Ruthenian minority in vojvodina and its language

Abstract

© 2017, International University Seminar for Balkan Studies and Specialization. All rights reserved. For centuries the Ruthenians/Rusyns lived within the borders of Hungarian Kingdom. Some 270 years ago, groups of Ruthenians began migrating south from their homeland in the Carpathian mountains to the Bačka region which is now in Vojvodina/Serbia. Comparing to the Ruthenians in all other countries the Ruthenians in Serbia have the highest level of minority rights. The origin of the Ruthenian linguistic system can be traced back to the Common-Slavic period. According to linguistic criteria the Ruthenian language has characteristics of mostly Western Slavic, Eastern Slavic, and even Southern Slavic languages.