SLOVAK COMMUNITY IN THE TOWN OF NIREDHAZA. FORMATION OF THE 'TIRPAK' GROUP IDENTITY (Slovenska komunita v Niredhaze. K formovaniu skupiny Tirpakov)

The article concerns about the Slovak community in the town Niredhaza in Hungary, which was formed by the Slovak colonists in the half of the 18th century. The name of this community was 'Tirpaci'. The archive documents were analyzed and interpreted and they were used to characterize the community mostly through the historical, linguistic and ethnological data. These data allowed reconstruction of the older stage of the written form of the language as well as several sides of the culture and the way of life of this Slovak community. It was biblical Czech language strongly influenced by the local Slovak dialects and Hungarian language. Tendencies towards as well as against assimilation were found in the community during its historical forming and developing.