>******GK: Alex, it has been known for a very long time
>that the "Jus Valachorum" ("Voloshs'ke Pravo") in
>Galicia in the 14th and 15th century was overwhelmingly
>used by local peasants, not by Romanian colonists.
Yeah, but why on earth would those local Slavic
peasants have adopted a way of life of another
nation, so to speak, out of the blue? Those
migrations aren't after all *un*documented for
the 14th and 15th century. As I mentioned, many
of those Romanians were immigrants from Hungary,
i.e. from the provinces Banate, Transylvania and
the MaramaroS/MaramureS (whose Norther part belongs
now to the Ukraine and was always the western
neighbor to Galitia). The ius valachicum and the
vocabulary (even with Hungarian influences) are
eloquent traces. Those Romanians were assimilated
becoming Ukrainians, Poles, Slovaks and Czechs.
(The latter even try to exploit their "vala$ske"
localities and museum(s) for touristic purposes.)
>The Romanian (actually Moldavian) influence is
>clear, but this is a borrowed system, not
>evidence of colonization.******
Actually an influence by Transylvanian Romanians.
Moldavia, as a Romanian principality, was founded
__twice__ by Transylvanian voyvodes from Maramuresh
(some of them coming from localities North of the
river of Tisza, i.e. which are today Ukrainian).
The first founders acted as delegates of the
Hungarian king, the second ones acted as rebels
against the Hungarian king. Some members of their
clans settled down in Poland later on and had
lineages in the Polish Szlachta. Historically and
linguistically, Moldavia isn't (from the Romanian
point of view) nothing else but an extension of
Transylvania. Even in territories which lay outside
Moldova, in way inside of the Ukraine, there are
Moldavians who bear family names of Hungarian
origin or influence. ;)
George