Pomorian North-Western dialects

The North-Western group is a dialectal group of the Pomorian language spoken mostly in the eastern part of Puck County and in Rumina, Reda and Weiherinå gminas (which are the western part of Pomorze wschodnie in Poland). It is often referred to as pamarėska uzskądoja (Western Pomorian), sometimes also as pumurėlina guora/galba and is considered being a separate language by its native speakers.

History

Western dialects started diverging from Old Pomorian approximately in the VIth-VIIth century, which is a very long time for a dialect. It came from lands in between Masuria and Ziemia lubawska and slowly migrated to its current lands by the end of the XIII century. During this time Western Pomorians came into contact with slavic Pomeranians and their dialect was influenced by Slovincian and Kashubian spoken there. A partial assimilation with those peoples gave birth to Northern and South-Western dialects.

From the XIII century onwards, Western Pomorians dispersed on the rest Pomorian territory intermixing with local population. During this process Central and Southern dialectal groups began forming and thus creating a dialectal continuum from Western to Eastern groups of dialects.

Under German rule Northern dialect was heavily influenced by Low German resulting in some new features of it such as an initial stress and loss of the pitch accent. however morphology stayed quite intact preserving some archaic features not present in Pomorian standard.

The earliest writings in Pomerellian appeared in the XIVth century the most famous of which is "Gudoniskė Predihtė" ("Gdańskie kazania" in Polish). The first written phrase was from 1395: "Ate Nassye kao essi annebesseich", which is the first line of the Lord's Prayer.

Phonology

The Pomerellian phonology is very similar to the standard with main features being:

• lack of nasalization before plosives;
• preservation of k, g before front vowels in some ablaut alterations and after s;
• lack of shortening of old diphthongs *au and *ai at the end of the word;
• narrowing of au to ou;
• no palatalization before front vowels, however it depends on a speaker (usually only y can cause palatalization);
• no /c/, /ɟ/ palatalization to /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑ/;

Vowels

Long vowels

Western dialect	Front		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	y /i:/	į /ĩ:/	ū /u:/	ų /ũ:/
Mid	ė /ɛː~eː/		o /ɔː~oː/
Open-mid	e (/æ:/)	ę /æ̃:/	å (/ɔː/)	ą /ɔ̃:/
Open	a (/a:/)

Short vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i /i~ɪ/	u /u~ʊ/
Open-mid	e /ɛ/
Open		a /ɑ/ å /ɒ/

Note:

• Allophones /æ:/, /a:/, /ɔː/ appear only under circumflex accent.

Diphthongs

ie /ie/	uo /uo/	ei /eɪ/	ou /oʊ/	ui /uɪ/

Long vowels

Northern dialect	Front		Back
	oral	nasal	oral	nasal
Close	y /i:/	į /ĩ:/	ū /u:/	ų /ũ:/
Mid	ė /eɪ~eː/		o /oʊ~oː/
Open-mid	ē /æ:/	ę /æ̃:/		ą /ɔ̃:/
Open	ā /a:/

Short vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i /i~ɪ/	u /u~ʊ/
Open-mid	e /ɛ/
Open		a /ɑ/ å /ɒ/

Diphthongs

ie /ɪe/	ea /ɛæ/	oa /ɔɒ/	uo /uo/	ei /eɪ~ɪ:/	ou /ɔʊ~ʊ:/

Consonants

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Palato-alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n̪	ɲ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t̪	c	k
	voiced	b	d̪	ɟ	g
Affricate	voiceless		t̪͡s̪	t͡sʲ~t͡ɕ 1
	voiced		d̪͡z̪	d͡zʲ~d͡ʑ 1
Fricative	voiceless	(f) 2	s̪	sʲ~ɕ 1 ʆ 3		h 4
	voiced		z̪	zʲ~ʑ 1		(ɦ) 4
Trill			r	(rʲ)/(r̝) 5
Approximant		w~ʋ 6		j
Lateral approximant			l	ʎ

Notes:

• 1 Depends on a speaker. Affricates [t͡ɕ], [d͡ʑ] are considered to be a Polish influence.
• 2 Occures only in borrowings.
• 3 Pronunciation varies from [ʃ] to [ʂ] in different speakers with the latter being more common.
• 4 [ɦ] is an allophone of /h/ in the intervocal position. Usually [h] is spelled ch as in old traditional system. At the end of the word this sound can undergo fortition to [x] unlike in the standard where it is always lax and can even disappear in a fast speech.
• 5 Does not appear in most North-Western dialects and is usually pronounced as as a sequence [rj] or plain [r]. It is also pronounced as [r̝] by some northern speakers - a unique feature of the Northern dialect.
• 6 [w] occures after back vowels, while [ʋ] - after front ones. Some, mostly second-language speakers pronounce it as [v] (and [f] near voiceless consonants).

Prosody

The Western dialect has a pitch-accent while Northern has lost it gaining a fixed initial stress as in German. The Western dialect has the same accent types as in the standard: the falling accent - tvírdagalså - which can be long - dìlgå (marked with an acute) - or short - cẽrtå (marked with a grave) and the rising accent - lìkugalså (marked with a circumflex or a tilde). However in some words with the rising accent in the standard there is a falling accent (tvirdagalså) while tvirdagalså certå can be retracted to a previous syllable. For example dąbù (oak) is dǻmbu in Western dialect and doambu in Northern.

Grammar

Nouns

North-Western Pomorian nouns decline in a similar way to the standard patterns. The main difference is a dual number being fully present in every declension and not just as a relics as in the Pomorian proper. Nouns have seven cases: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Instrumental, Locative and Vocative.

First declension

-e (masculine), -a (feminine), -å (neuter)

	gróde = hail			galvà = head			mariå̀ = sea
	singular	dual	plural	singular	dual	plural	singular	dual	plural
Nominative	gróde	gróda	gródė	galvà	gãlvė	gãlvo	màrjå	màrjė	marjó
Genitive	gródo	gróduo	gródų	galvó	galvóu	galvų́	màrjo	marjuõ	marjų́
Dative	gródou	gródumu	gródam	gãlvei	galvómu	gàlvom	màrjou	marjàmu	màrjam
Accusative	gródą	gróda	gródu	gãlvą	gàlvė	gãlve	màrją	màrjė	màrje
Instrumental	gródum	gródumu	gródėmy	gãlvają	gãlvómu	galvomy͂	màrjåm	maràmu	marjamy͂
Locative	gródė	gróduo	gródėch	gàlvojė	gãlvou	gãlvos	marjėjė͂	màrjuõ	màrjos
Vocative	gródei	gróda	gródė	gãlva	gãlvė	gãlvo	màrja	màrjė	màrjo

Second declension

-i (masculine), -i (feminine)

	zvėrì = mammal			ugnì = fire
	singular	dual	plural	singular	dual	plural
Nominative	zvėrì	zvė́ri	zvė́rije	ugnì	ugnì	ugný
Genitive	zvėrý	zvėriuõ	zvėrijų́	ugný	ugniúo	ugnių́
Dative	zvė́riui	zvėrìmu	zvėrìm	ugnéi	ugnìmu	ugnìm
Accusative	zvė́rį	zvė́ri	zvė͂rį	ugnį́	ugnì	ugnį́
Instrumental	zvė́rim	zvėrìmu	zvėrimy͂	ugnìją	ugnìmu	ugnìmy
Locative	zvėrie͂	zvėriuõ	zvė́rich	ugnýjė	ugniúo	ugnìch
Vocative	zvė́rie	zvė́ri	zvėrie͂	ugný	ugnì	ugný

Third declension

-u (masculine, neuter)

	sūnù = son			ledù = ice
	singular	dual	plural	singular	dual	plural
Nominative	sūnù	sū́nū	sū͂nave	ledù	lèdū	le͂dū
Genitive	sūnuõ	sūnóu	sū́navų	leduõ	ledóu	ledų́
Dative	sū́nave	sūnùmu	sūnùm	lèdou	ledùmu	ledùm
Accusative	sū͂nų	sū́nū	sū͂nų	le͂dų	lèdū	le͂dų
Instrumental	sū́num	sūnùmu	sūnumy͂	lèdum	ledùmu	ledumy͂
Locative	sūnóu	sūnóu	sū́nuch	ledùju	ledóu	lèduch
Vocative	sūnuõ	sū́nū	sū͂nave	leduõ	lèdū	le͂dū

Fourth declension

-ū (feminine)

	brū͂ = eyebrow
	singular	dual	plural
Nominative	brū͂	brùvi	brùvy
Genitive	bruvý	brùvuo	bruvų́
Dative	bruvė́	bruvìmu	brùvim
Accusative	brùvų	brùvi	brùvų
Instrumental	brùve	bruvìmu	bruvimy͂
Locative	bruvė́	brùvuo	brùvich
Vocative	brùvy	brùvi	brùvy

Fifth declension

*-n (feminine), *-n (neuter)

	elū́ = deer			ìmnę = name
	singular	dual	plural	singular	dual	plural
Nominative	elū́	elèni	elèny	ìmnę	imnèni	imnenè
Genitive	elèny	elènuo	elènų	imnený	imnenuõ	imnenų́
Dative	elèniė	elènimu	elènim	ìmnenė	imnènimu	imnenìm
Accusative	elènį	elèni	elènį	ìmnenį	imnèni	ìmnenį
Instrumental	elène	elènimu	elènimy	ìmnenim	imnènimu	imnenimy͂
Locative	elènė	elènuo	elènich	imnenė́	imnenuõ	ìmnenich
Vocative	elène	elèni	elèny	ìmnene	ìmneni	ìmnenė

Sixth declension

*-t, *-s *-r (neuter, feminine), bróti (-r, masculine)

	telę́ = calf			kãkla = wheel			bróti = brother
	singular	dual	plural	singular	dual	plural	singular	dual	plural
Nominative	telę́	telę́ti	telę́te	kãkla	kãklesi	kaklesè	bróti	bróteri	bróterė
Genitive	telę́ty	telę́tuo	telę́tų	kãklesy	kaklesuõ	kaklesų́	brótery	bróteruo	bróterų
Dative	telę́tė	telę́timu	telę́tim	kãklesė	kaklesĩmu	kaklesìm	bróterė	bróterimu	bróterim
Accusative	telę́tį	telę́ti	telę́tį	kãklesį	kãklesi	kàklesį	bróterį	bróteri	bróterį
Instrumental	telę́tim	telę́timu	telę́timy	kãklesim	kaklesĩmu	kaklesimy͂	bróterim	bróterimu	bróterimy
Locative	telę́tė	telę́tuo	telę́tich	kaklerė́	kaklesuõ	kàklesich	bróterė	bróteruo	bróterich
Vocative	telę́tie	telę́ti	telę́tė	kaklese͂	kàklesi	kaklesė́	brótere	bróteri	bróterė

Verbs

Every Pomorian verb belongs to one of four different conjugations:

• The first conjugation, which has different subgroups in it, contains verbs whose infitives end in -ti before a consonant. There are some irregulare verb patterns in this conjugation. In Northern dialect some -oti verbs belong to this conjugation.
• The second conjugation encompasses verbs with infintive form endings -ėti (with -ėj- in the present tense), -oti,uoti. Verbs with infinitives ending in -įti and is a subclass of this conjugation.
• The third conjugation contains verbs with infintives ending in -yti and some in -ėti.
• The fourth conjugation contains verbs with infinitives ending in -outi
• The fifth conjugation contains few old athematic and auxillary verbs. Almost all of these verbs are irregular.

Active Voice

Indicative mood

Present tense This tense describe present or ongoing events without a definite time. Conjugation types are marked with numbers.

	1	2a	2b	3	4	5	6
	vestì - to lead	zinóti - to know	sodínti - to set	zodýti - to decide	krykóuti - to shout	múiti - to wash	bū́ti - to be
I	vedå̀	zinójå	sodìnå	zõdiå	krýknå	mùjå	esmì
You (singular)	vedès	zinójes	sodìnes	zõďes	krýknes	mùjes	esì
He/She/It	vedè	zinóje	sodìne	zõďe	krýkne	mùje	e͂s
We (dual)	vedevà	zinójeva	sodìneva	zoďevà	krýkneva	mujevà	esvà
You (dual)	vedetà	zinójeta	sodìneta	zoďetà	krýkneta	mujetà	està
They (dual)	vedè	zìnoje	sódine	zõďe	krýkne	mujè	e͂ste
We	vedèmu	zinójemu	sodìnemu	zoďèmu	krýknemu	mùjemu	esmù
You (plural)	vedète	zinójete	sodìnete	zoďète	krýknete	mùjete	estè
They	vedą́	zinóją	sodìną	zõdią	krýkną	mùją	są͂

Future tense Modern Pomerellian has no synthetic future tense just like the standard. Only the verb būti has an additional simple future tense which conjugates like present, but using the form bąsti instead. This form similarly to English "will" is used together with other verbs to create various analytic aspects of the future tense. For example: bądå zodyti (I will decide); bądå zodiuo, kad pudzėďes (I will have decided by the time you ask (me)).

I	bą́då
You (singular)	bą́des
He/She/It	bą́de
We two	bą́deva
You two	bą́deta
They two	bą́dete
We	bą́demu
You (plural)	bą́dete
They	bą́dą

However an archaic form of a synthetic future tense had been seldom used by the end of the XXth century especially in folklore, where it can still be found now. These are just some relics like būšęsiå tåmou (I will be there, stative); Doďeši mė betu kelkå peningo? (Will you give me some money, please?)

Past tense

This is the basic tense to describe actions in the past.

	1	2a	2b	3	4	5	6
	vestì - to lead	zinóti - to know	sodínti - to set	zodýti - to decide	krykóuti - to shout	múiti - to wash	bū́ti - to be
I	veduõ	zinójuo	sodìnuo	zoduõ	krýknuo	mujúo	buvù
You (singular)	vedéi	zinójei	sodìnei	zõďei	krýknei	mujéi	buvì
He/She/It	vedė́	zinójė	sodìnė	zõďė	krýknė	mùjė	bū͂
We (dual)	vedèvė	zinojèvė	sodinèvė	zoďèvė	krýknevė	mujèvė	bùvė
You (dual)	vedèva	zinojèva	sodinèva	zoďèva	krýkneva	mujètė	bùva
They (dual)	vèdet	zìnojet	sódinet	zóďet	krýknet	mùjet	bùve
We	vedóme	zinójome	sodìnome	zoďóme	krýknome	mujóme	buvóme
You (plural)	vedė́te	zinójėte	sodìnėte	zoďė́te	krýknėte	mujė́te	buvóte
They	vèdę	zinóję	sodìnę	zóďę	krýknę	mùję	bùvę

Aorist

Aorist is an archaic feature of Pomorian which is preserved only in North-Western dialects an is usually used with irregular verbs. This tense describes both past and present events that happen(ed) in general, without asserting a time, meaning that it just describes an action neither its duration nor its result.

ìmti - to have
I	imū́huo
You (singular)	imū́šei
He/She/It	imū́šė
We two	imūhóvė
You two	imūhótė
They two	imū́hot
We	imū́šėmu
You (plural)	imū́šėte
They	imū́šę

The usage of this tense was found in Gdańsk chronics from the early XVth century. It mentioned that peasants had almost no crops and asked God to give them some food to eat, but God refused to give the food because those people were pagans unlike christian Germans who lived in the city. They said: Hleiban dādēšēimes. Dāi nāme eī sin deinin! (You gave us bread (before). Give us (it) this day too!). In modern Pomorian this would be: Hlėbå nome buvei dovušu. Doďi nomu ji šį dienį! It's not known whether this event really happened or it was a story created to encourage local people converting into christianity.

Compound tenses

Compound tenses and moods are the same as in the Pomorian proper, but North-Western dialects have some additional ones. Here only the additional moods are listed: frequentative (expresses repeating actions), conditional (represents events happening under some conditions), desiderative (expresses wishes and desires). All of them use a verb būti, imti (usually to express necessity) or vilti/cesti (in desiderative) and a respectful participle (using supine or infintive instead is also possible in North-Western and in Eastern dialects it's the only way to use these moods).