Maramureș dialect
The Maramureș dialect ("subdialectul/graiul maramureșean") is one of the dialects of the Romanian language (Daco-Romanian). Its geographic distribution covers approximately the historical region of Maramureș, now split between Romania and Ukraine. Classification. The Maramureș dialect belongs to the group of relatively fragmented Transylvanian varieties, along with the Crișana dialect. This places the Maramureș dialect in the northern group of Romanian dialects, which also includes Moldavian dialect and Banat, as opposed to the southern grouping which consists of the Wallachian subdialect alone. In the context of the transition-like and very fragmented speech varieties of Transylvania, the  classification of the Maramureș dialect as a separate variety is made difficult—like the Crișana dialect, or even more so—by the small number of distinctive phonetic features. This difficulty made many researchers, in particular in earlier stages of the dialectal studies of Romanian, to not recognize an individual Maramureș dialect; this view was held by Gustav Weigand, Alexandru Philippide, Iorgu Iordan, and Emanuel Vasiliu among others. Subsequent analyses admit the existence of this variety, albeit with some reluctance, leading some researchers (such as Emil Petrovici and Sextil Pușcariu) to elaborate different classifications according to different criteria, depending on which  the Maramureș variety is or is not individualized. Current classifications, owed to Romulus Todoran, Ion Coteanu and others, recognize a separate Maramureș dialect. Geographic distribution. The Maramureș dialect is spoken in the approximate area of the Maramureș historical region, including parts of both Romania and Ukraine. In Romania, the dialectal area covers the north-eastern part of the Maramureș County, along the valleys of the Tisza, Vișeu, Mara, and Cosău; many people are concentrated in Sighetu Marmației, Vișeu and Borșa. In Ukraine, speakers are found in the eastern part of the Zakarpattia Oblast (Northern Maramureș); their number is decreasing. Subdivisions . Although spoken on a small area, the Maramureș dialect can be further divided, by using particularities that are mostly lexical, into three branches: Particularities. Many particularities are shared with the Crișana dialect as well as with the other neighboring Transylvanian varieties, and some with the Moldavian dialect. Sample. Maramureș dialect: Standard Romanian: "Se roagă lui Dumnezeu, își face cruce și zice: Doamne, ajută-mi. Și femeia ia un ou și-l sparge de car, ca să-i fie ușoară arătura, ca și oul." English translation: "She prays to God, she crosses herself, and says: God, help me. And the woman  takes an egg and breaks it on the cart, so that the plowing will be light [easy] like the egg."