Istriot language

{{Infobox language

| name = Istriot

| nativename = {{lang|ist|Eîstrioto, Lèngua Eîstriota}}
{{lang|ist|Bumbar, Valìʃe, Ruvignìʃ, Faʃanìʃ, Siʃanìʃ, Galiʃaneʃ}}

| states = Croatia

| region = Istria

| speakers = 400

| date = 2007

| ref = e23

| speakers2 = L2 speakers: 900 (2007)

| familycolor = Indo-European

| fam2 = Italic

| fam3 = Latino-Faliscan

| fam4 = Latin

| fam5 = Romance

| fam6 = Italo-Western

| fam7 = Italo-Dalmatian

| fam8 = Dalmatian Romance

| iso3 = ist

| glotto = istr1244

| glottorefname = Istriot

| lingua = 51-AAA-na

| map = File:Lang Status 40-SE.svg

| mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Istriot is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}

}}

The Istriot language ({{lang|ist|Lèngua Eîstriota}}) 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. It should not be confused with the Istrian dialect of the Venetian language or the more distantly related Istro-Romanian, a variety of Eastern Romance.

Classification

{{multiple image

| direction = vertical

| width = 245

| footer =

| image1 = Rovigno.jpg

| alt1 =

| caption1 = Rovinj (Rovigno), the historical capital of the Istriots

| image2 = Istria census 1910.PNG

| alt2 =

| caption2 = Austrian census of 1910, classifying Istriots as Italians and showing the majority populations in reddish colors. Istriotic areas begin south of the Leme (Lim) channel

}}

Istriot is a Romance language currently only found in Istria.

Its classification has remained mostly unclear, various proposals for its affinity exist:

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.Bartoli, Matteo. Le parlate italiane della Venezia Giulia e della Dalmazia. Tipografia italo-orientale. Grottaferrata 1919.

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
as an independent language of the Italo-Dalmatian group{{Cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=ist |title=Ethnologue entry for Istriot |access-date=2010-07-13 |archive-date=2012-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928181610/http://www.ethnologue.org/show_language.asp?code=ist |url-status=dead }}
as an autochthonous Romance language heavily influenced by Venetian, Friulian and Slavic superstrates by Mirko Deanović{{cite book|title=Lexicon Grammaticorum |first=Harro |last=Stammerjohann |year=2009 |place=Tübingen}}
In 2017 it was classified by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History with the Dalmatian language in the Dalmatian Romance subgroup,{{Cite web|url=http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/istr1244|title=Glottolog 3.1 - Istriot|website=glottolog.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-21}}

When Istria was a region of the Kingdom of Italy, Istriot was considered by the authorities as a subdialect of Venetian.Tagliavini, Carlo. Le origini delle lingue neolatine. Patron Ed. Bologna 1982.

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:

class="wikitable" ! Latin	Italian	Istriot (Rovignìʃ)	Venetian	Bisiacco Venetian	English
----	{{lang\|la\|clave(m)}}	{{lang\|it\|chiave}}	{{lang\|ist\|ciàve}}	{{lang\|vec\|ciave}}	{{lang\|vec-IT\|ciave}}	key
----	{{lang\|la\|nocte(m)}}	{{lang\|it\|notte}}	{{lang\|ist\|nuòto}}	{{lang\|vec\|note/not}}	{{lang\|vec-IT\|note}}	night
----	{{lang\|la\|cantare}}	{{lang\|it\|cantare}}	{{lang\|ist\|cantà}}	{{lang\|vec\|caŋtar}}	{{lang\|vec-IT\|caŋtar}}	to sing
----	capra(m)	capra	càpra, càvara	càvara	cavra	goat
----	lingua(m)	lingua	lèngua	lengua	lengua	language
----	platea(m)	piazza	piàsa	pia-sa	pia-sa	square
----	ponte(m)	ponte	pònto	poŋte/poŋt	poŋt	bridge
----	ecclesia(m)	chiesa	cièʃa	cexa	cesa	church
----	hospitale(m)	ospedale	uspadàl	ospedal	ospedal	hospital
----	caseu(m) lat.vulg.formaticu(m)	formaggio/cacio	furmàio	formajo	formai	cheese

Phonology

The phonology of the Istriot language:{{Cite book|title=Analisi fonematica del dialetto di Valle d'Istria|last=Cernecca|first=Domenico|publisher=Studia Romanica et Anglica Zagrabiensia|year=1967}}

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" \| !Labial !Dental/ Alveolar !Post-alv./ Palatal !Velar
colspan="2" \|Nasal \|{{IPAlink\|m}} \|{{IPAlink\|n}} \|{{IPAlink\|ɲ}} \|({{IPAlink\|ŋ}})
rowspan="2" \|Stop !voiceless \|{{IPAlink\|p}} \|{{IPAlink\|t}} \|{{IPAlink\|t͡ʃ}} \|{{IPAlink\|k}}
voiced \|{{IPAlink\|b}} \|{{IPAlink\|d}} \|{{IPAlink\|d͡ʒ}} \|{{IPAlink\|ɡ}}
rowspan="2" \|Fricative !voiceless \|{{IPAlink\|f}} \|{{IPAlink\|s}} \| \|
voiced \|{{IPAlink\|v}} \|{{IPAlink\|z}} \| \|
colspan="2" \| Trill \| \|{{IPAlink\|r}} \| \|
rowspan="2" \|Approximant !central \| \| \|{{IPAlink\|j}} \|{{IPAlink\|w}}
lateral \| \|{{IPAlink\|l}} \|({{IPAlink\|ʎ}}) \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan="2" |

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPAlink|m}}

|{{IPAlink|n}}

|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}

|({{IPAlink|ŋ}})

rowspan="2" |Stop

!voiceless

|{{IPAlink|p}}

|{{IPAlink|t}}

|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}

|{{IPAlink|k}}

voiced

|{{IPAlink|b}}

|{{IPAlink|d}}

|{{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɡ}}

rowspan="2" |Fricative

!voiceless

|{{IPAlink|f}}

|{{IPAlink|s}}

voiced

|{{IPAlink|v}}

|{{IPAlink|z}}

colspan="2" | Trill

|{{IPAlink|r}}

rowspan="2" |Approximant

!central

|{{IPAlink|j}}

|{{IPAlink|w}}

lateral

|{{IPAlink|l}}

|({{IPAlink|ʎ}})

Sounds {{IPA|/j, w/}} can also be noted as {{IPA|[i̯ u̯]}} among different dialects.
{{IPAblink|ŋ}} occurs as a result of a nasal consonant preceding a velar stop.
{{IPAblink|ʎ}} can occur as a result of Italian loanwords.

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! !Front !Central !Back
align="center" !Close \|{{IPAlink\|i}} \| \|{{IPAlink\|u}}
Close-mid \|{{IPAlink\|e}} \| \|{{IPAlink\|o}}
Open-mid \|{{IPAlink\|ɛ}} \| \|{{IPAlink\|ɔ}}
align="center" !Open \| \|{{IPAlink\|a}} \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

align="center"

|{{IPAlink|i}}

|{{IPAlink|u}}

Close-mid

|{{IPAlink|e}}

|{{IPAlink|o}}

Open-mid

|{{IPAlink|ɛ}}

|{{IPAlink|ɔ}}

align="center"

!Open

|{{IPAlink|a}}

Orthography

The Istriot alphabet is the following:

class="wikitable"

!Letter

!Pronunciation (IPA)

!Notes

A, a

|{{IPAslink|a}}

|à

B, b

|{{IPAslink|b}}

|–

C, c

|{{IPAslink|k}}, {{IPAslink|tʃ}}

|{{IPA|/k/}} when followed by "a", "o", "u" or a consonant; {{IPA|/tʃ/}} when followed by "e" or "i"

Ch, ch

|{{IPAslink|k}}

|When followed by "e" or "i"

Ci, ci

|{{IPAslink|tʃ}}

|When followed by "a", "o", "u"

D, d

|{{IPAslink|d}}

|–

Dz, dz

|{{IPAslink|dz}}

|–

E, e

|{{IPAslink|ɛ}}, {{IPAslink|e}}

|è, é

F, f

|{{IPAslink|f}}

|–

G, g

|{{IPAslink|ɡ}}, {{IPAslink|dʒ}}

|{{IPA|/ɡ/}} before "a", "o", "u" or a consonant, {{IPA|/dʒ/}} before "e" and "i"

Gh, gh

|{{IPAslink|ɡ}}

|When followed by "e" or "i"

Gi, gi

|{{IPAslink|dʒ}}

|When followed by "a", "o", "u"

H, h

|–

|Used in [ch] and [gh]

I, i

|{{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAslink|j}}

|í, î

J, j

|{{IPAslink|j}}

|–

L, l

|{{IPAslink|l}}

|–

M, m

|{{IPAslink|m}}

|–

N, n

|{{IPAslink|n}}

|–

Nj, nj / Gn, gn

|{{IPAslink|ɲ}}

O, o

|{{IPAslink|ɔ}}, {{IPAslink|o}}

|ò, ó

P, p

|{{IPAslink|p}}

|–

R, r

|{{IPAslink|r}}

|–

S, s

|{{IPAslink|s}}

|–

T, t

|{{IPAslink|t}}

|–

Ts, ts

|{{IPAslink|ts}}

|–

U, u

|{{IPAslink|u}}, {{IPAslink|w}}

|ú, û

V, v

|{{IPAslink|v}}

|–

Z, z

|{{IPAslink|z}}

|–

Example

This is a poem called "Grièbani" by Ligio ZaniniThere is an article on the poet in Italian Wikipedia. in the dialect of Rovinj-Rovigno.

class="wikitable"

! style="background:#EBF2C4" | Istriot

Italian

style="background:#F1F9CA; font-weight: bold;"|

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.

Notes

External links

[https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1Kp2EketQz_RCaFTnGZSYhIpZsFneq1WD&usp=sharing Istriot Language Map (distribution)]

Category:Languages of Croatia

Category:Italo-Dalmatian languages

Category:Endangered Romance languages

Category:Italians of Croatia

Category:Subject–verb–object languages