Near Masovian dialect

The Near Masovian dialect (Polish: gwary Mazowsza bliższego) belongs to the Masovian dialect group and is located in the area surrounding the capital of Poland, Warsaw. It borders the Łowicz dialect to the southwest, the Lesser Polish Masovian Borderland dialect to the south, the Western Lublin dialect to the southeast, the Podlachia dialect to the east, the Far Mazovian dialect to the north, the Greater Polish Chełmno-Dobrzyń dialect to the northwest, the Kujawy dialect to the west, and the Lesser Polish Sieradz dialect to the southwest.

The Near Masovian dialect is a younger dialect compared to others, and often is influenced by Polish from the capital.

Typical of Masovian dialects, devoicing of word-final consonants before vowels and liquids is present here. Also typical of Masovian dialects is the presence of masuration.

The shift of initial ja-, ra- > je-, re- is present but limited to particular words: jek (jak), remię (ramię). Ablaut is often levelled: wymietał (wymiatał). Medial -ar- sporadically changes to -er-, most often in the northwest. Final -ej often raises to -yj/-ij and can sometimes further reduce to -y/-i: cały (całej), późni (później). i, y often lower before liquids: lubjeli (lubili), derektor (dyrektor). Final -ył/-ił often shift to -uł, usually in the past tense: piuł (pił).

Slanted á is either retained as á or raises to o, or often realized as a as in Standard Polish. Slanted é can be retained as é (with many phonetic variants), raised to y/i, or often realized as e as in Standard Polish, which can also be seen in the masculine/neuter genitive adjectival ending -ygo/-igo. Slanted ó is either retained as ó or raised to u, as in Standard Polish.

Medial ę typically decomposes to eN, or can rarely lower to aN (more commonly in the east), or sometimes can raise to yN, iN (more common elsewhere in the region). Final -ę denasalizes to -e. The group eN usually doesn't change, but it can sometimes raise or lower as ę. Medial ą typically decomposes and raises. Final ą has a tendency to denasalize to -o and sometimes raises to -u, or can decompose to -oł. Medial nasal vowels can decompose before sibilants as well, but there is also a common tendency for them to denasalize and have -j-, -ł- inserted: gołski (gąski), niescejście (nieszczęście). Both nasal vowels denasalize before l, ł and can sometimes raise. The group oN tends to raise to óN, uN. The group uN tends to lower óN or sometimes oN.

Initial i- often has a prothetic j-, and sometimes lowers to e: jinna (inna), jenacy (inaczej). Initial o- usually labializes to ô-, and to a lesser extent initial u- to û-.

Soft labials tend to decompose, where the palatal element becomes j. The groups św’-, ćw’-, dźw’- tend to harden: śfynie (świnie). The group li tends to harden to ly. Soft kie, gie, ki, gi, tend to remain soft, but can sometimes harden. kę, gę can sometimes soften: matkie (matkę). Sometimes chy softens to chi: chiba (chyba). kt usually shifts to cht: chto (kto). The groups chw, chrz shift to kw, krz: kwali (chwali), krzan (chrzan).