Dzūkian dialect

Dzūkian dialect (Lithuanian: dzūkų tarmė), known in academic works as Southern Aukštaitian dialect (Lithuanian: pietų aukštaičių patarmė), is one of the three main sub-dialects of the Aukštaitian dialect of Lithuanian language. Dzūkian dialect is spoken in Dzūkija, southern Lithuania. Its most distinctive feature is replacing t, d before i, į, y, ie and č, dž with c and dz (cik instead of tik – just, dzidumas instead of didumas – size, pyn instead of pinti – to braid, sveciai instead of svečiai – guests). Another notable feature is the lengthening of vowels in closed syllables ending in sonorants, for example: tìltas (bridge) becomes tyltas, bùlvė (potato) - būlvė, or pìrmas (first) - pyrmas. Since the region borders Slavic lands, the dialect has many Slavic loanwords and barbarisms.

Map of the dialects of the Lithuanian language (Zinkevičius and Girdenis, 1965)

  Southern Aukštaitian or Dzūkian sub-dialect

  Vilnietian or Dzūkian sub-dialect

References

• Janina Jašinskienė, ed. (2005). Tradicijos. Iliustruota Lietuvos enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Kaunas: Šviesa. p. 56. ISBN 5-430-04158-0.