Liszka József (szerk.): Az Etnológiai Központ Évkönyve 2000-2001 - Acta Ethnologica Danubiana 2-3. (Dunaszerdahely-Komárom, 2001)

1. Tanulmányok - Paládi-Kovács Attila: Természeti tájak és nyelvhatárok a régi Felső-Magyarországon

Acta Ethnologica Danubiana 2-3 (2000-2001), Komárom-Komárno

Natural Regions and Language-boundaries in the Old Upper Hungary

Paládi-Kovács Attila

1. The Upland as a geographical region

As early as the 16th century the region of the Northern Carpathians was known in Hungarian as Felföld (Upland, Highland) or Felső-Magyarország (Upper Hungary). This mountainous province constitutes most of 20th century Slovakia. The northern limit of this geographical region runs along the ridge of the Carpathians or their outer sandstone zone, coinciding with the border of historical Hungary. In the west the inner slopes overlook the Little Plain and in the east the Great Hungarian Plain. The contrast between the landscape of the Upland and the two Plains is striking. The whole of this southern boundary lies at the foot of hills several hundred metres high. The river valleys as the outlets and gateways to the Upland cut across the boundary between these natural regions. The western boundary of the Upland can be drawn along the ridge of the Little Carpathians and the eastern boundary along the line of the Tapoly (Topl’a) River. (Mendöl 1940,5)

From the point of view of geology and geomorphology, the Upland can be divided into two parts or subregions. Giant granite blocks form the core of the mountains of the High Upland (1500-2500 m) and these granite cores are intermingled with crystalline rocks and ancient shales. The small basins between these mountains are linked by U-shaped gorges.

The other subregion is the Southern Upland preserving in part the memory of the Mesozoic era. It is made up of limestone table mountains, plateaux and karst (800-1500 m), while its southern chain of hills is largely of Tertiary volcanic origin. They are generally 600-1000 m high. Between this double chain of hills and at its northern edge we find wide basins filled with Tertiary sediment (clay, marl, sand, gravel).

Along the boundary between the two subregions we find the ore-rich Osztrovszki Hills and the Gömör-Szepes Ore Mountains (Slovenské Rudohorie).

The climate (mean temperature and precipitation) changes with the elevation, and with it the vegetation zones. In the Middle Ages most of the Upland was covered with forests. The forest zone was originally around 220 km wide and for a long while it was only along the river valleys that man penetrated these dense forests. As forests were cleared, the human presence slowly and steadily spread over the centuries.

The dominant tree in the Southern Upland is the oak and in the Northern Upland the pine. Beeches occupy a relatively narrow zone, interrupted in the valleys. Stands of beech can be found on the higher parts of the southern hills of volcanic origin, on the northern slopes. The

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