The Pskov dialect in the west borders the Latvian and Estonian languages, and in the north and northeast – the Russian language. The southern boundary of this dialect with the dialects of Vitebsk and the northern dialects of Smolensk is indistinct, as they share many common features – writes Jan Stankevich (Pskov Dialect, in: “Records”, No. 1, Munich 1962, pp. 178-202).
According to the Moscow Dialectological Commission, it runs approximately along the administrative boundary of the former Pskov and Tver guberniyas with the former Vitebsk and Smolensk guberniyas, slightly to the north of this boundary (ibid., p. 178).
The old language of Pskov has been primarily studied by: A. Sobolevsky (A. Соболевский, Pskov Speech in the 14th Century, University News, No. 1-2, Kyiv 1884), N. Karynski (N. Каринский, The Language of Pskov and Its Region in the 15th Century, Notes of the Historical-Philological Faculty of St. Petersburg University, 93, 1909) and A. Shakhmatov (A. Шахматов, Several Notes on the Language of Pskov Monuments, Journal of the Ministry of Public Education, July, 105).
A. Sobolevsky, having examined the language of Pskov manuscripts: 8 from the 14th century and one from 1409, concluded that the Pskov dialect in the 14th century differed from all Russian dialects of that time by features such as: frequent replacement of sounds ж and з, ш and с, and the transition of е to а even in stressed positions. Common features with Belarusian dialects (in Sobolevsky’s terms, with “West Russian”) in the Pskov dialect included: the replacement of unstressed о with the sound а, unstressed е with і, and the beginning of the use of hard р instead of soft. In addition, phenomena such as the transition of в to у, the ending -у in the locative case of masculine singular nouns, and the complete merging of яць and е were observed (Jan Stankevich, Pskov Dialect, ibid., p. 179).
N. Karynski, having described 7 Pskov monuments from the 15th century, 8 from the 14th-15th centuries, 1 from the 16th century, and 1 from the 17th century, noted that the Pskov dialect of the 15th century he studied differs from the Pskov dialect of the 14th century studied by A. Sobolevsky, among other things, by features such as: the merging of the sound е with the sound і in unstressed syllables, hardened р, replacement of в with the sound у, and ф with the sound х (ibid.).
According to Y. Stankevich, this does not result from the colonization of northern lands by Belarusians, as N. Karynski claims, but from the simple fact that, like the Poles and Smolensk residents, the Pskovites were Krivichs.
A. Shakhmatov disagreed with N. Karynski, noting that, contrary to N. Karynski, he tends to consider the Pskov-Belarusian connections as ancient.
When referring to Belarusian monuments of the 14th century, one can also observe the same features as in the Pskov ones. Examples of this can be found in the work Belarusians by Y. Karski.
Regarding the national affiliation of today’s Pskov dialect, K. Yerapolsky (K. Иеропольский, The Speech of the Village of Savkino in the Pushkin District of the Pskov Region, IRYAS, III-2, 1930) wrote. In his opinion, the analyzed features of the Pskov dialect do not provide grounds to classify this dialect as North Russian. It is closer to Belarusian dialects, as noted by Pyotr Buzuk in his work On the Characteristics of North Belarusian Dialects. Conversations of the Nevel and Velyki Districts (Jan Stankevich, Pskov Dialect, ibid., p. 183).
Therefore, it is strange, – writes Jan Stankevich – that the Moscow Dialectological Commission did not take into account the Russification of the Pskov dialect over many centuries and considers it a transitional dialect with a North Russian basis and Belarusian overlays, while referring not only to N. Karynski but also to A. Shakhmatov.