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What’s with this “Wren” thing?
The oldest extant version of the fable
we
are presenting here appeared in 1913 in the first volume of a two-volume anthology
of Low
Saxon folktales (Plattdeutsche
Volksmärchen “Low German Folktales”)
collected by Wilhelm Wisser (1843–1935). Read
more ...
Trasjanka
Trasianka Russian
on Belarusian substratum
It
is within ethnic Belarusian circles, especially in the numerous
rural communities of Belarus, that the Belarusian language is still
used. However, some communities have adopted Russian and in the
process have created Russian dialects with Belarusian substrata.
Language information:
Considering it more prestigeous than Belarusian, people in some parts of Belarus have adopted
Russian as their primary language. Most of those that grew up speaking Belarusian,
and even many of their children and grandchildren that no longer speak Belarusian
or do not speak it well, speak Russian with more or less Belarusian influence.
This has led to the creation of a group of language varieties that is variously
considered
a “hybrid,” which has even been mistakenly considered a “pidgin” or “creole.”
It may be safe to
describe Trasianka as being Russian on Belarusian substrata. In other words,
the case of Trasianka
is similar to those of Missingsch (i.e. German on Low Saxon substrata)
and Stadfrys (i.e. Dutch on West Frisian substrata). Trasianka vocabulary is mostly Russian-derived, while its pronunciation is predominantly
Belarusian, and its morphology is a fairly even mixture.
The name Trasianka
is pejorative in origin, derived from a word for grass mixed with hay. In regions
close to the Russian border, the name Mešanka
(мешанка ‘mash’) is more commonly used
for these language varieties.
Russian on Belarusian
substrata has a fairly long history, its beginning preceding the now common names
for it.
There are certain
social problems with speaking in Trasianka, especially the issue of generation
gap that Trasianka and literary Belarusian create between parents and children,
and the rejection and alienation that has been experienced by some nationalistic
activists who insist on using correct literary Belarusian. However, for other
intellectuals whose education is connected to national culture (these are
among philologists, linguists, historians, culturologists, ethnologists etc.),
trasianka is not acceptable in formal communication either. Also in general
it is valued low as a “spoiled”, “corrupted” Belarusian or Russian. There are several comedians in Belarus (esp. Sasha and
Sirozha) who use Trasianka in their comic skits.” [Wikipedia]
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