Istriot language

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.

Not to be confused with Istro-Romanian language.
Istriot
bumbaro, vallese, rovignese, sissanese, fasanese, gallesanese
Native toCroatia
RegionIstria
Native speakers
400 (2007)[1]
L2 speakers: 900 (2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3ist
Glottologistr1244
ELPIstriot[2]
Linguasphere51-AAA-na

Classification
Rovinj (Rovigno), the historical capital of the Istriots
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 related to the Ladin populations of the Alps, currently only found in Istria. 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 remained mostly unclear, but 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,[4] yet due to the specificities of the language, which has always had a very limited number of speakers. Istriot was also viewed:

When Istria was a region of the Kingdom of Italy, Istriot was considered by the authorities as a subdialect of Venetian.[7]

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 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:

LatinItalianIstriotVenetianBisiacco VenetianEnglish
clave(m) chiave ciave ciave ciave key
nocte(m) notte nuoto note/not note night
cantare cantare cantà cantar cantar to sing
capra(m) capra càvara càvara cavra goat
lingua(m) lingua lengua lengua lengua language
platea(m) piazza piassa piassa piassa square
ponte(m) ponte ponto ponte/pont pont bridge
ecclesia(m) chiesa ceza cexa cesa church
hospitale(m) ospedale uspadal ospedal ospedal hospital
caseu(m)
lat.vulg.formaticu(m)		 formaggio/cacio furmajo formajo formai cheese

Phonology

The phonology of the Istriot language:[8]

Consonants
Bilabial Labio-
dental		 Dental/
Alveolar		 Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar
Stop voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
Affricate voiceless t͡ʃ
voiced d͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless f s
voiced v z
Nasal m n ɲ (ŋ)
Trill r
Approximant central j w
lateral l (ʎ)
  • Sounds /j, w/ can also be noted as [i̯ u̯] among different dialects.
  • [ŋ] occurs as a result of a nasal consonant preceding a velar stop.
  • [ʎ] can occur as a result of Italian loanwords.

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Example

This is a poem called "Grièbani" by Ligio Zanini[9] in the dialect of Rovinj-Rovigno.

IstriotItalian

 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. Istriot at Ethnologue (23nd ed., 2020)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Istriot.
  3. Bartoli, Matteo. Le parlate italiane della Venezia Giulia e della Dalmazia. Tipografia italo-orientale. Grottaferrata 1919.
  4. "Glottolog 3.1 - Istriot". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  5. Stammerjohann, Harro (2009). Lexicon Grammaticorum. Tübingen.
  6. Ethnologue entry for Istriot
  7. Tagliavini, Carlo. Le origini delle lingue neolatine. Patron Ed. Bologna 1982.
  8. Cernecca, Domenico (1967). Analisi fonematica del dialetto di Valle d'Istria. Studia Romanica et Anglica Zagrabiensia.
  9. There is an article on the poet in Italian Wikipedia.
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