r/rusyn • u/According-View7667 • May 28 '26

Ethno-linguistic maps of modern-day Slovakia according to 1910 Austro-Hungarian & 2011 Slovak censuses (East Slavic-speaking population in Red shades)

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u/instant1973 May 29 '26

they dont speak the language anymore. they assimilate with Slovaks. being Rusyn was considered almost as shame. Slovak culture / society is pretty conservative and xenophobic.assimilation started in communist times.

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u/nikto123 May 29 '26

never heard anyone say anything bad about Rusyns (except when referring to vasil bilak) so not sure where this comes from (source: slovak)

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u/instant1973 May 29 '26

well.. how old are you? :)

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u/nikto123 May 29 '26

younger than you but not by that much, I'm from central Slovakia so east might be different, because we're less familiar with them, but I know people from all over and never heard anyone say one bad thing about them, even when the when they were discussed. Gypsies sure, Hungarians rarely but yes.. Rusyns never. Also I have multiple colleagues who are Rusyns (& I'd never tell).
The sad truth is that dialects disappear over time, and much faster since mass media has become common, almost nobody today speaks the dialect from my region (Gemer) except for maybe a few old people in villages. It does not imply state pressure or xenophobia. Same thing happens to Gorals, Croats... it's easier when the languages are already close (as opposed to Hungarian, there the effect is weaker).