Slovene minority in Italy ( Slovene : slovenska manjšina v Italiji , Italian : minoranza slovena in Italia ), also known as Slovenes in Italy ( Slovene : Slovenci v Italiji , Italian : sloveni in Italia ) is the name given to Italian citizens who belong to the autochthonous Slovene ethnic and linguistic minority living in the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia . The vast majority of members of the Slovene ethnic minority live in the Provinces of Trieste , Gorizia , and Udine . Estimates of their number vary significantly; the official figures show 52,194 Slovenian speakers in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as per the 1971 census, but Slovenian estimates speak of 83,000 to 100,000 people.
73-923: The Julian Alps and Prealps (in Slovenian Julijske Alpe v širšem smislu , in Italian Alpi e Prealpi Giulie ) are a mountain range in the eastern part of the Alps . They are located in Slovenia and in Italy . According to SOIUSA ( International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps ) the Julian Alps and Prealps are an Alpine section, classified in the following way: The range are divided in two subsections: Some notable summits of
146-461: A , an , the ) or German ( der, die, das, ein, eine ). A whole verb or a noun is described without articles and the grammatical gender is found from the word's termination. It is enough to say barka ('a' or 'the barge'), Noetova barka ('Noah's ark'). The gender is known in this case to be feminine. In declensions , endings are normally changed; see below. If one should like to somehow distinguish between definiteness or indefiniteness of
219-549: A mere 2.8%. During World War II , Slovenia was divided among the Axis Powers of Fascist Italy , Nazi Germany , and Hungary . Each of the occupying powers tried to either discourage or entirely suppress Slovene. Following World War II, Slovenia became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . Slovene was one of the official languages of the federation. In the territory of Slovenia, it
292-870: A national one. The Slovenes of these areas lacked any form of collective minority or linguistic rights until the year 2000, when the Law for the Defense of the Slovene-Speaking Minority was passed by the Italian Parliament. Around 3,000 Slovenes live in the Canale Valley in the north-easternmost part of the Province of Udine . The valley is currently divided among three municipalities: Tarvisio ( Trbiž ), Malborghetto Valbruna ( Naborjet - Ovčja vas ), and Pontebba ( Tablja ). Most of
365-463: A noun, one would say (prav/natanko/ravno) tista barka ('that/precise/exact barge') for 'the barge' and neka/ena barka ('some/a barge') for 'a barge'. Definiteness of a noun phrase can also be discernible through the ending of the accompanying adjective. One should say rdeči šotor ('[exactly that] red tent') or rdeč šotor ('[a] red tent'). This difference is observable only for masculine nouns in nominative or accusative case. Because of
438-642: A prominent Slovene linguist, commented that, although Slovene is not an endangered language, its scope has been shrinking, especially in science and higher education. The language is spoken by about 2.5 million people, mainly in Slovenia, but also by Slovene national minorities in Friuli-Venezia Giulia , Italy (around 90,000 in Venetian Slovenia , Resia Valley , Canale Valley , Province of Trieste and in those municipalities of
511-621: A record of a proto-Slovene that was spoken in a more scattered territory than modern Slovene, which included most of the present-day Austrian states of Carinthia and Styria , as well as East Tyrol , the Val Pusteria in South Tyrol , and some areas of Upper and Lower Austria . By the 15th century, most of the northern areas were gradually Germanized : the northern border of the Slovene-speaking territory stabilized on
584-751: A relic from the now modern Russian yery character ⟨ы⟩ , which is itself usually transliterated as ⟨y⟩ ; /j/ as ⟨y⟩ ; /l/ as ⟨ll⟩ ; /ʋ/ as ⟨w⟩ ; /ʒ/ as ⟨ʃ⟩ , ⟨ʃʃ⟩ or ⟨ʃz⟩ . The standard Slovene orthography, used in almost all situations, uses only the letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet plus ⟨č⟩ , ⟨š⟩ , and ⟨ž⟩ . The letters ⟨q⟩ , ⟨w⟩ , ⟨x⟩ , and ⟨y⟩ are not included: /uʷ/ The orthography thus underdifferentiates several phonemic distinctions: In
657-497: A separate Resian identity. Notable Slovenes, who were either born in what is today Italy, or who spent a considerable part of their lives in these area, include: Besides members of the Slovene ethnic minority, there are also notable Italians with a Slovene descendent background. Italian naturalized citizens of Slovenian background are also usually not considered to be part of the Slovene autochthonous minority, unless they reside in
730-610: A significantly different history, which resulted in different identities. The Slovenes in the Resia Valley are sometimes considered as a fourth group, due to their specific linguistic features and separate identity; nevertheless, they share a common history, as well as similar cultural and linguistic features with the Slovenes from Venetian Slovenia. The Slovenes living in the Provinces of Trieste and Gorizia shared, until 1918,
803-444: A singular participle combined with a plural auxiliary verb (known as polvikanje ) signals a somewhat more friendly and less formal attitude while maintaining politeness: The use of nonstandard forms ( polvikanje ) might be frowned upon by many people and would not likely be used in a formal setting. The use of the 3rd person plural oni ('they') form (known as onikanje in both direct address and indirect reference; this
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#1732783880433876-572: A violent policy of Fascist Italianization ; the same policy was applied to Slovene speakers in Venetian Slovenia , Gorizia and Trieste . Between 1923 and 1943, all public use of Slovene in these territories was strictly prohibited, and Slovene-language activists were persecuted by the state. After the Carinthian Plebiscite of 1920, a less severe policy of Germanization took place in the Slovene-speaking areas of southern Carinthia which remained under Austrian administration. After
949-450: A vowel. Before a consonant or word-finally, they are reduced to /l/ , /n/ and /r/ respectively. This is reflected in the spelling in the case of /rj/ , but not for /lj/ and /nj/ . Under certain (somewhat unpredictable) circumstances, /l/ at the end of a syllable may become [w] , merging with the allophone of /ʋ/ in that position. Slovene has an eight-vowel (or, according to Peter Jurgec, nine-vowel) system, in comparison to
1022-710: A wide net of cultural and civic associations. The Slovene language is co-official in many of the municipalities with presence of the Slovene minority, and visual bilingualism is applied in most of the non-urban settlements with traditional Slovene presence. However, the implementation of these rights largely depends on the local administrations; thus, the situation varies significantly from area to area. Both Italy and Slovenia promote Slovene culture in Friuli-Venezia Giulia through subsidies for Slovene associations and organizations. The denomination “Slovenes in Italy”
1095-409: Is a distinction between animate and inanimate nouns. This is only relevant for masculine nouns and only in the singular, at odds with some other Slavic languages, e.g. Russian, for which it is also relevant in the plural for all genders. Animate nouns have an accusative singular form that is identical to the genitive, while for inanimate nouns the accusative singular is the same as the nominative. Animacy
1168-672: Is based mostly on semantics and is less rigid than gender. Generally speaking a noun is animate if it refers to something that is generally thought to have free will or the ability to move of its own accord. This includes all nouns for people and animals. All other nouns are inanimate, including plants and other non-moving life forms, and also groups of people or animals. However, there are some nouns for inanimate objects that are generally animate, which mostly include inanimate objects that are named after people or animals. This includes: There are no definite or indefinite articles as in English (
1241-484: Is not mutually intelligible with standard Slovene and with most other Slovene dialects . Historically and culturally (as well as linguistically), Resia could be considered a part of Venetian Slovenia . According to Italian and regional legislation, Resians are considered as part of the Slovene minority in Italy; however, there are strong local movements that oppose identification with Slovenes and Slovene language, and defend
1314-584: Is often adjusted for emphasis or stylistic reasons, although basically it is an SVO language. It has a T–V distinction : the use of the V-form demonstrates a respectful attitude towards superiors and the elderly, while it can be sidestepped through the passive form. Standard Slovene is the national standard language that was formed in the 18th and 19th century, based on Upper and Lower Carniolan dialect groups , more specifically on language of Ljubljana and its adjacent areas. The Lower Carniolan dialect group
1387-474: Is often used also by the Slovenes in Italy themselves, and it is considered a neutral and politically correct term. The Slovene minority in Italy lives in the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia , more precisely, in the provinces of Trieste , Gorizia and Udine . Slovene immigrants living in other parts of Italy are not considered as members of the minority. Slovenes live along the border with Slovenia . Their traditional area of settlement includes: Today
1460-537: Is preferred to “Italian Slovenes” or “Slovene Italians” due to historical reasons and reasons of identity. The Slovenes of the Julian March or Venezia Giulia (the present-day Provinces of Trieste and Gorizia ) became Italian citizens only with the Treaty of Rapallo of 1920. In the late 1920s and 1930s, many of them supported underground anti-Fascist groups, such as TIGR . During World War II large portions of
1533-572: Is proved by the survival of certain ritual formulas in Slovene (such as the ritual installation of the Dukes of Carinthia). The words Buge waz primi, gralva Venus! ('God be With You, Queen Venus!'), with which Bernhard von Spanheim greeted the poet Ulrich von Liechtenstein , who was travelling around Europe in guise of Venus, upon his arrival in Carinthia in 1227 (or 1238), is another example of some level of Slovene knowledge among high nobility in
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#17327838804331606-509: Is similar to using Sie in German) as an ultra-polite form is now archaic or dialectal. It is associated with servant-master relationships in older literature, the child-parent relationship in certain conservative rural communities, and parishioner-priest relationships. Foreign words used in Slovene are of various types depending on the assimilation they have undergone. The types are: The loanwords are mostly from German and Italian , while
1679-476: Is the traditional name for Slovene-speaking areas in the valleys of upper Natisone and Torre rivers in eastern Friuli (currently in the Province of Udine ). The history of these areas has been strongly linked to the history of Friuli. Unlike most other ethnic Slovene territories (including the areas of Gorizia and Trieste), this region was part of the Venetian Republic for around 350 years (hence
1752-532: The Anschluss of 1938, the use of Slovene was strictly forbidden in Carinthia, as well. This accelerated a process of language shift in Carinthia, which continued throughout the second half of the 20th century: according to the Austro-Hungarian census of 1910, around 21% of inhabitants of Carinthia spoke Slovene in their daily communication; by 1951, this figure dropped to less than 10%, and by 2001 to
1825-609: The Indo-European language family . Most of its 2.5 million speakers are the inhabitants of Slovenia , majority of them ethnic Slovenes . As Slovenia is part of the European Union , Slovene is also one of its 24 official and working languages . Its syntax is highly fusional , and it has a dual grammatical number , an archaic feature shared with some other Indo-European languages . Two accentual norms (one characterized by pitch accent ) are used. Its flexible word order
1898-550: The Protestant Reformation . The most prominent authors from this period are Primož Trubar , who wrote the first books in Slovene; Adam Bohorič , the author of the first Slovene grammar; and Jurij Dalmatin , who translated the entire Bible into Slovene. From the high Middle Ages up to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, in the territory of present-day Slovenia, German
1971-579: The Province of Gorizia bordering with Slovenia), in southern Carinthia , some parts of Styria in Austria (25,000) and in the western part of Croatian Istria bordering with Slovenia. It is also spoken in Rijeka and Zagreb (11,800-13,100), in southwestern Hungary (3-5,000), in Serbia (5,000), and by the Slovene diaspora throughout Europe and the rest of the world (around 300,000), particularly in
2044-820: The Slavic languages , together with Serbo-Croatian . It is close to the Chakavian and especially Kajkavian dialects of Serbo-Croatian, but genealogically more distant from the Shtokavian dialect , the basis for the Bosnian , Croatian , Montenegrin , and Serbian standard languages. Slovene in general, and Prekmurje Slovene in particular, shares the highest level of mutual intelligibility with transitional Kajkavian dialects of Hrvatsko Zagorje and Međimurje . Furthermore, Slovene shares certain linguistic characteristics with all South Slavic languages , including those of
2117-900: The Slovene Lands where compulsory schooling was in languages other than Standard Slovene, as was the case with the Carinthian Slovenes in Austria, and the Slovene minority in Italy . For example, the Resian and Torre (Ter) dialects in the Italian Province of Udine differ most from other Slovene dialects. Slovene is an Indo-European language belonging to the Western subgroup of the South Slavic branch of
2190-469: The Slovenian Littoral has faded, but it can still be traced in the names of certain institutions, most notably in the title of the Slovene daily newspaper of Trieste, called Primorski dnevnik which means “The Littoral Daily”. Between the 1940s and 1960s, the Slovenes from the Provinces of Gorizia and Trieste established the infrastructure of minority organizations that now serve the needs of
2263-554: The South Tyrol Option Agreement between Italy and Nazi Germany was also applied to ethnic Germans in the area; as a consequence, most of the German-speaking population was resettled to neighboring Carinthia . New settlers from other parts of Italy gradually took their place, which significantly altered the ethnic composition of the valley. Nowadays, Slovene is still spoken in several villages in
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2336-557: The United States (most notably Ohio , home to an estimated 3,400 speakers), Canada , Argentina , Australia and South Africa . Slovene is sometimes characterized as the most diverse Slavic language in terms of dialects , with different degrees of mutual intelligibility. Accounts of the number of dialects range from as few as seven dialects, often considered dialect groups or dialect bases that are further subdivided into as many as 50 dialects. Other sources characterize
2409-577: The 16th century, and ultimately led to the formation of more standard language. The Upper dialect was also used by most authors during the language revival in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and was also the language spoken by France Prešeren , who, like most of Slovene writers and poets, lived and worked in Ljubljana, where speech was growing closer to the Upper Carniolan dialect group. Unstandardized dialects are more preserved in regions of
2482-471: The 1910s is frequently closer to modern Slovene than a text from the 1920s and 1930s. Between 1920 and 1941, the official language of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was defined as "Serbo-Croato-Slovene", which was in practice merely Serbo-Croatian. In Slovenia however, Slovene remained in use in education and administration. Many state institutions used only Serbo-Croatian, and a Slovene–Serbo-Croatian bilingualism
2555-404: The 2nd person singular ti form (known as tikanje ) is officially limited to friends and family, talk among children, and addressing animals, it is increasingly used among the middle generation to signal a relaxed attitude or lifestyle instead of its polite or formal counterpart using the 2nd person plural vi form (known as vikanje ). An additional nonstandard but widespread use of
2628-561: The Eastern subgroup, namely Bulgarian , Macedonian and Torlakian dialects. Mutual intelligibility with varieties of Serbo-Croatian is hindered by differences in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, Kajkavian being firmly the most mutually intelligible . Slovene has some commonalities with the West Slavic languages that are not found in other South Slavic languages. Like all Slavic languages , Slovene traces its roots to
2701-559: The Italian constitution and specific legislation, as well as by international treaties (especially the London Memorandum of 1954), and bilateral agreements initially stipulated first between Italy and Yugoslavia (especially the Treaty of Osimo of 1975), and since 1991 between Italy and Slovenia . Since 1945, the Slovenes in Italy have enjoyed partial cultural autonomy , including an education system in Slovene . They have
2774-463: The Julian Alps and Prealps are: Slovenian language Slovene ( / ˈ s l oʊ v iː n / SLOH -veen or / s l oʊ ˈ v iː n , s l ə -/ sloh- VEEN , slə- ) or Slovenian ( / s l oʊ ˈ v iː n i ə n , s l ə -/ sloh- VEE -nee-ən, slə- ; slovenščina ) is a South Slavic language of the Balto-Slavic branch of
2847-500: The Province of Udine: The Slovene minority in Italy is highly differentiated along geographic, cultural-historical, identity and linguistic lines. In cultural-historical terms, three separate groups can be differentiated: the Slovenes of the Julian March (the Provinces of Trieste and Gorizia), the Slovenes from Venetian Slovenia , and the Slovenes from the Canale Valley (in the Province of Udine). Each of these three groups has had
2920-404: The Slovene minority and thus enjoy certain collective minority rights, while the latter do not. The Slovene language is officially recognized in the following 32 municipalities, even though in many of these muncicipalities the presence of the Slovene minority is very small, representing as little as 2% of the population in some areas: In the Province of Trieste: In the Province of Gorizia: In
2993-534: The Slovene minority is present in 32 municipalities in the region: 6 in the Province of Trieste, 6 in the Province of Gorizia and 20 in the Province of Udine. In 16 of them, they are the majority of the population. In addition to these, since the early 1920s, the Slovenes have been immigrating to the industrial areas of the lower Isonzo valley, to the lowland areas around Monfalcone , known as Bisiacaria , and to larger Friulian cities (such as Udine , Pordenone , and others). The former are nowadays considered members of
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3066-473: The Slovene minority was regarded by many political parties, as well as by segments of State institutions, as a potential Yugoslav Trojan Horse . After 1947, the term zamejski Slovenci (literally, 'Slovenes beyond the border') started to be used by the Yugoslav press and institutions, especially in Slovenia . Initially, this term referred to all Slovene minorities residing outside Yugoslavia (in addition to
3139-405: The Slovenes in Italy, also the Carinthian Slovenes and Hungarian Slovenes ). This is still the way the term is used by state institutions in Slovenia. However, because alternative terms exist for the Slovene minorities in Austria and Hungary, the term zamejski Slovenci or Zamejci (< za 'behind' + meja 'border' + ci , a suffix) tends to be used mostly for the Slovenes in Italy. This term
3212-527: The areas around Trieste . During most of the Middle Ages, Slovene was a vernacular language of the peasantry, although it was also spoken in most of the towns on Slovenian territory, together with German or Italian. Although during this time, German emerged as the spoken language of the nobility, Slovene had some role in the courtly life of the Carinthian, Carniolan and Styrian nobility, as well. This
3285-403: The border separated families and ran through fields and estates. All these reasons contributed to the strong connection between the Slovenes who remained in Italy with their counterparts that were annexed to Yugoslavia. Until the 1950s and 1960s, the Slovenes from the Provinces of Gorizia and Trieste frequently referred to themselves as Littoral Slovenes. Since the 1960s, this identification with
3358-542: The end of words unless immediately followed by a word beginning with a vowel or a voiced consonant. In consonant clusters, voicing distinction is neutralized and all consonants assimilate the voicing of the rightmost segment, i.e. the final consonant in the cluster. In this context, [v] , [ɣ] and [d͡z] may occur as voiced allophones of /f/ , /x/ and /t͡s/ , respectively (e.g. vŕh drevésa [ʋrɣ dreˈʋesa] ). /ʋ/ has several allophones depending on context. The sequences /lj/ , /nj/ and /rj/ occur only before
3431-491: The excessive usage of regionalisms. Regionalisms are mostly limited to culinary and agricultural expressions, although there are many exceptions. Some loanwords have become so deeply rooted in the local language that people have considerable difficulties in finding a standard expression for the dialect term (for instance, kremšnita meaning a type of custard cake is kremna rezina in Standard Slovene, but
3504-513: The first novel in Slovene in 1866. This tendency was reversed in the Fin de siècle period by the first generation of modernist Slovene authors (most notably the writer Ivan Cankar ), who resorted to a more "pure" and simple language without excessive Serbo-Croatian borrowings. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the 1920s and 1930s, the influence of Serbo-Croatian increased again. This was opposed by
3577-415: The five-vowel system of Serbo-Croatian. Slovene nouns retain six of the seven Slavic noun cases: nominative , accusative , genitive , dative , locative and instrumental . There is no distinct vocative ; the nominative is used in that role. Nouns, adjectives and pronouns have three numbers: singular, dual and plural. Nouns in Slovene are either masculine, feminine or neuter gender. In addition, there
3650-433: The lack of article in Slovene and audibly insignificant difference between the masculine adjective forms, most dialects do not distinguish between definite and indefinite variants of the adjective, leading to hypercorrection when speakers try to use Standard Slovene. Slovene, like most other European languages, has a T–V distinction , or two forms of 'you' for formal and informal situations. Although informal address using
3723-474: The last Austrian census of 1910, the valley had around 9,000 inhabitants, among whom around a third were Slovene speakers, with the remainder German speakers. In 1918, after the end of World War I, the valley was occupied by the Italian Army, and in 1919 it was officially annexed to Italy. In the 1920s and 1930s, many Italians were settled in this area, which bordered both Austria and Yugoslavia . In 1939,
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#17327838804333796-549: The latter term is very rarely used in speech being considered inappropriate for non-literary registers ). Southwestern dialects incorporate many calques and loanwords from Italian, whereas eastern and northwestern dialects are replete with lexemes of German origin. Usage of such words hinders intelligibility between dialects and is greatly discouraged in formal situations. Slovene has a phoneme set consisting of 21 consonants and 8 vowels . Slovene has 21 distinctive consonant phonemes. All voiced obstruents are devoiced at
3869-480: The line going from north of Klagenfurt to south of Villach and east of Hermagor in Carinthia, while in Styria it was more or less identical with the current Austrian-Slovenian border. This linguistic border remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century, when a second process of Germanization took place, mostly in Carinthia. Between the 9th and 12th century, proto-Slovene spread into northern Istria and in
3942-683: The local Slovenes live in the first two, representing around half of the population in Malborghetto Valbruna and a lower percentage in Tarvisio. Until 1918, the Canale Valley ( Kanalska dolina ) was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . Since the Middle Ages, it was a part of the Duchy of Carinthia . The local Slovene speakers shared the same history, traditions and linguistic features with other Carinthian Slovenes . According to
4015-768: The more recently borrowed and less assimilated words are typically from English . This alphabet ( abeceda ) was derived in the mid-1840s from the system created by the Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj . Intended for the Serbo-Croatian language (in all its varieties), it was patterned on the Czech alphabet of the 1830s. Before that /s/ was, for example, written as ⟨ ʃ ⟩ , ⟨ʃʃ⟩ or ⟨ſ⟩ ; /tʃ/ as ⟨tʃch⟩ , ⟨cz⟩ , ⟨tʃcz⟩ or ⟨tcz⟩ ; /i/ sometimes as ⟨y⟩ as
4088-486: The name of the region). During that period, they enjoyed a large degree of autonomy. The Slovenes in this area were annexed to Italy together with the rest of the Venetia region in 1866, that is, half a century before the Slovenes of Gorizia and Trieste, who remained under Austrian rule until after World War I . For long, the identity of the local Slovenes was mostly a linguistic and, to an extent, an ethnic one, but not
4161-585: The number of dialects as nine or eight. The Slovene proverb "Every village has its own voice" ( Vsaka vas ima svoj glas ) depicts the differences in dialects. The Prekmurje dialect used to have a written norm of its own at one point. The Resian dialects have an independent written norm that is used by their regional state institutions. Speakers of those two dialects have considerable difficulties with being understood by speakers of other varieties of Slovene, needing code-switching to Standard Slovene. Other dialects are mutually intelligible when speakers avoid
4234-512: The population took part in the Yugoslav partisan movement , and between 1945 and 1947, many of them actively supported the annexation to Yugoslavia . In the aftermath of World War II, their integration in the Italian state was slow and difficult: much of the anti-Slav Fascist legislation (for example, the forced Italianization of family names) remained valid, and in the context of the Cold War ,
4307-471: The post-breakup influence of Serbo-Croatian on Slovene continued to a lesser extent, most prominently in slang in colloquial language . Joža Mahnič , a literary historian and president of the publishing house Slovenska matica , said in February 2008 that Slovene is a language rich enough to express everything, including the most sophisticated and specialised texts. In February 2010, Janez Dular ,
4380-598: The region known as the Julian March ( Venezia Giulia ). They shared the same fate as other Slovenes in the Julian March: they were subjected to Fascist Italianization , which gave rise to pro-Yugoslav irredentism . In 1947, after World War II, a new border between Italy and Yugoslavia was drawn, dividing the Julian March between the two states. The border was artificial, insofar as it was not based on any significant historical or geographical divides. In many cases,
4453-519: The region. The first printed Slovene words, stara pravda (meaning 'old justice' or 'old laws'), appeared in 1515 in Vienna in a poem of the German mercenaries who suppressed the Slovene peasant revolt : the term was presented as the peasants' motto and battle cry. Standard Slovene emerged in the second half of the 16th century, thanks to the works of Slovene Lutheran authors, who were active during
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#17327838804334526-533: The rise of Romantic nationalism in the 19th century, the cultural movements of Illyrism and Pan-Slavism brought words from Serbo-Croatian , specifically Croatian dialects, and Czech into standard Slovene, mostly to replace words previously borrowed from German. Most of these innovations have remained, although some were dropped in later development. In the second half of the 19th century, many nationalist authors made an abundant use of Serbo-Croatian words: among them were Fran Levstik and Josip Jurčič , who wrote
4599-558: The same history with most other Slovenes : by the end of the 15th century, they were included in the Habsburg monarchy , and in the 19th century they actively participated in the Slovene national revival. Between 1849 and 1918, they were part of the Austrian administrative region known as Austrian Littoral , and were known as Littoral Slovenes ( Primorski Slovenci ). After 1918, they came under Italian administration and were included in
4672-519: The same proto-Slavic group of languages that produced Old Church Slavonic . The earliest known examples of a distinct, written dialect connected to Slovene are from the Freising manuscripts , known in Slovene as Brižinski spomeniki . The consensus estimate of their date of origin is between 972 and 1039 (most likely before 1000). These religious writings are among the oldest surviving manuscripts in any Slavic language. The Freising manuscripts are
4745-707: The standard orthography, Slovene also uses standardized diacritics or accent marks to denote stress , vowel length and pitch accent , much like the closely related Serbo-Croatian . However, as in Serbo-Croatian, use of such accent marks is restricted to dictionaries, language textbooks and linguistic publications. In normal writing, the diacritics are almost never used, except in a few minimal pairs where real ambiguity could arise. Slovene minority in Italy The Slovene minority in Italy enjoys legal protection of its collective rights, guaranteed by
4818-414: The tonemic varieties of Slovene, the ambiguity is even greater: ⟨e⟩ in a final syllable can stand for any of /éː/ /èː/ /ɛ́ː/ /ɛ̀ː/ /ɛ/ /ə/ (although /ɛ̀ː/ is rare; and Slovene, except in some dialects, does not distinguished tonemic accentuation). The reader is expected to gather the interpretation of the word from the context, as in these examples: To compensate for the shortcomings of
4891-451: The valley, especially Valbruna ( Ovčja vas ), Camporosso in Valcanale ( Žabnice ), Ugovizza ( Ukve ), and San Leopoldo ( Lipalja vas ). There has been a revival of Slovene language in these villages after 1990, with a focus on the younger generations. The inhabitants of the Resia Valley ( Rezija ) in north-western Friuli speak a specific dialect of Slovene, known as Resian . Due to its specific phonetic features and archaic grammar, Resian
4964-510: The whole minority. They have enjoyed a certain degree of cultural autonomy (the most important feature being the education system in Slovene) since 1945, and they have maintained strong relations with Slovenia, especially with the neighboring border areas of the Slovenian Littoral. In 1986 the Slovenian community founded the football club Kras Repen , which locates its fan base among the Slovenes in Italy. Venetian Slovenia ( Slovene : Beneška Slovenija or Benečija , Italian : Slavia Veneta )
5037-414: The younger generations of Slovene authors and intellectuals; among the most fierce opponents of an excessive Serbo-Croatian influence on Slovene were the intellectuals associated with the leftist journal Sodobnost , as well as some younger Catholic activists and authors. After 1945, numerous Serbo-Croatian words that had been used in the previous decades were dropped. The result was that a Slovene text from
5110-416: Was applied in many spheres of public life in Slovenia. For example, at the post offices, railways and in administrative offices, Serbo-Croatian was used alongside Slovene. However, state employees were expected to be able to speak Slovene in Slovenia. During the same time, western Slovenia (the Slovenian Littoral and the western districts of Inner Carniola ) was under Italian administration and subjected to
5183-459: Was commonly used in almost all areas of public life. One important exception was the Yugoslav army , where Serbo-Croatian was used exclusively, even in Slovenia. National independence has further fortified the language: since 1991, when Slovenia gained independence, Slovene has been used as an official language in all areas of public life. In 2004 it became one of the official languages of the European Union upon Slovenia's admission. Nonetheless,
5256-434: Was the dialect used in the 16th century by Primož Trubar for his writings, while he also used Slovene as spoken in Ljubljana, since he lived in the city for more than 20 years. It was the speech of Ljubljana that Trubar took as a foundation of what later became standard Slovene, with small addition of his native speech, that is Lower Carniolan dialect . Trubar's choice was later adopted also by other Protestant writers in
5329-399: Was the language of the elite, and Slovene was the language of the common people. During this period, German had a strong influence on Slovene, and many Germanisms are preserved in contemporary colloquial Slovene. Many Slovene scientists before the 1920s also wrote in foreign languages, mostly German, which was the lingua franca of science throughout Central Europe at the time. During
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