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Istriot

The Istriot language () is a Romance language of the Italo-Dalmatian branch spoken by about 400 people in the southwestern part of the Istrian peninsula in Croatia, particularly in Rovinj and Vodnjan.

Classification

Istriot is a Romance language currently only found in Istria. Its classification has remained mostly unclear; it has been variously regarded:

  • as being related to the Ladin populations of the Alps. According to the Italian linguist Matteo Bartoli, the Ladin area used to extend – until the year 1000 AD – from southern Istria to Friuli and eastern Switzerland.

When Istria was a region of the Kingdom of Italy, 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 "Valìʃe", in Rovinj "Ruvignìʃ", in Šišan "Siʃanìʃ", in Fažana "Faʃanìʃ" and in Galižana "Galiʃaneʃ". 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 and Maristella, in Sardinia.

There are about 400 speakers left, making it an endangered language.

Vocabulary

Below is a comparison of Istriot with several closely related Romance languages and Latin:

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 in the dialect of Rovinj-Rovigno.

See also

Notes

External links