Welcome to my channel! This is Andy from I love languages. Let's learn different languages/dialects together. I created this for educational purposes to spread awareness that we are diverse as a planet.

Special Thanks to Alin :D
Voice: Mira Balan

I want to share with you the dialect spoken in my village (I speak it sometimes, too), an old and unknown Ukrainian dialect from the Romanian region of Dobrudja. It's called "Khokhol dialect" ("Khakhlatskiy jazyk"). The name of the dialect, "Khokhol", was actually a derogatory term for Ukrainians, addressed by Russians, but for us, Dobrudjan Ukrainians is a term of self-identification and differentiation from the another Slavic ethnic group in Romanian Dobrudja, the Russian Old Believers (Lipovans). This term refers to specific topknot worn by Zaporozhian Cossacks, our ancestors.
We are the descendants of the glorious Ukrainian Zaporozhian Cossacks, whose Zaporozhian Sich was destroyed in 1775 at the order of Russian Czarina Catherine II. After the destruction, the Zaporozhians who didn't want to suffer serious political and social penalties took refuge in the Danube Delta and Northern Dobrudja, then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. In the village of Verkhiy Dunavets (now Dunavățu de Sus), they established the last Zaporozhian Sich in the world, Transdanubian Sich, which functioned until 1828.
After that, the Cossacks transformed into peaceful "Khokhols" (Ukrainians) who practiced fishing, agriculture, and animal husbandry. Their descendants resisted until today. Now, Dobrudja belongs to Romania.
The Ukrainian community in northern Dobrudja speaks and today this dialect, even it is seriously endangered. Unfortunately, only the elders speak frequently "khakhlatskiy", children and younger generations speak very little or not at all, speaking only the Romanian language.
This Ukrainian dialect is largely spoken only in several villages, such as Katerlez (Sf. Gheorghe), Karlaman (Caraorman), Letya (Letea), Muruhil (Murighiol), Verkhiy Dunavets (Dunavățu de Sus), Nizhniy Dunavets (Dunavățu de Jos), Pardena (Pardina).

Speakers: approx. 2,000 (L1) and yet several thousands (L2)

Our dialect is characterized by diversity, being one of transition from the Ukrainian southwestern dialects to the Ukrainian southeastern ones, but based on the characteristics of Ukrainian Steppe dialect, which is considered to be spoken by the Cossacks several centuries ago. So, it is an old, outdated and mysterious one. Russian, Romanian and Turkic influences can be seen.

Please feel free to subscribe to see more of this.
I hope you have a great day! Stay happy!
Please support me on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16809442.
Please support me on Ko-fi
https://ko-fi.com/otipeps0124

This video was made for educational purposes only. Non profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. All credits belong to the rightful owners. Language Preservation & Documentation.

If you are interested to see your native language/dialect be featured here.
Submit your recordings to [email protected].
Looking forward to hearing from you!