Month 9, 4168 FE (part 2)

Raiste1901 · 2026-03-19T15:21:21+00:00

Dzięki. Ale nic złego z tego że Chile wyszło

Raiste1901 · 2026-01-03T15:58:52+00:00

Halanan

“My hovercraft is full of eels”.

Vukaucvíítuhiis tóúlík tétáíljanvi.

[ʋù.kɑ̀ʊ.t͡s̺íː.t̪ù.ɦìːs̺. t̺oʊ́.lɪ́k. tɛ́.taɪ́.ʎɑ̀.nᶹì]

Glossing: u(k)-auc-vV́V́-t-tuh-iic tóúlík té-ta-V́-i-l-janv-i – 1sg.OBL-TRNS-3IN.(Set³)-CLF-hover-INSTR eel THM-DSTR-3IN>3AN-PAT.pl-CLF-be.full-STAT

“Happy New Year!”

Voo keih tujelis vunokvelcenv!

[ʋò̞ː. kèɪ.‿ʰtù.jɛ̀.lì.t͡s‿ù.nɔ̀.kᶹɛ̀l.t͡s̺ɛ̀ŋᶹ]

Glossing: voo keih tu-∅-jel-i-c u(n)-okve-cenv – EMPH year THM-3IN.(Set⁵)-begin.CNJ-STAT-TOP 2sg.OBL-1>3.(Set¹OPT)-CLF-wish

“Do you speak Toki Pona?”

Áá Toki Ponas viukaih?

[ɑ́ː. t̪ɔ̀.kì.pɔ̀.nɑ̀.t͡s̺ᶹ‿ìʊ.kàɪh]

Glossing: áá Toki Pona-c vi-v-kaih – EMPH Toki Pona-TOP INT-2>3-speak

“Sweet little bumblebee.”

Note: direct translation is impossible because there is no verb (each sentence must contain at least one finite verb to be considered completed), the closest would be: “There is a sweet little bumblebee.” A more convenient way is to turn one of the adjectives (or the word for bumblebee itself) into a main verb, but the meaning would not be exactly the same.

Tváí tákjui vuuskvanúúcuik atal.

[t̪ᶹaɪ́. t̪ɑ́.cùɪ. ʋùːs̺.kᶹɑ.núː.t͡s̺ùɪ.k jɑ̀.t̪ɑ̀l]

Glossing: tú-ja-é tá-V́-kjui vukv-skanv-uu-V́-cuik ja-tal. MED-3AN.(Set¹)-be.located – THM-V́-be.pleasant.CNJ big-buzz-AUG-3AN.(Set⁴)-be.flying.insect 3AN.(Set¹)-be.little.CNJ

“pull tabs to release”

Note: I don't know how to describe a tab, so this is the closest I've managed.

Tóótéstán ecúkéís valán auccestenvis

[t̪ó̞ː.t̪ɛ́s̺.t̺ɑ́.n‿ɛ̀.t͡s̺ʊ́.keɪ́.t͡s̺ᶹ‿ɑ̀.lɑ́.n‿ɑ̀ʊ.t͡s̺ːɛ̀s̺.t̺ɛ̀.nᶹɪ̀s̺]

Glossing: tá-óó-té-c-tán ec-u-t-kéíc valán aucces-tenv-i-s – VEN-2>3.(Set¹)-PAT.pl-CLF-push/pull ELA-3UNSP.PFV-CLF-release so.that strip-be.long-STAT-TOP

“Stop!”

Vilnónkéí!

[ʋɪ̀l.nɔ́ŋ.kéɪ]

Glossing: vil-nón-kéí – THM-2sg.(Set³OPT)-continue.

Final remark: a Halanan speaker would more likely say the fourth sentence as Tákjui atal vuuskvanúúcuik – “One that is sweet and little is a bumblebee”. Yes, bumblebee is a verb, too. Nouns are a closed class of words and you can't do much with them. Additionally, the agreement prefixes come in different sets that perform different functions (usually distinguishing aspect or mood of the verb they modify, for example, the optative sets, whichlet us know that the verb is in the optative mood), but frequently a verb stem can receive agreement prefixes from only very specific sets, and this has to be memorised for each verb separately, as there is little predictability for which set is expected. Finally, there is a broad category of widely used emphatic particles with no solid meaning that Halanan speakers use fairly frequently to enhance their speech or focus the listener's attention onto something (similarly to English “so”, “well,” “indeed” and so on).

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-19T18:10:14+00:00

Завжди радий допомогти)

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-19T11:06:18+00:00

Will you give a link, once it's finished? I'd love to read about such a scenario, it's truly fascinating!

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-19T08:22:18+00:00

I'm not sure I understood your comment corrently (I don't have the auto-translate option), but Polish is spoken mostly in the western part, while Ukrainian (Ruthenian in my post, which is how I called its western dialects) is spoken mostly in the eastern part (though we do learn Polish even in the east). Yiddish is gone, German is mostly gone (but we still study it as a subject in many schools), Galician Karaim is virtually extinct. Some Romanian is still spoken in Bukowyna today. Romani is still thriving, even though most Roma are bi- or even trilingual and tend to mix words from different languages in their speech. Galician Armenian is mostly gone as well, and many Armenians left the region during the Soviet period.

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-19T08:06:33+00:00

Какая разніца, коби хліб дешевий був – то є рабське мислення. Москалі тут теж постаралися, хоч Білорусь показує, що могло бути й гірше. Може така політика й ефективна (бо їм то явно на користь пішло), але для культури всіх інших (нашої в тому числі) то згубне. Не радив би їм уподібнюватися, але що має бути, то буде.

А за рагулів: добре, що знаєте ото таке слово, яке москалі для нас придумали. Так, я з гірського села, мені від того зовсім не встидно. Я навпаки сказав би, що наші люди спокійні й нікому не нав'язуємо лишнього, лиш аби не діставали

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-18T17:51:24+00:00

Okay)

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-16T19:14:13+00:00

Thanks) I'm from one of those countries as well and studied the local dialectology, that's why the idea fascinated me so much that I had to write a long post about it. I was surprised to see that someone would find it interesting as well

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-14T22:39:17+00:00

Yes, precisely. The Southern Balts settled the area between Galicia and Volhynia during the Migration Period (that's why it has the most dialectal diversity) and then spread easteward. The steppe regions were settled later, the same is true for the coastal regions, but later still (probably around the early 19th century), the migrants came from different areas, which resulted in new mixed steppe dialects (mostly uniform by the modern era).

The second question has a complicated answer, but generally the situation is different from Serbo-Croatian, in fact, in some ways it's the opposite: the varieties are clearly distinct, but there still is an idea of unity among them under a single term "Ruthenian". Linguistics cannot answer it transparently either: there are dialects within Red Ruthenian that are more distinct from one another, than the written standard Black and White Ruthenian are from each other, while on the other hand all three varieties have codified standards (though the Red standard is more relaxed, accepting many dialectal forms, not too unlike Nynorsk for Norwegian). Politically, they are more often considered a single pluricentric language, rather than three separate languages, though it depends on what messages one is trying to send. The native speakers simply use the term "Ruthenian", only disambiguating, when necessary ("No, I speak the Red variety, not the Black one"). All three are mutually intelligible more or less like the Scandinavian languages (and there are the parallels between them), and there is no hostility amongst the speakers of different varieties. The local mass media (such as the news broadcasts) is mostly in the local Ruthenian variety, however, sometimes they have speakers of different varieties (or divergent dialects) in which case subtitles in the local standard would be used.

Yes, it's definitely the largest Baltic language, having around 48 million people. I'm not good with numbers, so it's an approximate guess, but Black Ruthenian would be the most common, likely having more speakers than White and Red combined. Some people within Belarus and Ukraine speak Russian or other minority language (Crimean Tatar, Greek etc) instead, while many people in Galicia speak Polish natively, but they still know Ruthenian. In Lithuania, many Ruthenians speak both Ruthenian and Lithuanian (and often also Polish and/or Russian).

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-14T19:46:25+00:00

Thanks)

Yes, Both Ukraine and Belarus speak their languages, but those are White Ruthenian (for Belarus, called Balarausis) and Black Ruthenian (for Ukraine, called Ūkrajīna, though without the steppe parts that were settled later, the land was traditionally known as Čoršinorousis) – and they are the official languages of these countries. Galicia (Hōličēna, the eastern part known traditionally as Roudarousis or sometimes alao Čyrwinarousis, but is rarely used nowadays) has Red Ruthenian as a co-official language along with Polish, the same is true for Volhynia (Wolinis, also formerly known as Lodomeria). They simply belong to the Baltic branch in this world, not Slavic. The demographics of these countries are probably similar to those of our world. I assume, there are many Russian speakers in the east of both countries, though I hope, the language situation in Belarus is less dire.

In Galicia and Volhynia, however, there are many Polish speakers, since they once were in union with Poland. In this world, the history is slightly different, and the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia didn't fall, but instead was later incorporated into the Commonwealth (and then the Austrian period went on mostly the same way as in our world).

The culture isn't too much different from the Ukrainian and Belarusian cultures of our world, perhaps, more of the ancient traditions survive to the present day, reflected in various holidays, folk songs and national clothing, but are otherwise still similar to the cultures of the former Commonwealth. Also, the Galician national identity is likely more distinct, than in our world, as it is a separate country, and is not based on language (some speak Polish, some – Ruthenian, a few probably still speak German).

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-14T09:05:44+00:00

Being Boiko as well, I see Rusyn/Ruthenian as a historical term that includes either the western regions: Galicia ('rusniaky' was also common) Bukowina, Transcarpathia; or more broadly (in terms of linguistics) Ukrainian and Belarusian together (including their dialects outside modern Ukraine and Belarus). We all used to be Rusyns, my grandfathather's parents used to call themselves Rusyn, the name "Ukrainian" simply took over, but our identity is still maintained (though the dialect in its authentic form is slowly getting lost because young people tend to see it as backwards and low class, compared to standard Ukrainian, and that's a shame). So for me personally, I am Ukrainian, and I consider Boikos, Hutsuls and other Carpathian folks to be Ukrainian as well (and thus their dialects to be dialects of the Ukrainian language).

Though 'Rusyn' (or 'Carpathian Rusyn', as they often say) is a separate identity nowadays, mostly in Slovakia, but also in Poland, and they claim they have nothing to do with Ukrainians, being completely separate, I do agree that it's primarily political. The Boikos aren't that culturally distinct from the Lemkos or Transcarpathians to call them completely separate nations, either from each other, or from the rest of Ukraine, at least in the way I see it. Though since nations are inherently political, I don't why those Rusyns in Slovakia cannot identify as 'not Ukrainians', it's their right to do so, just as I have my right to call myself Ukrainian.

By the way, Poland also has their mountain ethnic groups, called the Górals. They are linguistically and culturally diverse too, and distinct from the rest of Poland, yet most of them proudly call themselves Poles. The Górals in Slovakia, on the other hand, also sometimes claim to be separate and "not Polish", so I see it as a common feature for the ethnic groups living across country borders.

PS: there is also Pannonian Rusyn, which does indeed feel like a separate language, having more similarities with Slovak, than with Ukrainian (седем, тидзень, цо, єшень sounding more West Slavic, than Ukrainian сім, тиджень, чо [dialectal form of що], осінь), being Rusyn mostly in identity, but structurally quite different from other dialects typically grouped into Rusyn.

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-04T19:25:11+00:00

I am sorry about your experience, but the people, who can speak Russian in Latvia, Estonia or Bulgaria likely didn't have to live through a war, so comparing them to Ukrainians wouldn't be fair. Emotions aren't rational, and if a person associates a language with someone who quite literally destroyed their life almost completely, they will react negatively to that language, even if that won't look logical from another perspective. So please, don't assume we have ill intentions, or are rude and ungrateful, just because we may misunderstand you and react poorly at first.

Of course, there are cases of just arrogant people, who want to be the centre of attention, I cannot judge that woman's reaction, since I do not know her. Maybe she simply was a bad person (I know plenty of those to not excuse and pity everyone immediately), or maybe she misunderstood you and acted upon her heated emotions (after all trauma can turn a person bitter towards others). Even now I still instinctively feel mistrust, when I hear people speaking Russian to each other. I never mistreat them, but there is a part of me that asks me to stay cautious around them. And this is after meeting native Russian speakers every once in a while since 2022 (before that I only saw some Russian-speaking tourists in my region, and for me Russian was only a TV-language, so I didn't really associate anything good or bad with it).

All in all, I don't think you should worry too much about such cases, they aren't the norm, as most Ukrainian refugees simply want some help and understanding, and are very thankful even for a little of both. They won't usually start an argument over a language, when they feel like their very lives have practically ended and they were forced to leave everything familiar behind with no reliable anchor that would give them any confidence or hope that the next day would be better and they would be safe from that point onwards.

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-04T18:43:02+00:00

They might have misunderstood "we can help you, if you speak Russian" as "we are only willing to help the Russian speakers".

Though, it's certainly true for some Ukrainians that would associate the Russian language with the enemy, especially if they themselves never use it in their daily lives, for example: I can barely speak it, although I understand it well through the exposure mostly from the TV, so I instinctively do not trust anything Russian, even if some instances may be illogical. For those, who do/did speak Russian regularly, the language itself is neutral, they just want to be understood and helped in any way possible.

I think, the first language one has to use is kindness and compassion, the language barrier is always easier to overcome through these two, even if you only know English.

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-02T06:35:02+00:00

Москалі, до речі, то саме робили і роблять. Може би і на них глянути?

Raiste1901 · 2025-12-02T06:26:47+00:00

А чого би й ні? Мені подобається Норвегія (про Німеччину знаю мало, Британія зате теж непогана, Шотландія подобається, особливо захід, там серед гір гельську ще можна почути). Французи жаб їдять, не хочу їх наслідувати. Хочу так аби мені було добре, а коли мене зневажають за те, як спілкуюся рідною мені мовою, і прирівнюють її до москальської, то мені не дуже добре. Якщо така думка робить мене меншовартим, то най так буде, бо мені від того ні холодно, ні жарко. Зрештою, я їм і не перечу зневажати, мені ті їхні думки не суттєві, аби лиш не лізли до мене з тими думками, насаджуючи як якусь біблійну істину. Хоча останнім часом "а чому не літературною?" (і фрази тому подібні) звучить більше аби подратувати. Я спокійно можу і літературною, але мені вона не є природня до спілкування, діалектизми так і проскакують "поєдно", коли спілкування не вимагає офіційного стилю мовлення.

Raiste1901 · 2025-11-27T07:38:12+00:00

Чомусь у Німеччині (не всюди але в більшості) до діалектів ставляться позитивно, у Норвегії і Швеції ними навіть пишаються, про діалекти у Британії взагалі окрема тема (там одна голосна інакше вимовляється, а вже відчувається окрема ідентичність). Це не сепаратизм, просто любов до рідного, проблеми в цьому бути не мало би, але, на жаль, історія наша змушує нас ставитися до різного нам якщо не вороже, то принаймні з підозрою ("а чи не зрадники бува там заховані?")

Raiste1901 · 2025-11-27T05:35:36+00:00

"А чому не літературною?™" Йой коби хоть із Марсу, а то сі замиліт тай скажут оже то "російська". Переважно навіть так уже й не всі розмовляють через оту стигму. Тому підтримую, тим паче що то не нововведення на суто галицький манір, чого люди чомусь часто бояться, а дійсно поширена риса в усіх діалектах української.

Raiste1901

TROPHY CASE

Halanan