Appendix:Votic dialects

This page is intended as an overview of Votic dialects.

Western Votic

Vaipooli

The Vaipooli dialects consist of the Luutsa (Luuditsa, Лужицы), Liivtšülä (Пески) and Jõgõperä (Краколье) dialects. The first of these is currently used as the main reference dialect on Wiktionary.

These dialects are characterized by Ingrian influence (mutual influence with the Ala-Laukaa or Lower Luga dialect of Ingrian) and a system of vowel reduction, which affects unstressed vowels (except after light stressed syllables). Long vowels become short, and short ⟨a⟩ and ⟨ä⟩ reduce, with the result depending on the dialect. In Luutsa and Liivtšülä, they reduce to something like a schwa, which is represented as either ⟨õ⟩ or ⟨e⟩ in the orthography (the former for ⟨a⟩ and the latter for ⟨ä⟩; note that both ⟨õ⟩ and ⟨e⟩ also represent their own vowels). In Jõgõperä, they usually become entirely silent, and may thus not be indicated in the spelling. Short ⟨e⟩ may also reduce in these dialects, but less regularly.

Central Votic

The Central Votic dialects include dialects spoken in Kattila (Котлы) and surrounding villages. They have been extinct since the late 20th century.

Ariste's A Grammar of the Votic Language mainly focuses on the Kattila dialect.

Eastern Votic

Eastern Votic dialects were spoken around Kabrio (Копорье), last in Itšäpäivä (Иципино). They have been extinct since the 1960s. They are noted for ⟨dž⟩, a weak grade of ⟨tš⟩ that is not found in Western Votic, and the retention of Proto-Finnic final *-k as -g (in e.g. the first infinitive forms of verbs).

Krevinian

The Krevinian language, extinct since the mid-19th century, is usually considered a Votic dialect. On the English Wiktionary, it is treated as its own language.

Kukkuzi

Whether the Finnic variety spoken in the village of Kukkuzi (Куровицы) is a Votic dialect or not is a matter of debate. On the English Wiktionary, it is treated as its own language.