Istriot language
| Istriot | |
|---|---|
| bumbaro, vallese, rovignese, sissanese, fasanese, gallesanese | |
| Native to | Croatia |
| Region |
Istria many expelled by communist Yugoslavs into Italy |
Native speakers |
400 (2007)[1] L2 speakers: 900 (2007)[1] |
|
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
ist |
| Glottolog |
istr1244[2] |
| Linguasphere |
51-AAA-na |
Istriot is a Romance language spoken by about 400 people in the southwestern part of the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia, particularly in Rovinj and Vodnjan. It should not be confused with the Istrian dialect of the Venetian language.
Classification
Istriot is a Romance language 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.[3]
Its classification remains unclear, due to the specificities of the language, which has always had a very limited number of speakers. Istriot can be viewed:
- as an independent Northern Italian language, belonging neither to the Venetian language 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[4]
- as an independent language of the Italo-Dalmatian group[5]
- as an autochthonous Romance language heavily influenced by Venetian, Friulian and Slavic superstrates by Mirko Deanović[4]
When Istria was a region of the Kingdom of Italy, Istriot was considered by the authorities as a subdialect of Venetian.[6]
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 "Gallesanese". The term Istriot was coined by the 19th-century Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli.
This language is still spoken by few people in the Istriot communities in Fertilia and Maristella, in Sardinia.
There are about 1,000 speakers left, making it an endangered language.
Vocabulary
Comparison of Istriot with several closely related Romance languages and Latin:
| Latin | Italian | Istriot | Venetian | Bisiacco Venetian |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| clave(m) | chiave | ciave | ciave | ciave |
| nocte(m) | notte | nuoto | note/not | note |
| cantare | cantare | cantà | cantar | cantar |
| capra(m) | capra | càvara | càvara | cavra |
| lingua(m) | lingua | lengua | lengua | lengua |
| platea(m) | piazza | piassa | piassa | piassa |
| ponte(m) | ponte | ponto | ponte/pont | pont |
| ecclesia(m) | chiesa | ceza | cexa | cesa |
| hospitale(m) | ospedale | uspadal | ospedal | ospedal |
| caseu(m) lat.vulg.formaticu(m) |
formaggio/cacio | furmajo | formajo | formai |
Example
| Istriot | Italian |
|---|---|
|
La nostra zì oûna longa cal da griebani: i spironi da Monto inda uò salvà, e 'l brasso da Vistro uò rastà scuio pei grutoni pioûn alti del mar, ca ruzaghia sta tiera viecia-stara. Da senpro i signemo pissi sensa nom, ca da sui sa prucoûra 'l bucon par guodi la veîta leîbara del cucal, pastadi dala piova da Punente a da Livante e cume i uleîi mai incalmadi. Fra ste carme zì stà la nostra salvissa, cume i riboni a sa salva dal dulfeîn fra i scagni del sico da San Damian; el nostro pan, nato gra li gruote, zi stà inbinideî cul sudur sula iera zbruventa da Paloû... e i vemo caminà par oûna longa cal da griebani, c'ancui la riesta lissada dali nostre urme. |
La nostra è una lunga strada irta di sassi:
gli speroni di Monto ci hanno salvato, ed il braccio di Vistro è rimasto scoglio per le grotte poste più in alto del mare, che erode questa antica terra. Da sempre siamo pesciolini che da soli si procurano il boccone per godere la libera vita del gabbiano, oppressi dalla pioggia di Ponente e di Levante come olivi senza innesti. Fra queste insenature è stata la nostra salvezza, come i pagelli si salvano dal delfino fra le tane della secca di San Damiano; il nostro pane, nato tra le grotte, è stato benedetto col sudore nell'aia ribollente di Palù... ed abbiamo camminato per una lunga strada dissestata, che oggi rimane spianate dai nostri passi. |
See also
Notes
- 1 2 Istriot at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Istriot". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ↑ Bartoli, Matteo. Le parlate italiane della Venezia Giulia e della Dalmazia. Tipografia italo-orientale. Grottaferrata 1919.
- 1 2 Stammerjohann, Harro (2009). Lexicon Grammaticorum. Tübingen.
- ↑ Ethnologue entry for Istriot
- ↑ Tagliavini, Carlo. Le origini delle lingue neolatine. Patron Ed. Bologna 1982.
External links
 |
Istriot language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator |
 |
For a list of words relating to Istriot language, see the Istriot language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |