Istro-Romanian language

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Istro-Romanian Vlăşeşte/Rumâreşte
Spoken in:	Croatia
Region:	Istria
Total speakers:	1000
Language family:	Indo-European  Italic   Romance    East Romance     Istro-Romanian
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	roa
ISO 639-3:	ruo
Map of Istro-Romanian, made by Puşcariu in 1926. Note that the Istro-Romanian speaking area was under Italian rule at the time.
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

Istro-Romanian is a Romance language used in a few villages in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia. It is spoken by the Istro-Romanians, a people who call themselves Vlaşi or Rumâni / Rumâri, but are called Ćiribiri / Ćići by the local population and Istrian Vlachs by linguists.

The number of Istro-Romanian speakers is estimated to be only around 1000, causing the language to be listed as "seriously endangered" in the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages. Due to its very small number of speakers, living in about eight villages, most notably Žejane and Šušnjevica, there is no public education or press in Istro-Romanian, and its speakers are not even recognised as an official minority in Croatia - perhaps a double-edged testimony to the fact that the greater number of Istro-Romanian speakers were forced to leave Istria and nearby cities soon after the takeover of Istria from Italy after World War II by Yugoslavia, the parent country to present-day Croatia.

Their number was reduced over time due to this assimilation: in the 1921 Italian census there were 1,644 Istro-Romanian speakers in the area and in 1926 Romanian scholar Sextil Puşcariu estimated their number to about 3,000, but in the 1991 census of Yugoslavia, only 811 Romanians were registered and in the 2001 Croatian census only 137 inhabitants of the region declared Romanian as their mother tongue.

In 1922 the Kingdom of Italy created the city of Valdarsa as the center for the Istro-Romanians, with a school in Istro-Romanian language to offset the disappearance of this neolatin language. The city of Valdarsa reached a population of 3,000 in 1942, but was cancelled by Tito in 1947, when Italy gave Istria to Yugoslavia after World War II. The population of Valdarsa was subsequently reduced to 200 to the village called Susnjevica.

Many villages have Romanian-style names such as Jeian, Buzet ("lips"), Katun ("hamlet"), Gradinje ("garden"), Letaj, Sucodru ("forest"), Costirceanu (a Romanian name). Some of these names are official (recognised by Croatia as their only names), while some are used only by Istro-Romanian speakers.

Contents 1 Language 2 Origin 3 Literature 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Language

The language resembles standard Romanian, and traditional Romanian linguists consider it to be a Romanian dialect. Another view, that the language is closer to the extinct Dalmatian language than to Romanian, is disregarded by most linguists as the language shows some features that make it clearly Romanian.

One peculiarity of Istro-Romanian (IR) compared with Romanian dialects is the use of rhotacism (with the intervocalic /n/ becoming /r/, for instance lumină (meaning "light" in Romanian) becoming lumira). This is one of the reasons that some Romanian linguists think that Istro-Romanian evolved from the Romanian language spoken in the Apuseni or Maramureş area of Transylvania, which has some similar traits. According to Popovici this characteristic is very old as it is found in very few words of Slavic origin which entered into Daco-Romanian (DR) before the 12th century. Other Slavic elements in Istro-Romanian, i.e. Croatian and Slovenian as well as Italian ones, especially from the Venetian dialect, do not show signs of rhotacism.

Other characteristics of Istro-Romanian include:

• Prosthetic a- as in Aromanian (AR) aruşine < DR ruşine does not exist, however by false analogy an organic a- may disappear e.g. (a)prope, (a)ratå, (a)ve;
• stressed á may become å /ɔ/ which can also be found in the Banat region of Romania;
• ă-á becomes a-å, e.g. DR măritá > IR maritå (to marry), DR arătá > IR (a)ratå (to show);
• au becomes åv, a similar change appears in Aromanian, e.g. DR aud > AR avdu, IR åvdu (I hear); likewise DR preot > AR/IR preftu (priest);
• -e preceded by labials remains unaltered, whereas in DR it becomes -ă, e.g. IR per < DR păr (hair/pear tree), IR pemint < DR pămînt (ground);
• stressed DR -eá- becomes stressed -é-, e.g. DR leac > IR lec (remedy), DR leagăn > IR legăr (cradle/swing), DR fată > IR fetĕ (girl);
• The consonant groups cľ and gľ are only found in IR, AR and Megleno-Romanian (MR). These groups show that the Romanian dialects in Istria separated from DR before the 13th century, when cľ and gľ tended towards k' and g', e.g. Latin inclūdēre > IR cľide, MR ancľide > DR închide (to close), Latin glacia > IR gľåţĕ, AR/MR gľeţ > DR gheaţă (ice);

• The labials p, b, f, v and m show the following evolutions in the Eastern Romance languages:

Istro-Romanian	Aromanian	Megleno-Romanian	Romanian	English
pićor	čičor	picior	picior	leg
kľeptu	k'eptu	kľeptu	piept	chest
bire	ghini	bini	bine	well, good
bľerå	azghirari	zber	zbiera	to roar
fiľu	h'iľu	iľu	fiu	son
fiľa	h'iľe	iľe	fi(ic)ă	daughter
ficåt	h'icat		ficat	liver
fi	h'ire	ire	fi	to be
fľer	h'eru	ieru	fier	iron
viţelu	yiţăl	viţål	viţel	calf
(g)ľerm	iermu	ghiarmi	vierme	worm
viu	yiu	ghiu	viu	alive
vipt	yiptu		vipt	food, grain
mľe(lu)	ńiel	m'iel	miel	lamb
mľåre	ńari	m'ari	miere	honey

The results of these changes in IR can be outlined in the following:

p > p, kľ, ć
b > b, bľ
f > f, fľ
v > v, ľ, gľ
m > mľ

• Words only found in Istro-Romanian and the Daco-Romanian dialects of the Banat:

Istro-Romanian	Banat	Daco-Romanian	English
amănåt	amînat	târziu	late
(a)stårĕ	astară	astăseară	tonight
bericåtĕ	beregată	laringe	throat
lomi	lomui	a frânge	to break
prigodĕ	prigoadă	afacere	business
zgodi	zgođi	a se întîmpla	to happen

Grammar:

Morphology

The evolution of IR from DR shows two distinct features: 1. Noun declination shows a rationalisation of forms: normal noun declination of Romanian has almost totally disappeared in IR; 2. Whereas verbal inflexion is more conservative and its evolution is not so pronounced.

• The Article

The article has two forms: definite and indefinite. The definite article may be nominal or adjectival. The nominal being added to nouns, and the adjectival placed before adjectives.

The nominal forms are: for masculine nouns: -l and -le, for feminine -a in the singular, and for masculine -i and feminine -le in the plural.

However, as in spoken Daco-Romanian the -l of the masculine singular definite article is dropped leaving the linking -u- vowel, e.g. DR lupul > IR lupu (the wolf), DR ursul > IR ursu (the bear), DR mielul > IR mľelu (the honey).

The -le ending is used for all masculine singular nouns ending in -e, e.g. fråtele (the brother), sorele (the sun), cărele (the dog).

Some examples of Masculine nouns showing case endings, nominative=accusative, genitive=dative. The vocative case is not shown as this normally corresponds with the nominativ.

• fiľ (son), fiľi (pl.)

Case	Istro-Romanian	Aromanian	Megleno-Romanian	Romanian	English
Nom/Acc sg.	fiľu	hiľlu	iľiu	fiul	the son
Gen/Dat sg.	lu fiľu	a hiľlui	lu iľiu	al fiului	of/to the son
Nom/Acc pl.	fiľi	hiľli	iľii	fiii	the sons
Gen/Dat pl.	lu fiľi	a hiľlor	lu iľii	al fiilor	of/to the sons

• socru (father-in-law), socri (pl.)

Case	Istro-Romanian	Aromanian	Megleno-Romanian	Romanian	English
Nom/Acc sg.	socru	socrul	socru	socrul	the father-in-law
Gen/Dat sg.	lu socru	a socrului	lu socru	al socrului	of/to the father-in-law
Nom/Acc pl.	socri	socri	socri	socrii	the fathers-in-law
Gen/Dat pl.	lu socri	a socrilor	lu socri	al socrilor	of/to the fathers-in-law

• fråte (brother), fråţ (pl.)

Case	Istro-Romanian	Aromanian	Megleno-Romanian	Romanian	English
Nom/Acc sg.	fråtele	fratele	frateli	fratele	the brother
Gen/Dat sg.	lu fråtele	a fratelui	lu frateli	al fratelui	of/to the brother
Nom/Acc pl.	fråţ	fraţiľi	fraţili	fraţii	the brothers
Gen/Dat pl.	lu fråţ	a fraţlor	lu fraţilor	al fraţilor	of/to the brothers

Feminine nouns

The -a replaces -ĕ and -e, e.g. cåsĕ > cåsa (the house), nopte > nopta (the night); however a few feminine nouns ending in a stressed -e behave differently, e.g. ste > stevu (the star), ne > nevu (the snow).

• fetĕ (girl), fete (pl.)

Case	Istro-Romanian	Aromanian	Megleno-Romanian	Romanian	English
Nom/Acc sg.	feta	feata	feta	fata	the girl
Gen/Dat sg.	lu feta	a featiľei	lu feta	al fetei	of/to the girl

• muľerĕ (woman), muľere (pl.)

Case	Istro-Romanian	Aromanian	Megleno-Romanian	Romanian	English
Nom/Acc sg.	muľera	muľarea	muľiarea	muierea	the woman
Gen/Dat sg.	lu muľera	a muľarľei	lu muľiarea	al muierei	of/to the woman

• ste (star), stele (pl.)

Case	Istro-Romanian	Aromanian	Megleno-Romanian	Romanian	English
Nom/Acc sg.	stevu	steaoa	steua	steaua	the star
Gen/Dat sg.	lu stevu	a steaoľi	lu steua	al stelei	of/to the star
Nom/Acc pl.	stelele	stealle	stelili	stelele	the stars
Gen/Dat pl.	lu stelele	a steallor	lu stelilor	al stelelor	of/to the stars

Neuter nouns behave as Masculine nouns in the singular and Feminine in the plural (sometimes known as Mixed nouns)

• bråţ (arm), bråţe (pl.) - bråţu (the arm), bråţele (pl.)
• os (bone), ose (pl.) - osu (the bone), osele (pl.)
• zid (wall), zidur (pl.) - zidu (the wall), zidurle (pl.)
• plug (plough), plugur (pl.) - plugu (the plough), plugurle (pl.)

The forms of the adjectival article are ćela for the masculine and ćå for the feminine singular, and in the plural masculine ćeľ and feminine ćåle, e.g. ćela bur (the good one).

The masculine indefinite article is un and feminine is o. The declination of the indefinite article has disappeared. Examples: un om (a man), un cå (a horse), o misĕ (a table), o båbĕ (an old woman).

• The adjective

Like the nouns this has three genders, the masculine and feminine forms from the Latin, while the neuter form is of Slavic origin, under the syntactic influence of the use of neuters in Slavic. E.g. bur, burĕ, buro (good). The comparative adjective is måi bur (better) and the superlative is ćel måi bur (the best).

The adjective may precede the noun: bura zi ((the)good day), which in itself can be made definite by the change of -ĕ to -a; or follows the noun: feta muşåtĕ (the beautiful girl)

• Pronouns

Definite pronouns can be personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative and interrogative.

Personal pronouns:

Case	I	II	III	III	I	II	III
Nom.	io	tu	ie	iå	noi	voi	ieľ/iåle
	I	you	he	she	we	you	they
Acc.	mire	tire	ăl	ăl	ne	ve	lor
Acc.	me/m'	te/t'	ăl/l'	o	ne/n'	ve/v'	lor
	me	you	him	her	us	you	them
Dat.	mi/âm/m'	ţi/âţ/ţ'	âľ/ľ/lui	âľ/ľ/ľei	ni/ne/n'	vi/ve/v'	le/ľ
	to me	you	him	her	us	you	them

e.g. m-åm ărs (I laughed), l-åi vezut (you saw him)

Possessive pronouns:

Sg. Masc.	Fem.	Pl. Masc.	Fem.	English
meu/mev	me	meľ	mele	my
teu/tev	te	teľ	tele	your
seu/lui	se/ľei	seľ	sele	his/her/its
noştru	noştrĕ	noştri	noştre	our
voştru	voştrĕ	voştri	voştre	your
lor	lor	lor	lor	their

e.g. mev ćåće (my father), lui căre (his dog), ľei måie (her mother), noştri cåľ (our horses)

Demonstrative pronouns:

this: ćest, ćåsta

these: ćeşť, ćåste

May also begin with ţ- or ť- e.g. ţest om (this man)

that: ćel, ćå

those: ćeľ, ćåle

Likewise may begin with ţ- e.g. ţåle lingure (those spoons)

this one: ćesta-istu, ćåsta-ista

that one: ćela-istu, ćåista

that other one: ćela-åt, ćå-åtĕ

those other ones: ćeľ-åľţi, ćåle-åte

Relative pronouns:

that/who: cåre / cårle, pl. cårli

Interrogative pronouns:

who: ćire / će

which: cåre / cårle, pl. cårli

which one: căt

Indefinite pronouns: (M - F)

one: un - o

some: vrun - vro

one/a: ur - o

not a: ničur - ničurĕ

nothing: nimic

something: ćeva

other: åt - åta - åto

each: saki - saca - saco

whichever: cătcoder

• Numerals

Cardinal:

The majority of cardinal numbers are from Latin stock, with several borrowings from the local Slavic

1. un/ur (M), o (F)

2. doi (M), do (F)

3. trei

4. påtru

5. ćinć / ţinţ

6. şåse

7. şåpte

8. opt / osăn

9. devet

10. zåće / zeće / deset

11. urprezåće / iednaist

12. doiprezåće / dvanaist

13. treiprezåće / trenaist

...

19. devetprezåće

20. dovotezåće / dvadeset / dvaiset

21. dovotezåće şi ur

30. treivotezåće

40. cvårnaru

50. ćinćvotezåće

...

100. sto

101. sto şi ur

200. dovotesto

1000. miľår / tisuť / tåvžânt

Notes:

11 is composed of '1 on 10' ur-pre-zåće

20 is composed of '2 times 10' do-vote-zåće, likewise, 200 is '2 times 100' do-vote-sto

1000 miľår comes from Venetian dialect, tisuť from Slavic, and tåvžânt from German.

Ordinal: (M - F)

1st. prvi - prva

2nd. doile - dova

3rd. treile - treia

4th. påtrile - påtra

5th. ćinćile - ćinća

6th. şåsele - şåsa

7th. şåptele - şåpta

8th. osmule - osma

9th. devetile - deveta

10th. desetile - deseta

last zådni / zădăńu - zådńa

[edit] Origin

Eastern Romance languages Proto-Romanian language Substratum Daco-Romanian (Romanian, Moldovan, Vlach) Grammar | Nouns | Verbs Numerals | Phonology | Lexis Regulating bodies   Romanian Academy   Academy of Sciences of Moldova Aromanian Megleno-Romanian Istro-Romanian This box: view • talk • edit

Some linguists believe that the Istro-Romanians migrated to their present region about 600 years ago from Transylvania, after the Bubonic plague depopulated Istria. Another theory - by no means the only other theory - is that they came from somewhere in present-day Serbia. Some loan words suggest that before coming to Istria, Istro-Romanians lived for a longer period of time in Northern Dalmatia. However, it is quite clear that Istro-Romanian split from Daco-Romanian later than the other Romanian dialects (Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian), and thus the Serbian theory loses considerable credibility.

The Transylvanian connection is emphasized by linguists, but more importantly, is alive in the memory of some of the Rumeri themselves who break themselves into two distinct groups - the cici (It. cicci) of surrounding Mune and Žejane area and the vlahi of the Šušnjevica region. Interestingly enough, Iosif Popovici entitled his book Dialectele române din Istria (Halle, 1909) - that is, "The Dialects..." not "The Dialect..." - so indirectly he admitted there were (and still are?) several types of Istro-Romanian dialects in Istria. Their linguistic differences, however, can be easily explained by how a language can evolved differently when there is a separation of two like groups by a natural border between them - in this case, the Ciceria mountain range.

Insofar as Romanian linguists are concerned, the opinions are divided: Prof. Dr. Iosif Popovici (1876-1928), who had travelled extensively in Istria, endorsed the theory that the Istro-Romanians were natives of Ţara Moţilor (Western Transylvania) who emigrated sometimes during the Middle Ages into Istria. ("Dialectele române din Istria", I, Halle a.d.S., 1914, p. 122 and following). This opinion was shared by Ovid Densuşianu (1873-1938), a Romanian folklorist, philologist, and poet who introduced trends of European modernism into Romanian literature, who did not hold to the belief that Istro-Romanians are native to Istria, where we find them today (or he was still finding them in the 1930s when he researched for his book Histoire de la langue roumaine, I, p. 337): "Un premier fait que nous devons mettre en evidence, c'est que l'istro-roumain n'a pu se développer à l'origine là où nous le trouvons aujourd'hui" (The primary issue is that the Istro-Romanian dialect, because of its close similarity to other dialects spoken in isolated areas of present-day Romania, simply could not have originally developed where it is found today).

The first historical record of Istro-Romanians (not necessarily the "cici") dates back to 1329, when Serbian chronicles mention that a Vlach population was living in the area, although there was an earlier mention from the 12th century of a leader in Istria called Radul (that could be a Romanian name).

Pavle Ivić, a Serbian linguist, cited the hypothesis that a sizeable Roman population inhabited the Balkans from west to east across the former Yugoslavia. The Italian writer and historian Giuseppe Lazzarini believes that there are more than 5000 Istro-Romanians in Istria today, but most of them identify themselves (census 2001: 75 Romanians, 137 Romanian speakers) with other ethnic groups in the revolving door rule of other nations of this region. He believes that the Istro-Romanians are the descendants of the "melting pot" of the Roman legionaries (moved by Augustus to eastern Istria to colonize the borders of Italy) and the Aromanian shepherds, escaped from the Ottoman invasions to settle in a plague depopulated Istria in the XV century.

In the absence of historical documents and the easily-recognizable linguistic distinctions between the Aromanian and Istro-Romanian dialects, there is virtually no physical support for this colorful and highly speculative theory.

There is also the common error made of confusing the "cici" and "vlahi" with the "morlacchi" who are an entirely different ethnic and linguistic group.

[edit] Literature

There is no literary tradition; however, Andrea Glavina, an Istro-Romanian who was educated in Romania, wrote in 1905 Calendaru lu rumeri din Istrie ("The Calendar of the Romanians of Istria").

[edit] External links

• The IstroRomanians in Croatia
• Decebal
• UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages - entry for Istro-Romanian
• Istria on the Internet
• Ethnologue report for Istro-Romanian

[edit] References

• Wolfgang Dahmen, Istrorumänisch. Lexicon der Romanistische Linguistik. III, Tübingen, 1989, pp. 448-460
• Feresini, Nerina, Il Comune istro-romeno di Valdarsa. Edizioni Italo Svevo. Trieste: 1996
• Kovačec, August, Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula, 1998
• Popovici, Josif, Dialectele romîne din Istria, Halle, 1909