Practical Spheres of the Rusyn Language in Slovakia
Practical Spheres of the Rusyn Language in Slovakia

Summary/Abstract: The Rusyn language in Slovakia was codified in 1995 on the basis of the country’s two most prevalent Rusyn dialects: East Zemplin and West Zemplin. From this perspective Rusyn is a relatively young Slavic language, and this despite its centuries-long history, which is marked by many conflicts concerning the question of a literary norm; the disputes concerning Rusyn have taken place on the territory of today’s Slovak Republic, as well as throughout all of historical Carpathian Rus. Any solutions concerning a Rusyn literary language were always connected to the question of the Rusyn minority’s ethnic identity [i.e. are they (Great) Russian, Ukrainian, or do they form a separate Slavic nationality?], and these issues were not possible to resolve until after 1989, when society began to enjoy new pluralistic conditions. Thus, the late twentieth-century codification of Rusyn on the basis of local dialects was the natural result of an expression of free will on the part of Rusyns, and a response to the dilemma of their ethnic identity. The codification of Rusyn became the basis for introducing the literary language into various public spheres in Slovakia - publishing and media, religious life, stage and theatre productions, and of course the literary world -, which had until 1995 used various forms of Rusyn dialects without applying standardized rules. The expansion of Rusyn into these spheres of life - especially into the educational system and government administration - required the existence of a standardized literary language. Thus, the implementation of literary Rusyn (in its written and spoken form) into the above-named spheres of life is an important step to guaranteeing the language’s further development.

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