The Istriot language () is a
Romance language
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...
of the
Italo-Dalmatian
The Italo-Dalmatian languages, or Central Romance languages, are a group of Romance languages spoken in Italy, Corsica (France), and formerly in Dalmatia (Croatia).
Italo-Dalmatian can be split into:Hammarström, Harald & Forkel, Robert & Haspe ...
branch spoken by about 400 people in the southwestern part of the
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwe ...
n peninsula in
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 =
, capi ...
, particularly in
Rovinj and
Vodnjan. It should not be confused with the
Istrian dialect of the Venetian language or the more distantly related
Eastern Romance
The Eastern Romance languages are a group of Romance languages. Today, the group consists of the Daco-Romance subgroup, which comprises the Romanian language (Daco-Romanian), Aromanian language and two other related minor languages, Megleno-R ...
Istro-Romanian.
Classification
Istriot is a Romance language currently only found in
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwe ...
.
Its classification has remained mostly unclear, various proposals for its affinity exist:
* as being related to the
Ladin
Ladin may refer to:
*Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language
*Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy
See also
*Laden (disambiguation)
*Ladino (disambiguati ...
populations of the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
. According to the Italian linguist
Matteo Bartoli
Matteo Giulio Bartoli (22 November 1873 in Labin/Albona – 23 January 1946 in Turin) was an Italian linguist from Istria (then a part of Austria-Hungary, today part of modern Croatia).
He obtained a doctorate at the University of Vienna, wh ...
, the Ladin area used to extend – until the year 1000 AD – from southern
Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwe ...
to
Friuli and eastern
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.
* as an independent Northern Italian language, belonging neither to the
Venetian language
Venetian, wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ) is a Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in the Veneto region, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and ofte ...
nor to the
Gallo-Italic group (opinion shared by linguists
Tullio De Mauro and
Maurizio Dardano);
* as a variety of the
Rhaeto-Romance languages by the Istriot
Antonio Ive[
* as an independent language of the ]Italo-Dalmatian
The Italo-Dalmatian languages, or Central Romance languages, are a group of Romance languages spoken in Italy, Corsica (France), and formerly in Dalmatia (Croatia).
Italo-Dalmatian can be split into:Hammarström, Harald & Forkel, Robert & Haspe ...
group
* as an autochthonous Romance language
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...
heavily influenced by Venetian
Venetian often means from or related to:
* Venice, a city in Italy
* Veneto, a region of Italy
* Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area
Venetian and the like may also refer to:
* Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
, Friulian and Slavic superstrates by Mirko Deanović
* In 2017 it was classified by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (german: Max-Planck-Institut für Menschheitsgeschichte) performs basic research into archaeological science. The institute is one of 80+ research institutes of the Max Planck Society an ...
with the Dalmatian language
Dalmatian () or Dalmatic (; dlm, langa dalmata, link=no or simply ; it, lingua dalmatica, dalmatico; sh, dalmatski) was a Romance language that was spoken in the Dalmatia region of present-day Croatia, and as far south as Kotor in Monteneg ...
in the Dalmatian Romance subgroup,
When Istria
Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwe ...
was a region of the Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, Istriot was considered by the authorities as a subdialect of Venetian.
Historically, its speakers never referred to it as "Istriot"; it had six names after the six towns where it was spoken. In Vodnjan it was named "Bumbaro", in Bale "Vallese", in Rovinj "Rovignese", in Šišan "Sissanese", in Fažana "Fasanese" and in Galižana
Galižana ( it, Gallesano) is a village in Istria, Croatia. It is part of the City District of Vodnjan, Istria County.
Population
According to the 2001 census, the settlement had 1,349 inhabitants and 455 family households.
History
Gali� ...
"Gallesanese". The term ''Istriot'' was coined by the 19th-century Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli.
This language is still spoken by some people in the Istriot communities in Fertilia
Fertilia er-tì-liais a frazione ( hamlet) in the municipality of Alghero in the province of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy.
History
Fertilia was built by the Fascist government of Italy in the 1930s, after the draining of the marshes which covere ...
and Maristella, in Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...
.
There are about 400 speakers left, making it an endangered language
An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead lang ...
.
Vocabulary
Below is a comparison of Istriot with several closely related Romance languages and Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
:
Phonology
The phonology of the Istriot language:
Consonants
* Sounds can also be noted as among different dialects.
* occurs as a result of a nasal consonant preceding a velar stop.
* can occur as a result of Italian loanwords.
Vowels
Orthography
The Istriot alphabet is the following:
Example
This is a poem called "Grièbani" by Ligio Zanini[There is an article on the poet in Italian Wikipedia.] in the dialect of Rovinj-Rovigno.
See also
* Istrian Italians
* Julian March
*Dalmatian language
Dalmatian () or Dalmatic (; dlm, langa dalmata, link=no or simply ; it, lingua dalmatica, dalmatico; sh, dalmatski) was a Romance language that was spoken in the Dalmatia region of present-day Croatia, and as far south as Kotor in Monteneg ...
Wikisource:Istriot
Notes
External links
Istriot Language Map (distribution)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Istriot Language
Languages of Croatia
Italo-Dalmatian languages
Endangered Romance languages
Italians of Croatia
Subject–verb–object languages