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
Germans. The transformation of Kassa into a Hungarian town was a long, slow process and it was not until the early 18th century that the Hungarians became the majority. Tiny scattered groups of Ruthenian shepherds settled on the basis of Vlach law (ius Valachorum) lived between the Hungarian- and German-speaking areas. The fact that the Hungarian-German language boundary existed for hundreds of years was due to a great extent to the topographical features and the nature of transport in the region. In the Gömör-Szepes Ore Mountains (Slovenské Rudohorie) and the Gömör-Torna karst (Slovenský kras) bordering these mountains to the south the valleys of the rivers and streams run in an east-west direction, not northsouth. The valleys are separated by steep mountain chains that are difficult to cross. Only the exits of the stream valleys were in contact with the valleys of the larger rivers which grow wider as they flow to the south (Sajó - Slaná, Bódva, Hemád). The remote ecological niches in the mountains, serving as small life spaces, did not attract outsiders. Although the Germans of the southern Szepes region and the neighbouring Hungarians maintained close trading contacts, they both preserved their own way of life, occupations and places of residence inherited from their ancestors. The Germans remained miners and foundry workers, while the Hungarians for the most part were peasants, cultivating vines and fruit. The Szepes (Zips) Germans have now disappeared. Some emigrated to America in the early 20th century with the decline of the foundry industry while others were deported after 1945. 3. Language enclaves In this part of the Upland, in the territory of the old Gömör, Szepes and Abaúj-Toma counties, in addition to the population masses separated by language-boundaries, small language enclaves existed in past centuries. The period in which these arose, their legal status, ethnic character and geographical environment deserve special attention. It is only possible here to mention a few typical examples. At the end of the Middle Ages there were two characteristic waves of colonisation in the region. Villages or settlements of foresters in clearings arose in the 14th century on the basis of German law (ius Teutonicum). Their agricultural population in both Szepes and Gömör was mainly German-speaking. The pastoral villages settled on the basis of Vlach law (ius Valachorum) arose in the 15th century. They included Sumjác (Šumiac), Telgárt (Švermovo) and Vemár on the upper reaches of the Garam (Hron), Pacsa (Pača) and Uhoma to the east of Rozsnyó, Falucska (Hačava) and Mindszent (at Jasov) in the old Toma county, Kojsó (Kojšov) and Kuncfalu on the border between Abaúj and Szepes counties. They all made a living from the pastures and forests of the high mountains. Their inhabitants originally spoke Ruthenian and belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church. They had their own form of tax, the sztronga, a sheep fiftieth (that is, one ewe and its lamb out of every hundred sheep). Czech colonists arrived in two waves in Northern Gömör: the Hussites in the 15th century and a flow of Moravian tradesmen in the 17th century (e.g. Ratkó - Ratková, Kövi - Kameňany, Tiszolc - Tisovec, Rimabánya - Rim. Baňa, Gesztes - Hostišovce, Bugyikfalva - Budikovany, etc.). Poles lived not only in the northern parts of Szepes and Árva counties. They set up smaller scattered settlements during the 18th century in Northern Gömör and in the old Toma county (e.g. Forgácsfalva - Lom nad Rimavicou, Ottilia, Drabszkó - Drábsko, Derenk). They too 168
