marion kanawha 4 | 103 13 Oct 2021 #1The time is the year 1900 or so. These are Polish people who lived around Minsk in modern day Belarus. They were Polish in culture, traditions, religion, foods, etc. These are my relatives. They came to America from my father's side. My mother's people came from the Lublin area. When they got together, they couldn't understand each other well. Those from Lublin said they spoke Russian. I know those from Minsk spoke Polish with heavy Byelorussian-Russian influence. Was there a name for this dialect?
Paulina 15 | 4355 13 Oct 2021 #2@marion kanawha, yes, there is - it's called "dialekt północnokresowy" (the Northern Eastern Borderlands dialect):pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialekt_p%C3%B3%C5%82nocnokresowyA fragment from an article in Wikipedia (in English) about Polish language (from the section about dialects):"Poles living in Lithuania (particularly in the Vilnius region), in Belarus (particularly the northwest), and in the northeast of Poland continue to speak the Eastern Borderlands dialect, which sounds "slushed" (in Polish described as zaciąganie z ruska, "speaking with a Ruthenian drawl") and is easily distinguishable."
OP marion kanawha 4 | 103 13 Oct 2021 #3Many thanks for the information. Now I remember these relatives mentioning the dialect was called "HA-hol". This is a phonetic pronunciation because I do not know how the write it in Polish. They told me it was a derogatory term for the language. It was like saying somebody spoke like a "hill-billy" in English. Ignorant and backwards. Has anybody heard of this term? "HA - hol". Thanks for all the info.
Bobko 26 | 2048 13 Oct 2021 #4@marion kanawhaHahol or Hohol is a now derogatory term for Ukrainians. The word comes from their characteristic hairstyles.
OP marion kanawha 4 | 103 13 Oct 2021 #5Thank you. This is, to say the least, an eye-opener for me. I have a couple other language "terms" that I will post later. I need to ask my relatives about some things.
OP marion kanawha 4 | 103 23 Oct 2022 #6I finally found more info !!!When I was very young, I heard my babci (from the Minsk area) call my mother a name when they argued.RUS-ki Ka-tsopWhat des that mean? Nobody in the family was Russian. Ha-ha!!!Again many thanks for your help. To say the least, it's enlightening.
Paulina 15 | 4355 23 Oct 2022 #8What des that mean?It's a derogatory name for a Russian:en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/katsap
pawian 220 | 24664 23 Oct 2022 #9It's a derogatory nameMay be international coz Ukrainians also use it.
Paulina 15 | 4355 23 Oct 2022 #10@pawian, according to Wikipedia it comes from the Ukrainian language:en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B0%D0%BF
OP marion kanawha 4 | 103 24 Oct 2022 #12Thank you all for the responses. I knew my grandmother was not giving compliments when they argued. LOL !!! Both are Polish. My grandmother came from the Minsk area; my mother's family came from the Lublin area.