Studies regarding the linguistic peculiarities of the inhabitants from the areas of the hydrographic basins of the Oituz and Casin rivers – Bacau county

Abstract

The inhabitants living in the localities of Oituz and Caşin basins belong administratively to Bacau County from the historical province of Moldavia. The geographical position, at the border of the three provinces, Moldavia, Transylvania and Wallachia, the history as well as the occupations from the past laid their print on the speech which has specific peculiarities, and so it is different from the one spoken in the localities from Moldavia. This specificity is present mainly in Poiana Sărată village from Oituz hydrographic basin as well as in Caşin and Mănăstirea Caşin from Caşin hydrographic basin. Their history is similar as they came into being by successive colonizations from Transylvania (Poiana Sărată) or from Wallachia if we refer to the localities from Caşin region. The basic linguistic stock is of Latin origin (about 80%) due to the Roman presence on the territory, but there are also numerous specific words and expressions which are rarely or never used in other places. Many borrowings come from Magyar, Slavic, Turkish-Tartar or German languages. Some of the specific words: ăi for yes, ni for you, belmeş for weakness state, a tărtuşi for to squash, măitor for night companion. The colonizations from Transylvania determined the appearance of certain words of Magyar origin. These words are present mainly in the speech of the inhabitants from Poiana Sărată as well as from Grozeşti and Ferăstrău villages where an important community of Csangos lives. We exemplify here with some words: beteag, pichioci, pancoş, franghilă, tulcer We also mention the hissing speech which is used by the Csangos living in Grozeşti and Ferăstrău villages: mătusi, cucos, bors, sarpe cârzi, zug, znur. Besides this specific stock of words the Transylvanian accent is to be found in Poiana Sărată, while the Moldavian one in Bogdăneşti and Caşin villages.