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 Rovinj (; it, Rovigno; Istriot: or ; grc, Ρυγίνιον, Rygínion; la, Ruginium) is a city in Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 14,294 (2011). Located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, it is a p ...

and

Vodnjan Vodnjan (; it, Dignano) is a town in Istria County, Croatia, located about 10 kilometers north of the largest city in Istria, Pula. History According to the legend, it developed out of the association of seven villas which were part of the colon ...

. 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

. 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

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giuli ...

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 The Gallo-Italic, Gallo-Italian, Gallo-Cisalpine or simply Cisalpine languages constitute the majority of the Romance languages of northern Italy. They are Piedmontese, Lombard, Emilian, Ligurian, and Romagnol. Although most publications de ...

group (opinion shared by linguists Tullio De Mauro and Maurizio Dardano); * as a variety of the

Rhaeto-Romance languages Rhaeto-Romance, Rheto-Romance, or Rhaetian, is a purported subfamily of the Romance languages that is spoken in south-eastern Switzerland and north-eastern Italy. The name "Rhaeto-Romance" refers to the former Roman province of Raetia. The quest ...

by the Istriot Antonio Ive * as an independent language of the

group * as an autochthonous

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

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

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 Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (; 16 July 1829 – 21 January 1907) was an Italian linguist. Life and work Ascoli was born in an Italian-speaking Jewish family in the multiethnic town of Gorizia, then part of the Austrian Empire (now in Italy). Alre ...

. 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 ZaniniThere is an article on the poet in

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia ( it, Wikipedia in italiano) is the Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on May 11, 2001 and first edited on June 11, 2001. As of , , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is t ...

. in the dialect of Rovinj-Rovigno.

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