist and two new independent states appeared on the map of Europe - the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic. The paths of the two nations parted peacefully, but they did not stop communicating with each other. Even today, Czechs and Slovaks get along well without major problems, although the younger generations, who were socialized linguistically only after the division of the former Czechoslovakia, may have certain difficulties in communication. To a large extent, Czech-Slovak passive bilingualism and semi-communicative competence persist. However, some research shows that especially the young and the youngest generation of Czech and Slovak speakers understand the second language less and less. During the 20th century, both Czechs and Slovaks went through dramatic twists of fate, they came together and parted ways, but they were always actually together. And Czech and Slovak naturally reflected these twists. They entered the 20th century as languages not quite fully legal and despised by many (Czech was only a regional language, Slovak within Hungary a language intended for gradual Magyarization), they entered the 21st century as official languages of two separate equal states and as official languages of the European Union.

Polish dialect kinship names according to the data in Volume 11. "Degrees of Kinship” of the Slavic Linguistic Atlas (preliminary results in a comparative perspective)

The article discusses data on kinship names in Polish dialects on the basis of an analysis of 82 linguistic maps and the comments to them from Volume 11. “Degrees of Kinship,” which has been prepared for publication by the Bulgarian National Commission as part of the lexical-word-formation series of the Slavic Linguistic Atlas. The language material is authentic, collected and verified on site by Polish dialectologists and includes terms for biological kinship and for relation by marriage and by matchmaking. Special attention is paid to the similarities and contrasts between Polish dialects and East and South Slavic dialects, on the one hand, and the Polish language and the other West Slavic languages, on the other. Emphasis is placed on kinship names that belong to the all- Slavic vocabulary, as well as the expansion of foreign language loanwords and elements that have completely replaced the native lexis. With nomina affinitatis, the disintegration of the old original naming system and the emergence of differences in the Slavic language territory can be traced. The research has employed linguo- geographical and comparative methods.

WOODEN CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE BARROWS OF THE RAIKY CULTURE: GENESIS, ANALOGIES, SEMANTICS

Wooden constructions of various types were found in the barrow cremation burials of the Raiky culture of the 8th—10th centuries. People of this culture were the Slavic tribes of the Right Bank of the Dnieper, Volynia, and Dniester River regions. The burnt rectangular constructions made of horizontal logs (Mezhyrichky, Velyka Horbasha and Radastst in Polesie) were the most widespread. Burial chambers from the Don River basin (Borshevo culture) or Transylvania are usually cited as parallels. However, in terms of typology, wooden constructions spread over the territory of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and East Germany are much closer. They are considered as models of residential buildings — «houses of the dead».
 Circular fences made of burnt pillars are less common (Holovne and Mylanovichi in Volynia). It is believed that they were supposed to separate the World of the Living from the World of the Dead.
 Most of the barrows from the Chornivka (Bukovina) and Dobrostany (Roztocze) cemeteries had the pillar holes on the periphery. This element which has usually been overlooked by researchers is also widely known in West Slavic lands: modern Czech archaeologists even consider the burials of this type to be dominated in the territory of Bohemia. It is believed that burial urns were placed on the pillars because around them on the surface of the mound the burnt bones and fragments of ceramics were often recorded. Thus, the words of the Old Rus chronicler who described the burial of pagan Slavs «on a pillar by the roads» should be understood quite literally. The recording of such burials during archaeological excavations causes understandable difficulties.
 In general, in the area of the Raiky culture, there can be counted at least one and a half dozen mound burials with the remains of wooden structures. The homogeneity of constructions demonstrates the common worldviews that were widespread in the 8th—10th centuries among the Slavs from the Elba to the Dnieper.

ASSEMBLAGES OF THE GRAVES 70 AND 71 OF THE OSTRIV BURIAL GROUND: TO THE QUESTION OF THE ETHNO-CULTURAL COMPONENTS OF THE NECROPOLIS

Since 2017 the Architectural-archaeological expedition of IA NASU has been exploring the Ostriv burial ground in the Ros River basin (the Middle Dnipro region). Аn area of 2257 m2 was investigated, on which 107 burials of the medieval necropolis were discovered. The materials of the burial ground show a resemblance with the Mediaeval West-Baltic groups of tribes (Curonians, Skalvians, Prussians, et al.). At the same time, some grave goods and certain features of burial rites indicate the more syncretic nature of the settlers’ culture. The discussion about the time, place and circumstances of the formation of the material assemblage and structure of ideas of this group of migrants remains open.
 This research evaluates the informational potential of individual burial assemblages for the possible reconstruction of the structural elements (cultural, ethnic and social) of the population buried in the Ostriv burial ground. Two female burials discovered in the spring of 2020 (nos. 70 and 71) were selected for analysis.
 Bodies have been placed in a shallow pit the contours of which were fixed at the level of unearthed skeletons (0.3—0.4 m). Both deceased were put in wooden coffins. The skeletons laid supine, with their heads directed to the west with a seasonal deviation to the north. The recorded features of the burial rite allow us to consider that both women were buried at the same time
 The deceased were connected by close family ties. The recorded funeral rite shows both common features of the necropolis and individual details which may indicate the worldview of the deceased. A similar situation is demonstrated by the grave goods — some of the discovered artifacts are traditional for the graves of the Ostriv while others were a real surprise. These materials take us to different regions of Medieval Europe: the Eastern Baltic coast, the upper Nieman basin, the Middle Dnieper area, and the early Piast state. Some of these materials have a rather limited area of distribution and a narrow chronology of use.
 The materials of these burials represent contacts between the Baltic and West Slavic ethnic groups in the Ros River basin after their migration / resettlement in the process of developing this region during the middle — second half of the 11th century.

Proto-Slavic *čerěnъ and *černъ. I. Vault (of the hearth)

In etymological literature, one can come across the reconstruction of several homonymous words *černъ and/or *čerěnъ in the Proto-Slavic language. The highest number of reconstructed words is four while the lowest number is two. The reconstructions differ both in form and semantics. This article attempts to determine which position is best supported by facts and to clarify the reconstructed meanings. The analysed material suggests that we should differentiate between *černъ ‘handle’ and *čerěnъ / *čerěnь / *čerenъ / *čerenь (?), which denoted a certain part of the hearth, most likely the vault. It is highly probable that certain designations of nets in West Slavic languages are also continuants of the latter word. Etymologically, *čerěnъ / *čerěnь / *čerenъ / *čerenь is most probably related to the verb *kuriti (sę), although alternative explanations are possible.

The Possessive Resultative Passive in Ukrainian

In Ukrainian, the possessive resultative passive is represented by subject constructions that are comprised of the verb maty (to have) and passive participle (e.g. maju zapysani pisni ‘I have written songs’, mala naskladano troxy hroshey ‘she had saved some money’ etc.). These constructions, which are a grammatical norm in West Slavic, Macedonian, and Bulgarian, are an innovation in Ukrainian that has not been investigated enough. In this paper three models of the possessive resultative passive construction are differentiated. The degrees of their presence in Ukrainian are different. My linguistic data shows that some varieties of the possessive resultative passive construction are productive in the colloquial language, as well as in the electronic and technical discourses in Ukrainian.

„Лексикографка” чи „лексикографиня”? Українсько-польські паралелі жіночого словотворення

This article reveals the similar and different word-formative types of feminine personal nouns in the Ukrainian and Polish languages, which were selected from the modern dictionaries and compared. Using lexicographic sources, corpora and statistics, the author tests the hypothesis of Polish influences on the word formation of Ukrainian feminine terms. As a result of the study, a possible Polish influence was found on the word-formative type of feminitives with -(Ч)ИН(Я), which testifies to the convergence of Ukrainian with West Slavic languages. At the same time, original Ukrainian feminine personal nouns are created mainly with the help of the formants -ИЦ(Я) and -ИН(Я), and these suffixes are added without alternation of consonants, which is more typical for newly coined Polish feminine terms.

On the Reflection of Unaccented Length and the Short Neo-Acute in Slavic, the kȍkōt Type Lengthening in Štokavian/Čakavian and Other Issues

This is the sixth instalment in the discussion between Frederik Kortlandt and the author of this article on several problems of historical Slavic accentology. The paper discusses the reflection of pre- and posttonic length (in accentual paradigm a and c) in Western South Slavic and West Slavic, the reflection of the short neo-acute in Kajkavian and Czech, and the kȍkōt ‘rooster’ type lengthening in accentual paradigm c in Štokavian and Čakavian. A few other topics are also shortly discussed – such as the accent of the genitive plural, the *obőrna ‘defence’ type accent, and the Čakavian črnĩna ‘blackness’ and dvorĩšće ‘courtyard’ type accent. Additionally, the paper deals with some issues concerning Kortlandt’s rather problematic methodology, rhetorics, discussion and presentation style.

A Conference Report: ‘Symposium on Language in West Slavic Bible Versions: Shapes and Shifts’ (2 July 2021, Catholic Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague)

A Conference Report

Prosodic Phrasing of Good Speakers in English and Czech.

Prosodic patterning is known to affect the impression that speakers make on their listeners. This study explores prosodic phrasing in good public speakers of American English and Czech. Czech is a West Slavic language whose intonation is reported to be flatter and prosodic phrases longer than in English. We analyzed prosodic characteristics of 10 speakers of Czech and American English who appeared in TED Talks, assuming such appearance to be a mark of a “good speaker.” Our objective was to see whether prosodic phrasing will be more similar in these public speeches between the two languages. We measured the length of prosodic phrases, speech rate in each phrase, and pitch range and melodic variability in the entire phrase, as well as in its pre-nuclear and nuclear portion. The number of syllables per phrase was higher in Czech than in English, although phrases were generally very short in both languages. The melodic indicators confirm smaller melodic variability in Czech even in publicly performed TED Talks. Overall, our results show that there are differences between Czech and English prosodic phrasing in good public speakers but that the genre also affects phrasing. Prosodic rendition—especially prosodic phrase length and melodic variability—is therefore a vital, albeit somewhat language-specific aspect of speech performance which public speakers should pay close attention to, both in their native language and in foreign languages.

Morphological Markers for the Masculine Gender in Modern Slavic Languages

This paper examines the morphological markers revealing the grammatical and semantic markedness of the masculine gender in modern Slavic languages and discusses how these morphological markers have been developed narrowing down to the markers for the human male gender. All modern Slavic languages with six or seven-case declension systems have a masculine singular genitive-accusative syncretism found when the referent is animate. Almost all Slavic masculine genitive plural nouns, except BCSM, are also morphologically marked, and their one-syllable endings are apparently distinguished from the zero endings of their feminine and neuter equivalents. Unlike the East and South Slavic languages, the West Slavic languages have specific means in plural to differentiate masculine animate or masculine human referents from others. The Czech masculine animate accusative and nominative nominal plural endings and verbal past plural endings contain specific morphological markers, and the Polish and Slovak counterparts indicating a human referent are also marked with specific morphemes. West Slavic and Ukrainian also can morphologically mark masculine nouns in the dative singular. Polish and Ukrainian masculine dative singular nouns have an ending different from that of the neuter gender, and Czech and Slovak masculine animate dative singular noun endings are morphologically distinguished from those of the neuter and the masculine inanimate gender. Additionally, Slovak masculine nouns have distinct dative, instrumental, and locative plural endings. Thus the grammatical feature of the masculine gender [+Masculine] is reflected in some distinct morphological markers in Modern Slavic languages. Especially in West Slavic, it gave rise to the morphological markers for the semantic category of male humans, i.e., the virility with the additional semantic features [+Animate] and [+Human]. These Slavic morphological markers for [+Masculine], [+Animate], or [+Human] are closely related to the recognition that the animate objects and human males stand out as the cognitively more significant and marked Figure.

Orthodox Literature of the Second Polish Republic: Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and Czech

This article examines a Slavic historical and cultural phenomenon of the twentieth century — the multilingual Orthodox literature of the Second Polish Republic, otherwise known as interwar Poland. This literature became a full-fledged successor to the colossal religious and national-cultural heritage of the Orthodox peoples of the Russian Empire that had developed before the Empire’s collapse. Despite the harsh anti-Orthodox policy of the authorities of the new, revived-in-1918 Poland, which included huge territories with indigenous Belarusian and Ukrainian populations, conditions of religious life there were more tolerant than those in the USSR, where the religion experienced huge pressure, often reducing it to a semi-underground or even underground existence. During the two interwar decades in the Second Polish Republic, a huge amount of printed and handwritten Orthodox literature was generated, designed for the widest segments of the population, who spoke and read both East and West Slavic languages in addition to Church Slavonic. The main target of this literature was the Belarusian and Ukrainian peasantry, which made up about 93% of all Orthodox Christians in interwar Poland, the total number of which was close to 5 million people — 12% of the country's population. Orthodox literature of the Second Polish Republic did not lose its significance as time passed; it spread widely in the world, and its works are still reprinted and rewritten in many states, including modern Russia.

Риторические вопросы и восклицания в славянском историческом повествовании рубежа XI–XII вв. («Повесть временных лет», «Чешская хроника», «Хроника Галла Анонима»)

The paper addresses rhetorical questions and exclamations in East and West Slavic historical narration of 11–12 centuries, showing that in the Russian Primary Chronicle rhetorical questions and exclamations were used to strengthen the assessment of the chronicle fragments for new ideology formation of the Ancient Rus’. The combinations of original and borrowed statements in the rhetorical figures indicate the orientation of the Old Russian chroniclers following the Byzantine pattern to the biblical rhetorical tradition. On the contrary, there are practically no quotations in rhetorical questions and exclamations in the West Slavic chronicles. Thus in the Chronica Bohemorum rhetorical figures are often combined with various expressive means and can relate not only to the content, but also to the form of the narrative, including being inside the phrase and being stable expressions. The same features are true for the Gesta Principum Polonorum, in which rhetorical figures are less often correlated with expressive means, and their expressive component is more clearly manifested. The author comes to the conclusion, that actualization of narrative subjectivity by means of rhetorical questions and exclamations is a common feature of the sources under consideration, that allows better understanding the worldview and tasks of medieval history scribers.

The Romanian harnic ‘industrious, hardworking’ as key to the etymology of the Ukrainian гарний ‘beautiful, good’

The author suggests a new etymology of the Ukrainian гарний ‘beautiful, good’ and the Romanian harnic ‘industrious, hardworking’. He thinks that a Slavic (of the Proto-Slavic time) verb with the meaning ‘to work hard’ was the source of both mentioned lexeme. The existence of this verb is supported by the Ukrainian dialectal [гарувати] with the same meaning, which has direct analogies both in East Slavic, some West Slavic and South Slavic (Serbian, Slovenian) languages. The origin of this Slavic verb can be explained through the analysis of two other Ukrainian dialectal words that are semantically close to each other, but differing in phonetics and, as some researchers believe, according to origin. The mentioned words are [гара] и [ґара], with the meaning ‘a cart with a box for transporting earth or sand; a sledge for transporting large loads’. Since in this case there is an indisputable semantic identity of both forms (practically identical phonetically as well), we cannot, contrary to the versions expressed earlier, separate from each other the question of their origin. The phonetic difference has to be explained by the difference in the time of the borrowing. Thus, the author thinks that the for-Slavic verb, which became the source for the Ukrainian [гарувати], гарний (as well as [гарник] ‘cart worker’), and the Romanian harnic, came from a word borrowed during the Proto-Slavic time with the meaning ‚cart’. However, contrary to the previous opinion, the author thinks that this borrowed word comes not from the German Karre ‘kart, wheelbarrow’, but from the Romanian car ‚cart‘.

HOMEOSTASIS AND COMPENSATION AS LINGUISTIC PHENOMENA (COMPETITION OF ASPECT AND TENSE ON THE EXAMPLE OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO POLISH)

The present paper deals with two universal linguistic phenomena, homeostasis and compensation. The author examines their function in relation to two categories, aspect and tense in the history of the Slavic languages. It is beyond doubt that one of the most important categories of the Slavic verb is aspect the origin of which may lie in the Proto-Indo-European language. The effects of its emergence as a verbal category were far-reaching and can be well traced in the history of the most Slavic languages. Taking a close look to the linguistic data, it seems quite obvious that the category of tense and aspect were closely related and did interact, creating different patterns in modern Slavic languages. A certain competition between the category of aspect and that of tense can already be observed in Old Slavic and also in Old Russian and Old Polish where tenses like the aorist and the imperfect were becoming increasingly obsolete. The perfect, on the contrary, has gained ground, while the pluperfect has almost completely fallen into disuse. In the further development, the aspectual opposition also extended to the future tenses thereby affecting the entire tense system. This scenario took place everywhere in the East and West Slavic languages with some nuanced differences. Consequently, in the aspect-tense system of the modern East and West Slavic languages the tendency of the category of aspect to prevail over the category of tense together with the gradual decline in the number of tenses seems to be quite clear. The South Slavic languages, however, have taken a slightly different path showing perhaps the most complex picture. Although the Serbian and Croatian languages have preserved the old tenses, their use is rather limited. In terms of their aspectual development, these languages are getting closer and closer to the Eastern and Western Slavic language groups. In contrast, in Bulgarian and Macedonian one can see an intricate interplay of the aspectual system and the developed tense system. In the case of the change of the different Slavic languages, the phenomenon of linguistic compensation can be observed in all cases on the example of aspect and tense categories as the main means of striving to maintain linguistic homeostasis. Keywords: linguistic homeostasis, compensation, aspect, tense, Old Slavic, Slavic languages, Polish

THE TIT NAMES IN SLAVIC AND FINNO-UGRIC LANGUAGES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

The article presents bookish and dialect tit names in Slavic and Finno-Ugric languages. The Slavic and Finno-Ugric ornithonyms denoting the genus Parus on the whole or the great tit (Parus major L.) were taken as material for analysis. In total, data from 12 Slavic and 14 Finno-Ugric languages and their dialects were analyzed. During the research, the inner form and motivating features of the lexemes were determined, their etymology was revealed. It was found that the Slavic and Finno-Ugric tit names are based on various motivating features: its appearance and plumage color, singing, diet, habits, similarity with other birds, habitat. Herewith, the East and South Slavic bookish tit names have controversial etymology: they may have onomatopoeic or color-semantic origin. At the same time, onomatopoeic lexemes prevail in Finno-Ugric and West Slavic languages. This fact may be an argument in favour of onomatopoeic origin of the East and South Slavic tit names.

Persistent innovations and historical conspiracies as reanalysis and extension

Abstract This article explores temporally extended innovations as a form of phonological reanalysis and extension. Polabian (West Slavic) exhibits multiple dissimilatory innovations that target the reflexes of Late Common Slavic (LCS) *v/w. In this paper, I propose that the outputs of syllable structure changes in early West Slavic were reinterpreted as restrictions on the distribution of [w], thus introducing dissimilation to the language. The new grammar was not able to stop other innovations from occurring (prophylaxis) and instead restructured intermediate outputs from subsequent innovations into an acceptable phonetic form (repair) thereby extending dissimilation to new items. I demonstrate that (a) outputs of an earlier onset epenthesis grammar conform to the surface-true generalizations enforced by the reanalyzed dissimilation grammar and (b) a single grammar can account for both the dissimilation which developed during the West Slavic period and subsequent extensions which occurred after Polabian was fully differentiated from its relatives.

Modeling gradient processes in Polabian vowel chain shifting and blocking

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of two interacting sound changes in the extinct West Slavic language Polabian. Polabian is known to have two types of vowel innovations: (i) the incorporation of acoustic properties from consonant secondary co-articulations (either palatalization or velarization) and (ii) a systematic rotation of vowels (Timberlake 1995). This paper argues that the innovation in (ii) is a vowel chain shift similar to those analyzed in Labov (1994). Unlike the other languages surveyed in Labov (1994), Polabian has phonologically predictable exceptions to the general direction of vowel movement through the acoustic space. Unlike previous work on Polabian, this paper proposes that the vowel chain shift operated simultaneously with the innovation in (i) resulting in phonologically predictable exceptions. This paper tests Timberlake’s (1995) proposal and the current proposal in a Harmonic Grammar (Flemming 2001) which uses Purcell’s (1979) acoustic data from Russian as a proxy. The model only captures the correct distribution of vowel reflexes under the assumption that co-articulatory based innovations and vowel chain shifting were active at the same time.

Славянские устойчивые сравнения с персонажами Библии в диалектах

The present paper deals with the functioning of phraseological comparative constructions with biblical characters in dialects of East, West, and South Slavic languages. The charac- ters of the Holy Scripture include not only the nameless and named heroes of the Bible but also the Creator himself as well as supernatural beings that serve or oppose the Creator. The description involves comparative phraseological units with an adjective that derives from a character of the Bible. Most of the analyzed Slavic dialectal phraseological units are fixed in dictionaries.The description of comparative phraseological units (if possible) is carried out from the positions of structural and semantic modelling, which allows to identify the lexical variation of components in the dialects of the same language or in various languages. In some cases, the paper includes areal characteristics of comparative constructions. For this purpose, the author shows their parallels in other linguistic and dialect regions. As a result, the paper reveals both structural and semantic biblical universals and phraseological units with national specificity, i.e. similes that have no equivalents (literary or non-Slavic). There are units that are specific for some regions, for example, phraseological units containing microtoponyms such as geographical objects that are not widely known. The national and regional identity is manifested both at the level of figurative basis and at the level of non- equivalent comparativism since some subjects can be active in one language, while they are peripheral or lacunary in another one.In some cases, phraseological units are provided with cultural, historical, and etymol- ogical comments which reveal not only the biblical and religious roots but also reflect the ancient mythological representations of the Slavs. The author gives an explanation to the meaning of similes and their components.The Old and New Testaments are a common element of the spiritual culture of Chris- tians so the comparison reveals the similarity and repetition of comparative units, directly or indirectly related to the names of the characters of the Bible, or structural and semantic models in a particular area. At the same time, the phraseological units genetically ascending to the Bible show a quite large differentiation, demonstrating the peculiarity of the recep- tion of biblical images by the Slavs, the unequal interest in them. Although the very name of the biblical character is often international, set similes containing it are not always the same. This is usually the case for pseudo-biblical phraseological units that have no direct links to the character of the Bible; they are usually inherent in folk speech and are often jokingly ironic. This is particularly evident in dialects.

Польська мова як посередник проникнення гунґаризмів в українську мову

The article deals with the question of ancient contacts of Hungarians with the East Slavs. The article provides examples of ancient East Slavisms, which have gained a foothold in the Hungarian language. It is emphasized that the East Slavs and Hungarians borrowed new concepts and words as a result of geographical, social, and economic relations. With the formation of the Hungarian state, the Hungarian language had a significant influence on neighboring East Slavic dialects, especially those with which it had geographical proximity, in particular Transcarpathian. The incorporation of Hungarian lexical units in the Ukrainian language system was mostly direct, but in some cases, the influence of the Polish language was observed. We aim to present the Hungarianisms, in the process of whose incorporating into Ukrainian the Polish language played the role of a mediating language. A group of words of Hungarian origin was identified, which entered the system of the Russian language through the mediation of Polish. Most of the investigated lexical units borrowed from the Hungarian language were archaized or belong to historicisms. Антал [antal] in Ukrainian and Polish are direct borrowings from the Hungarian language (the first fixation in both languages was made in the 18th century); from Polish, the word entered the Russian language. Words like гусар, карваш, катанка, коч, кунтуш [контуш] and шипош [husar, karvash, katanka, koch, kuntush/kontush, shyposh] entered Ukrainian through the Polish language. It is supposed that the form of пушта [pushta] entered the East Slavic languages through Polish (it is a borrowing from the standard Polish language). The presence of the consonant ш [sh] in the word шабля [shablia] is explained by the influence of the Polish language. The chronology suggests that the word шишак [shyshak] has entered the Ukrainian language, as well as Russian, from the Polish language. The Hungarian kecsege (Ukrainian чечуга (чечура) [chechuha/chechura]) entered the lexical system of the Ukrainian, Russian and Polish languages through the Romanian language. The Polish mediation of incorporation is supposed concerning the words гайдук, гуляш, палаш, шалаш [шелаш] and шерега [haiduk, huliash, palash, shalash/shelash, shereha] in the lexical system of the Russian language, in the Ukrainian language гайдук, гуляш, палаш and шерега [haiduk, huliash, palash, shereha] are direct borrowings from the Hungarian language. Салаш [salash] could enter from both Hungarian and Romanian. Гарцювати [hartsiuvaty] is borrowed from the West Slavic languages, supposedly from Polish. Keywords: Polish language, Hungarianisms, Ukrainian language, Hungarian–Ukrainian language contacts, Ukrainian–Polish language contacts.