Buzet dialect

The Buzet dialect (Croatian: buzetski dijalekt) is a dialect of the Chakavian variety of Slovenian or Croatian. It is spoken in northern Istria around Buzet.

The Buzet dialect is transitional between the Slovenian language and Kajkavian dialect. Some consider it part of the Kajkavian dialect area, and in the past it was classified (e.g. by Fran Ramovš) as a Slovenian dialect.

The primary features that separate Buzet dialect from the rest of the Chakavian dialects are in the development of the Common Slavic vocalism:

• */ě/ > /ẹ/ (closed e)
• */e/, */ę/ > opened e (just like in most Kajkavian speeches)
• */u/ > /ü/
• syllabic */l/ > /u/
• */ǫ/ > /a/

Prosodical system diverges from that of other Chakavian speeches, having lost e.g. the difference between long a short accented vowels. Another unusual feature is the usage of Kajkavian interrogative pronoun kaj 'what', instead of the usual Chakavian ča.

As far as the division of Chakavian dialects in Southeastern and Northwestern is concerned, Buzet dialect belongs to Northwestern Chakavian.

The Buzet dialect has been extensively described in the book Buzetski govori (Annales, Kopar 2005) by Nataša Vivoda.

References[]

• Brozović, Dalibor (1988). Čakavsko narječje; Jezik srpskohrvatski / hrvatskosrpski, hrvatski ili srpski (in Serbo-Croatian). Zagreb: JLZ Miroslav Krleža. ISBN 953-0-30225-8.
• Vivoda, Nataša (2005). Buzetski govori (in Slovenian). Koper: Univerza na Primorskem, Znanstveno-raziskovalno središče, Založba Annales. ISBN 961-6033-65-4.