Phonological Analysis of the Southern Dialect of Istro-Romanian/Vlashki as Compared to Daco-Romanian
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Date
2020-12
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
Istro-Romanian is a Balkan Romance language with two dialects spoken by less than 120 fluent
and active speakers (Vrzić and Singler 2016). The language is spoken on the Istrian peninsula,
where it has historically come in contact with the Čakavian and Štokavian dialects of the Bosnian,
Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian (BCMS) polycentric language as well as Slovenian, Venetian,
and Standard Italian. Istro-Romanian evolved from Common Romanian, although whether it
evolved directly from Common Romanian or from Daco (standard) Romanian (after DacoRomanian had evolved from Common Romanian) is unclear.
The purpose of this paper is the following: compare the Southern dialect of Istro-Romanian
to Daco-Romanian. This comparison explores sounds changes that have occurred due to language
contact, establishes a more current phonological inventory of a language that is considered highly
unstable (Nevaci 2017), and appears to be the first study dedicated solely to one of the dialects of
Istro-Romanian.
Recordings from Dr. Zvjezdana Vrzić's online project "Preservation of the Vlaški and
Žejanski Language" and Dr. Petru Neiescu's recordings from IstroRomanian.net were used for this
analysis. Dr. Vrzić's recordings were recorded in 2009-2011 and Dr. Neiescu's recordings were
recorded at an unknown date. The sample group consisted of 6 women and 3 men originating from
Kostrčani, Letåj, Noselo, or Šušnjevica. While only 9 speakers were sampled for the purpose of
this study, as it is estimated that there are only 50 speakers that speak the Southern dialect (Nevaci
2017), this accounts for 18% of the total population. Only words clearly shared by Istro-Romaian
and Daco-Romanian were collected. All sampled recordings were downloaded and slowed down
to 70% speed, after which phrases were listened to individually. All analysis was exclusively
impressionistic, however transcriptions were reviewed with both Dr. Martínez-Gil and Dr.
Lechintan-Siefer for accuracy.
In total 18 phonological differences between Istro-Romanian and Daco-Romanian shared
words were identified, 10 of which were vocalic and 8 of which were consonantal. There are 2
phonological changes per word on average. The majority of the differences have multiple possible
explanations for their origin, reflecting the ethnolinguistic diversity of the Istrian peninsula.
Further research must be conducted to definitively conclude the origins of these identified changes.
Description
Keywords
Istro-Romanian, Romanian, Phonology, Dialectology, Balkan Linguistics, Romance Linguistics