The Buzet dialect ( hr, buzetski dijalekt) is a dialect of the

Chakavian Chakavian or Čakavian (, , , sh-Latn, čakavski proper name: or own name: ''čokovski, čakavski, čekavski'') is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats along the Adriatic coast, in the historical regions of Dalmat ...

regiolect or language within

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. It is spoken in northern

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

around Buzet. The Buzet dialect is transitional between the

Slovenian language Slovene ( or ), or alternatively Slovenian (; or ), is a South Slavic language, a sub-branch that is part of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is spoken by about 2.5 million speakers worldwide (excluding speake ...

and

Kajkavian language Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and nort ...

. Some consider it part of the Kajkavian language area, and in the past it was classified (e.g. by

Fran Ramovš Fran Ramovš (14 September 1890 – 16 September 1952; pen name Julij Dub) was a Slovenian linguist. He studied the dialects and onomastics of Slovene. Early life and education Fran Ramovš was born in Ljubljana, the capital of the Duchy of Car ...

) as a Slovenian dialect. The primary features that separate Buzet dialect from the rest of the Chakavian dialects are in the development of the

Common Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...

vocalism: * */ ě/ > /ẹ/ (closed ''e'') * */e/, */ę/ > opened ''e'' (just like in most Kajkavian speeches) * */u/ > /ü/ * syllabic */l/ > /u/ * */ǫ/ > /a/ Prosodical system diverges from that of other Chakavian speeches (having lost, for example, the difference between long a short accented vowels). Another unusual feature is the usage of Kajkavian interrogative pronoun "what", instead of the usual Chakavian . As far as the division of Chakavian dialects in Southeastern and Northwestern is concerned, Buzet dialect belongs to Northwestern Chakavian. The Buzet dialect has been extensively described in the book ''Buzetski govori'' (Annales, Kopar 2005) by Nataša Vivoda.

References

* * {{Chakavian dialects Dialects of Serbo-Croatian Croatian language Istria