Jassic ( hu, jász) is an extinct
dialect of the
Ossetian language once spoken in
Hungary, named after the
Jasz people
The Jász (''Latin'': Jazones) are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group who have lived in Hungary since the 13th century. They live mostly in a region known as ''Jászság'', which comprises the north-western part of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county. ...
, a nomadic tribe that settled in Hungary in the 13th century.
History
The Jasz (Jassic) people came to Hungary together with the
Cumans, chased by the
Mongols. They were admitted by the Hungarian king
Béla IV, hoping that they would assist in fighting against a Mongol-Tatar invasion. But shortly after their entry, the relationship worsened dramatically between the Hungarian nobility and the Cumanian-Jassic tribes and they left the country. After the end of the Mongol-Tatar occupation they returned and were settled in the central part of the
Hungarian Plain
The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, hu, Alföld or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain. (However, the Great Hungarian plain ...
.
Initially, their main occupation was animal husbandry. During the next two centuries they were assimilated into the Hungarian population and their language disappeared, but they preserved their Jassic identity and their regional autonomy until 1876. Over a dozen settlements in Central Hungary (e.g.
Jászberény,
Jászárokszállás
Jászárokszállás is a town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary.
Geography
It covers an area of and has a population of 7914 people (2014).
History
First mention of Jászárokszállás was ...
, and
Jászfényszaru
Jászfényszaru is a town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary.
Geography
It covers an area of and has a population of 5567 people (2015).
It is the meeting of three regions: the North-Hungary, ...
) still bear their name. The historical, ethnographical and geographical region of
Jászság, as well as of the modern
Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County, are among the many place names linked to them. The name of the city of
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
in Romania may also derive from the name of the people.
The only literary record of the Jassic language was found in the 1950s in the
Hungarian National Széchényi Library. It is a one-page glossary containing 34 words mainly related to products of agriculture (types of grain, cattle, etc.) probably compiled for fiscal or mercantile purposes. The glossary was interpreted with the help of Ossetian analogues from the
Digor dialect. (Németh 1959)
See also
*
Jasz (Jassic) people
References
*
Németh, J. 1959. "Eine Wörterliste der Jassen, der ungarländischen Alanen." ''Abhandlungen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Klasse für Sprachen, Literatur, und Kunst'', Jahrgang 1958, Nr. 4. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
* Kim, Ronald
"On the Historical Phonology of Ossetic."''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', Vol. 123, No. 1. (Jan.-Mar.,2003), pp. 43–72.
{{Iranian languages
Eastern Iranian languages
13th century in Hungary
Extinct languages of Europe
Languages extinct in the 15th century