Goryuns

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Goryuns (also Goriuns, Goryuny) is a little-documented ethnic group of East Slavs living around Putivl (modern Putyvl in the Sumy Oblast of Ukraine.) The dialect of the Russian language spoken by Goryuns has some features of Belarusian and Ukrainian[1].

Goryuns are usually considered to represent a tiny sub-ethnos of Russians [2]. Regardless, they consider themselves to be distinct from other Russians, as well as Ukrainians living in the same region [3].

Goryun villages were mentioned for the first time in chronicles in sixteenth century, shortly after the annexation of the region to Russia. From this the Belarusian scientist Fiodar Klimchuk concludes that the Goryuns might have lived in the region before the year 1500.[1]

There are different hypotheses about the origin of Goriuns. James Stuart Olson describes them as an Ukrainianized subgroup of the Polekhs.[4] According to Fiodar Klimchuk, the Goryuns may be descendants of local Severians or they might be of mixed Severian-Radimich stock, or their Severian ancestors might have moved to North-West and then returned back.[1] Some researchers believe that they are autochthonous to the region and are related to the local early Slavic population,[2] according to others they are descendants of migrants from what is now Belarus that were mixed with the local population.[5]

Goryuns are known for their unique style of polyphonic singing.[citation needed]


[edit] Referencies

  1. ^ a b c F.D. Klimchuk, About ethnoliguistic history of Left Bank of Dnieper (in connection to the ethnogenesis of Goriuns). Published in "Goriuns: history, language, culture" Proceedings of International scientific conferenc, (Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, February 13, 2004)
  2. ^ a b Russians in Ukraine
  3. ^ Radio Free Europe about the Goryuns
  4. ^ Olson, James Stuart. An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires. Greenwood Press, 1994. ISBN 0-313-27497-5. Page 554.
  5. ^ [1]