Prekmurje Slovene
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Prekmurje Slovene, also known as the Prekmurje dialect, East Slovene, or Wendish ( sl, prekmurščina, prekmursko narečje, hu, vend nyelv, muravidéki nyelv, Prekmurje dialect: ''prekmürski jezik, prekmürščina, prekmörščina, prekmörski jezik, panonska slovenščina''), is a Slovene dialect belonging to a
Pannonian dialect group The Pannonian dialect group (''panonska narečna skupina''), or northeastern dialect group, is a group of closely related dialects of Slovene. The Pannonian dialects are spoken in northeastern Slovenia ( Prekmurje, in the eastern areas of Sloven ...
of Slovene. It is used in private communication, liturgy, and publications by authors from Prekmurje. It is spoken in the
Prekmurje Prekmurje (; dialectically: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; hu, Muravidék) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarian minority, lying between the Mur R ...
region of
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
and by the
Hungarian Slovenes Hungarian Slovenes ( Slovene: ''Madžarski Slovenci'', hu, Magyarországi szlovének) are an autochthonous ethnic and linguistic Slovene minority living in Hungary. The largest groups are the Rába Slovenes ( sl, porabski Slovenci, dialectical ...
in Vas County in western
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
. It is closely related to other
Slovene dialects In a purely dialectological sense, Slovene dialects ( sl, slovenska narečja , ) are the regionally diverse varieties that evolved from old Slovene, a South Slavic language of which the standardized modern version is Standard Slovene. This al ...
in neighboring Slovene Styria, as well as to
Kajkavian Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and no ...
with which it retains partial mutual intelligibility and forms a
dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
with other South Slavic languages.


Range

The Prekmurje dialect is spoken by approximately 110,000 speakers worldwide. 80,000 in
Prekmurje Prekmurje (; dialectically: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; hu, Muravidék) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarian minority, lying between the Mur R ...
, 20,000 dispersed in Slovenia (especially Maribor and
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
) and 10,000 in other countries. In Hungary it is used by the Slovene-speaking minority in Vas County in and around the town of
Szentgotthárd Szentgotthárd ( sl, Monošter; german: St. Gotthard) is the westernmost town of Hungary. It is situated on the Rába River near the Austrian border. History The town took its name from, and grew up round, the Cistercian Szentgotthárd Abbey, fo ...
. Other speakers of the dialect live in other Hungarian towns, particularly
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...
, Bakony, and Mosonmagyaróvár. The dialect was also spoken in Somogy (especially in the village of
Tarany Tarany ( sl, Taran) is a village in Somogy county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast ...
), but it has nearly disappeared in the last two centuries. There are some speakers in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.


Status

Prekmurje Slovene has a defined territory and body of literature, and it is one of the few Slovene dialects in Slovenia that is still spoken by all strata of the local population. Some speakers have claimed that it is a separate language. Prominent writers in Prekmurje Slovene, such as Miklós Küzmics,
István Küzmics István Küzmics (also known in Slovene as Štefan or Števan Küzmič, c.1723 – December 22, 1779) was the most important Lutheran writer of the Slovenes in Hungary. He was born at Strukovci, in the Prekmurje region of what was then Vas C ...
,
Ágoston Pável Ágoston Pável, also known in Slovenian as Avgust Pavel (28 August 1886, Cankova, Kingdom of Hungary, today in Slovenia – 2 January 1946, Szombathely, Hungary) was a Hungarian Slovene writer, poet, ethnologist, linguist and historian. E ...
, József Klekl Senior, and József Szakovics, have claimed that it is a language, not simply a dialect.
Evald Flisar Evald Flisar (born 13 February 1945) is a Slovene writer, poet, playwright, editor and translator. He was president of the Slovene Writers' Association for three consecutive terms between 1995 and 2002 and is editor-in-chief of the literary and ...
, a writer, poet, and playwright from Prekmurje (Goričko), states that people from Prekmurje "talk in our own language." It also had a written standard and literary tradition, both of which were largely neglected after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. There were attempts to publish in it more widely in the 1990s, primarily in Hungary, and there has been a revival of literature in Prekmurje Slovene since the late 1990s. Others consider Prekmurje Slovene a
regional language * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan ...
, without denying that it is part of Slovene. The linguist Janko Dular has characterized Prekmurje Slovene as a "local standard language" for historical reasons, as has the Prekmurje writer
Feri Lainšček Feri Lainšček (born 5 October 1959) is a Slovenian writer, poet, and screenwriter. Early life He was born Franc Lainšček in a Slovene Lutheran family in the village of Dolenci (part of Šalovci), in northeastern Slovenia, then part of the ...
. However, Prekmurje Slovene is not recognized as a language by Slovenia or Hungary, nor does it enjoy any legal protection under the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, th ...
, although in 2016 the General Maister Society (''Društvo General Maister'') proposed that primary schools offer education in the dialect and some regional politicians and intellectuals advocate Prekmurje Slovene. Together with Resian, Prekmurje Slovene is the only Slovene dialect with a literary standard that has had a different historical development from the rest of Slovene ethnic territory. For centuries, it was used as a language of religious education, as well as in the press and mass. The historical Hungarian name for the
Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their na ...
living within the borders of the
Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
(as well as for the Slovenians in general) was ''Vendek'', or the Wends. In the 18th and 19th centuries Prekmurje authors used to designate this dialect as ''sztári szlovenszki jezik'' 'old Slovene'. Both then and now, it is also referred to as the "Slovene language between the Mura and Raba" ''(Slovenščina med Muro in Rabo; Slovenski jezik med Mürov i Rábov)''. Prekmurje Slovene is widely used in the regional media (Murski Val Radio, Porabje, Slovenski utrinki), films, literature. The younger generation also write SMS messages and web comments in their local tongue. In the Prekmurje and Hungary a few streets, shops, hotels, etc. have Prekmurje Slovene names. In the 2012 protests in Slovenia in Murska Sobota the protesters use Prekmurje Slovene banners. It is the liturgical language in the Lutheran and Pentecostal churches, and in the Catholic Church of Hungarian Slovenes. Marko Jesenšek, a professor at the University of Maribor, states that the functionality of Prekmurje Slovene is limited, but "it lives on in poetry and journalism."


Linguistic features

Prekmurje Slovene is part of the Pannonian dialect group (Slovene: ), also known as the eastern Slovene dialect group (). Prekmurje Slovene shares many common features with the dialects of
Haloze Haloze () is a geographical sub-region of Slovenia. It is in the northeast of the country, in the Styria region. General characteristics Haloze is a hilly area, running roughly east–west bounded by the border with Croatia to the south and the ...
, Slovenske Gorice, and
Prlekija Prlekija is a region in northeastern Slovenia between the Drava and Mura rivers. It comprises the eastern part of the Slovene Hills ( sl, Slovenske gorice), stretching from the border with Austria to the border with Croatia. It is part of the tra ...
, with which it is completely mutually intelligible. It is also closely related to the
Kajkavian dialect Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and nort ...
of Croatian, although mutual comprehension is difficult. Prekmurje Slovene, especially its more traditional version spoken by the Hungarian Slovenes, is not readily understood by speakers from central and western Slovenia, whereas speakers from eastern Slovenia (
Lower Styria Styria ( sl, Štajerska), also Slovenian Styria (''Slovenska Štajerska'') or Lower Styria (''Spodnja Štajerska''; german: Untersteiermark), is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy o ...
) have much less difficulty understanding it. The early 20th-century philologist
Ágoston Pável Ágoston Pável, also known in Slovenian as Avgust Pavel (28 August 1886, Cankova, Kingdom of Hungary, today in Slovenia – 2 January 1946, Szombathely, Hungary) was a Hungarian Slovene writer, poet, ethnologist, linguist and historian. E ...
stated that Prekmurje Slovene "is in fact a large, autonomous dialect of Slovene, from which it differs mostly in stress, intonation, consonant softness and—due to the lack of a significant language reform—a scarceness of vocabulary of modern terms" and that it preserves "many ancient features."


Orthography

Historically, Prekmurje Slovene was not written with the
Bohorič alphabet The Bohorič alphabet ( sl, bohoričica) was an orthography used for Slovene between the 16th and 19th centuries. Origins Its name is derived from Adam Bohorič, who codified the alphabet in his book ''Articae Horulae Succisivae''. It was print ...
used by Slovenes in Inner Austria, but with a Hungarian-based orthography. János Murkovics's textbook (1871) was the first book to use
Gaj's Latin Alphabet Gaj's Latin alphabet ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Gajeva latinica, separator=" / ", Гајева латиница}, ), also known as ( sh-Cyrl, абецеда, ) or ( sh-Cyrl, гајица, link=no, ), is the form of the Latin script used for writing Serb ...
. Before 1914: ''Aa, Áá, Bb, Cc, Cscs, Dd, Ee, Éé, Êê, Ff, Gg, Gygy, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Lyly, Mm, Nn, Nyny, Oo, Ôô, Öö, Őő, Pp, Rr, Szsz, Ss, Tt, Uu, Üü, Űű, Vv, Zz, Zszs''. After 1914: ''Aa, Áá, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Éé, Êê, Ff, Gg, Gjgj, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Ljlj, Mm, Nn, Njnj, Oo, Ôô, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Zz, Žž''.


Phonology

The Prekmurje dialect has a
phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
similar to the phonology of other eastern Slovene dialects. The vowels ''ü'' /y/ and ''ö'' (the latter is non-phonemic) are used, which do not appear in standard Slovene (e.g., ''günac'' 'ox', ''ülanca'' 'clay'). These vowels are particularly prominent in the northern dialects of Vendvidék and in Goričko. Older names of several settlements (e.g., ''Büdinci'' ' Budinci, ''Böltinci'' ' Beltinci', etc.), surnames (e.g., ''Küčan'', ''Šömenek'', etc.), and names of rivers and hills (e.g., ''Bükovnica'', ''Törnjek'', etc.) often had these sounds. Intonation, palatalization of consonants, and accentuation are also different. The diphthongs ''au'' or ''ou'' (unknown in standard Slovene but found in various dialects) are also widespread. Examples include ''Baug'' or ''Boug'' 'God' (standard Sln. ''Bog'' ), and ''kaus'' or ''kous'' 'piece' (standard Sln. ''kos'' ). In some dialects, the preposition and prefix ''v'' 'in' alternates with ''f'', as in Kajkavian; for example, in Vendvidék ''fčará'' 'yesterday' (standard Sln. ''včeraj'' ).


Morphology

Inflections are somewhat similar to Croatian. In Prekmurje Slovene, the expression "in Hungary" is ''v Vogrskoj'' (cf. Croatian ''u Ugarskoj'', standard Slovenian ''na Ogrskem''). One of the reasons for this closeness to standard Croatian is the long tradition of connections between the two peoples, because before the 18th century, most Prekmurje priests and teachers (both Catholic and Protestant) were educated in
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
, particularly in
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
or Varaždin. In the old Martjanci Hymnal (''Sztárá martyanszka peszmarica''), the influences of Croatian are clear. The 18th-century Prekmurje writers that created Prekmurje Slovene applied many features of the Kajkavian dialect. In 1833, József Kossics, who was partially of Croatian descent, wrote a grammar emphasizing the Croatian features, with much of the terminology borrowed from Kajkavian, although elements from Styrian Slovene dialects were also included. Although the influence of Croatian liturgical Kajkavian is clear, both speeches ultimately descend from Pannonian or Carpathian Slavs who settled the area in which they are spoken in the first millennium and have enjoyed a parallel development. Prekmurje Slovene, like Standard Slovene, preserves a
dual number In algebra, the dual numbers are a hypercomplex number system first introduced in the 19th century. They are expressions of the form , where and are real numbers, and is a symbol taken to satisfy \varepsilon^2 = 0 with \varepsilon\neq 0. Du ...
along with the singular and plural; for example, ''müva sva'' 'the two of us are' (cf. Standard Slovene ''midva sva''), ''vüva sta'' 'the two of you are' (cf. Standard Slovene ''vidva sta''), ''njüva sta'' 'the two of them are' (cf. Standard Slovene ''onadva sta'').


Lexicon

The dialect includes many archaic words that have disappeared from modern Slovene. Some Prekmurje Slovene words can be found in the
Freising manuscripts The Freising manuscriptsAlso ''Freising folia'', ''Freising fragments'', or ''Freising monuments''; german: Freisinger Denkmäler, la, Monumenta Frisingensia, sl, Brižinski spomeniki or are the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic ...
from the 9th century, the oldest written record in Slovenian. Along with the three dialects spoken in
Venetian Slovenia Slavia Friulana, which means Friulian Slavia ( sl, Beneška Slovenija), is a small mountainous region in northeastern Italy and it is so called because of its Slavic population which settled here in the 8th century AD. The territory is located in ...
and the Slovene dialects of eastern Carinthia, Prekmurje Slovene is considered the most conservative of all Slovene dialects with regard to
vocabulary A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...
. Many words in modern Prekmurje Slovene are borrowed from Hungarian and German. Examples of words that differ from standard Slovene include ''iža'' 'house' and ''lűšnost'' 'happiness' (cf. standard Sln. ''hiša'', ''veselje''). Other words are only superficially different because of phonological changes; for example, ''mesou'' 'meat' and ''závec'' 'rabbit' (cf. standard Sln. ''meso'', ''zajec''). There are dozens of Hungarian and German loanwords (e.g., ''roság'' 'country' < Hung. ''ország'' and ''čizma'' 'boot' < Hung. ''csizma''). The frequent presence of German loanwords is particularly observable among the Hungarian Slovenes and in northern and western Prekmurje. Some words have different meanings in the dialect and in standard Slovene; for example, ''graj'' 'bean' (cf. standard Sln. ''grah'' 'pea') and ''stoul'' 'table' (cf. standard Sln. ''stol'' 'chair').


Prekmurje Slovene subdialects

* The Rába or Vendvidék subdialect ( sl, Porabsko podnarečje, Prekmurje Slovene: ''Bákerski/Porábski/Rábski govor''), near the
Rába The Rába (german: Raab; hu, Rába; sl, Raba ) is a river in southeastern Austria and western Hungary and a right tributary of the Danube. Geography Its source is in Austria, some kilometres east of Bruck an der Mur below Heubodenhöhe Hill. ...
River, in the Szentgotthárd district * The Goričko subdialect ( sl, Goričko podnarečje, Prekmurje Slovene: ''Gorički govor'') in upper Prekmurje, Grad, north of Cankova) * The Ravensko subdialect ( sl, Ravensko podnarečje, Prekmurje Slovene: ''Ravénski govor'' west of Cankova and south of Murska Sobota and Rakičan * The Murska Sobota subdialect ( sl, Soboško podnarečje, Prekmurje Slovene: ''Soboški govor'') near
Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; german: Olsnitz;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. hu, Muraszombat) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the ...
* The Markovsko or Dolinsko subdialect ( sl, dolinsko (markovsko) podnarečje, Prekmurje Slovene: ''Dolénski i Markiški govor'') south of Rakičan, near the Mura and Ledava rivers. The Goričko dialect includes the Slaveči subdialect spoken by Miklós and István Küzmics.


History

The Prekmurje dialect developed from the language of the Carantanian Slavs who settled around Balaton in the 9th century. Due to the political and geographical separation from other Slovene dialects (unlike most of contemporary Slovenia, which was part of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, Prekmurje was under the authority of the Kingdom of Hungary for almost a thousand years), the Prekmurje dialect acquired many specific features. Separated from the cultural development of the remainder of ethnic Slovene territory, the Slovenes in Hungary gradually forged their own specific culture and also their own literary language. In the end of the 16th century some Slovene Protestant pastor supported breaking away from Hungary. The pastors brought along the Bible of Primož Trubar and used it in Gornji Petrovci. The first book in the Prekmurje dialect appeared in 1715, and was written by the
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
pastor Ferenc Temlin. In the 18th and early 19th century, a regional literature written in Prekmurje Slovene flourished. It comprised mostly (although not exclusively) of religious texts, written by both Protestant and Catholic clergymen. The most important authors were the Lutheran pastor
István Küzmics István Küzmics (also known in Slovene as Štefan or Števan Küzmič, c.1723 – December 22, 1779) was the most important Lutheran writer of the Slovenes in Hungary. He was born at Strukovci, in the Prekmurje region of what was then Vas C ...
and the Roman Catholic priest Miklós Küzmics who settled the standard for the Prekmurje regional standard language in the 18th century. Both of them were born in central Prekmurje, and accordingly the regional literary language was also based on the central sub-dialects of Prekmurje Slovene. Miklós Küzmics in the 1790s rejected Standard Slovene. The poet, writer, translator, and journalist
Imre Augustich Imre Augustich or Agostich ( sl, Imre Augustič September 29/30, 1837 – July 17, 1879) was a Slovene writer, poet, journalist, and representative of Vas county in the National Assembly of Hungary. He was the author of ''Prijátel'' (Friend), ...
made approaches toward standard Slovene, but retained the Hungarian alphabet. The poet Ferenc Sbüll also made motions toward accepting standard Slovene. By the 16th century, a theory linking the Hungarian Slovenes to the ancient
Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
had become popular. Accordingly, Prekmurje Slovene was frequently designated in Hungarian
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
documents as the ''Vandalian language'' (Latin: ''lingua vandalica'', Hungarian: ''Vandál nyelv'', Prekmurje Slovene: ''vandalszki jezik'' or ''vandalszka vüszta''). With the advent of modernization in the mid-19th century, this kind of literature slowly declined. Nevertheless, the regional standard continued to be used in religious services. In the last decades of the 19th and 20th century, the denomination "
Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people ...
" and "Wendish language" was promoted, mostly by pro-Hungarians, in order to emphasize the difference between the Hungarian Slovenes and other Slovenes, including attempts to create a separate ethnic identity. In 1919, most of Prekmurje was assigned to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and Slovene replaced Hungarian as the language of education and administration. Standard Slovene gradually started to replace Prekmurje Slovene in the local Roman Catholic church, while the Lutheran community continued to use the dialect in their religious services. The local press tried to combine the old Prekmurje regional standard with standard Slovene, making it completely intelligible to Slovenes from other regions. In the late 1920s and 1930s, many Slovenes from the
Julian March Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...
who fled from Fascist Italy settled in Prekmurje, especially in the town of
Lendava Lendava (; formerly ''Dolnja Lendava'', in older sources also ''Dolenja Lendava''; hu, Lendva, formerly ''Alsólendva''; german: Lindau, formerly ''Unter-Limbach'') is a town in Slovenia in the region of Prekmurje. It is the seat of the Municip ...
. The Yugoslav authorities encouraged the settlements of Slovene political immigrants from the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
in Prekmurje as an attempt to reduce the influence of the Magyar element in the region; besides, the western Slovene dialects were very difficult to understand for the people of Prekmurje, thus the use of standard Slovene became almost indispensable for the mutual understanding. After World War II, the Lutheran Church also switched to standard Slovene in most of its parishes, and Prekmurje Slovene has since been relegated to almost exclusively private use. Nevertheless, along with Resian, the Prekmurje dialect is one of the few Slovene dialects still used by most speakers, with very little influence from standard Slovene. This creates a situation of
diglossia In linguistics, diglossia () is a situation in which two dialects or languages are used (in fairly strict compartmentalization) by a single language community. In addition to the community's everyday or vernacular language variety (labeled ...
, where the dialect is used as the predominant means of communication in private life, while the standard language is used in schools, administration, and the media. The situation is different among the Hungarian Slovenes, where standard Slovene is still very rarely used.


1823–1848

A second wave of standardisation began in 1823. Mihály Barla issued a new hymnbook ''(Krscsanszke nove peszmene knige).'' József Kossics, a great writer and poet from Ptrekmurje, made contact with the Slovenian linguist and thus get acquainted with the Styrian Slovenian dialect. Kossics first worked in Alsószölnök. The teacher of the village was József Vogrin ''(Jožef Vogrin)'' born into the Slovene Styria, and accordingly spoke the Styrian dialect. Kossics's father was of Croatian descent, and accordingly was also raised in the Kajkavian Croatian language. The ''Krátki návuk vogrszkoga jezika za zacsetníke,'' a Slovenian-Hungarian grammar book and dictionary let out the standard Prekmurje Slovene. The ''Zobriszani Szloven i Szlovenszka med Mürov in Rábov'' ethic-book, formed the ethics- and linguistic-norms. ''Zgodbe vogerszkoga králesztva'' and ''Sztarine Zseleznih ino Szalaszkih Szlovencov'' are the first Prekmurje Slovene Slovenian history books. Kossics was the first writer to write nonreligious poetry. In 1820, a teacher named István Lülik wrote a new coursebook ''(Novi abeczedár),'' into which was made three issue (1853, 1856, 1863).
Sándor Terplán and János Kardos wrote a psalm book ''(Knige 'zoltárszke),'' and a hymnbook ''(Krsztsanszke czerkvene peszmi),'' the latter a reprint of Barla's hymn-book.


1870–1886

János Kardos translated numerous verses from
Sándor Petőfi Sándor Petőfi ( []; né Petrovics; sk, Alexander Petrovič; sr, Александар Петровић; 1 January 1823 – most likely 31 July 1849) was a Hungarian poet of Serbian origin and liberal revolutionary. He is considered Hungary' ...
,
János Arany János Arany (; archaic English: John Arany; 2 March 1817 – 22 October 1882) was a Hungarian poet, writer, translator and journalist. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 102 ballads that have been transl ...
and few Hungarian poet. In 1870, he worked on a new coursebook, the ''Nôve knige cstenyá za vesznícski sôl drügi zlôcs.'' In 1875,
Imre Augustich Imre Augustich or Agostich ( sl, Imre Augustič September 29/30, 1837 – July 17, 1879) was a Slovene writer, poet, journalist, and representative of Vas county in the National Assembly of Hungary. He was the author of ''Prijátel'' (Friend), ...
established the first Prekmurje Slovene newspaper ''Prijátel'' (The Friend). Later, he wrote a new Hungarian–Prekmurje Slovene grammar ''(Návuk vogrszkoga jezika,'' 1876) and translated works from Hungarian poets and writers. In 1886, József Bagáry wrote second course-book, which apply the Gaj alphabet ''(Perve knige – čtenyá za katholičánske vesničke šolê).''


1914–1945

In 1914-1918, the ethnic governor and later parliamentarian congressman in Belgrade József Klekl standardized Prekmurje Slovene, making use of the Croatian and Slovene languages. In 1923, the new prayerbook's ''Hodi k oltarskomi svesti'' (Come on to the Eucharist) orthography was written in the Gaj. Items in the newspapers the catholic ''Novine, Marijin list, Marijin ograček,'' calendar ''Kalendar Srca Jezušovoga,'' the Lutheran ''Düševni list'' and ''Evangeličanski kalendar'' were written in the Prekmurje Slovene.
József Szakovics took an active part in cultivating the Prekmurje dialect, although not all schools offered education in Prekmurje Slovene. The prominent Prekmurje writer Miško Kranjec also wrote in Slovene. János Fliszár wrote a Hungarian-Wendish dictionary in 1922. In 1941, the Hungarian Army seized back the Prekmurje area and by 1945 aimed to make an end of the Prekmurje dialect and Slovene by the help of Mikola. After 1945, Communist Yugoslavia banned the printing of religious books in the Prekmurje dialects, and only standard Slovene was used in administration and education. In Hungary, the dictator
Mátyás Rákosi Mátyás Rákosi (; born Mátyás Rosenfeld; 9 March 1892
– 5 February 1971) was a Hungarian communis ...
banned every minority language and deported the Slovenes in the Hungarian Plain.


The question of the Wend or Prekmurje language

The issue of how Prekmurje Slovene came to be a separate tongue has many theories. First, in the 16th century, there was a theory that the Slovenes east of the Mura were descendants of the
Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
, an East Germanic tribe of pre-
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
era antiquity. The ''Vandal'' name was used not only as the "scientific" or ethnological term for Slovenes, but also to acknowledge that the ''Vandalic'' people were named the ''Szlovenci, szlovenszki, szlovenye'' (Slovenians). In 1627, was issue the Protestant visitation in the country Tótság, or ''Slovene Circumscription'' (this is the historical name of the Prekmurje and Vendvidék, Prekmurje Slovene: Slovenska okroglina). Herein act a Slavic Bible in Gornji Petrovci, which as a matter of fact the Bible of Primož Trubar. From Carniola and Styria in the 16th and 17th centuries, a few Slovene Protestant pastors fled to Hungary and brought with them Trubar's Bible, which helped set the standard for Slovene. Not known by accident there was work on Prekmurje Slovene. According to the Hungarian dissenters, the Wendish (Prekmurje Slovene) language was of Danish, Sorbian, Germanic, Celtic, Eastern Romance or West Slavic extraction. But this was often false, political or exaggerated affirmations. According to extremist Hungarian groups, the Wends were captured by Turkish and Croatian troops who were later integrated into Hungarian society. Another popular theory created by some Hungarian nationalists was that the speakers of the Wendish language were "in truth" Magyar peoples, and some had merged into the Slavic population of Slovenia over the last 800 years. In 1920, Hungarian physicist wrote a number of books about Slovene inhabitants of Hungary and the Wendish language: the ''Wendish-Celtic theory.'' Accordingly, the Wends (Slovenians in Hungary) were of Celtic extraction, not Slavic. Later Mikola also adopted the belief that the Wends indeed were Slavic-speaking Hungarians. In Hungary, the state's ethnonationalistic program tried to prove his theories. Mikola also thought the Wends, Slovenes, and Croatians alike were all descendants of the Pannonian Romans, therefore they have
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
blood and culture in them as well. During the Hungarian revolution when Hungarians rebelled against Habsburg rule, the Catholic Slovenes sided with the Catholic Habsburgs. The Lutheran Slovenians, however, supported the rebel Lajos Kossuth siding with Hungary and they pleaded for the separation of Hungary from Habsburg Austria which had its anti-Protestant policy. At that time, the reasoning that the inhabitants of the Rába Region were not Slovenes but Wends and "Wendish-Slovenes" respectively and that, as a consequence, their ancestral Slavic-Wendish language was not to be equated with the other Slovenes living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was established. In the opinion of the Lutheran-Slovene priest of Hodoš, the only possibility for the Lutheran Slovenes emerging from the Catholic-Slovenian population group to continue was to support Kossuth and his Hungarian culture. Thereafter, the Lutheran Slovenes used their language in churches and schools in the most traditional way in order to distinguish themselves from the Catholic Slovenes and the Slovene language (i.e., pro-Hungarian or pan-Slavic Slovene literature). The Lutheran priests and believers remained of the conviction that they could only adhere to their Lutheran faith when following the wish of the Hungarians (or the Austrians) and considering themselves "Wendish-Slovenes". If they did not conform to this, then they were in danger of being assimilated into Hungarian culture. In the years preceding World War I, the Hungarian Slovenes were swept into the ideology of Panslavism, the national unity of all Slavic-speaking peoples of Eastern Europe. The issue was volatile in the fragmented Austro-Hungarian empire, which was defeated in the war. In the 1921 Treaty of Trianon, the southern half (not the whole) of the Prekmurje region was ceded to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The Hungarian government in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
after 1867 tried to assimilate the Prekmurje Slovenes. In Somogy in the 19th century, there was still a ban on using Prekmurje Slovene. József Borovnyák, Ferenc Ivanóczy, and other Slovenian politicians and writers helped safeguard the Prekmurje dialect and identity. In the late 20th century and today, the new notion for Hungarian Slovenians is to conceive Prekmurje Slovene is in fact the Slovene language, but not dialect. Their allusions: the Küzmics Gospels, the Old Grammar- and state-run public schools, the typical Prekmurje Slovene and Rába Slovene culture, the few centuries old-long isolation in Prekmurje Slovene and continued self-preservation from the Hungarian majority. The Hungarian Slovenes are more interested in being Slovenes. In Communist Yugoslavia, Prekmurje Slovene was looked down upon because numerous writers, such as József Klekl, were anti-communists. However, pseudoscientic and extremist theories continue to be propagated. Ethnological research has again looked into the "Celtic-Wends, Wendish-Magyars", "Pannonian Roman" and West Slavic theories. Tibor Zsiga, a prominent Hungarian historian in 2001 declared "The Slovene people cannot be declared Wends, neither in Slovenia, neither in Prekmurje." One may mind the ''Slovene/Slovenski'' name issue was under Pan-Slavism in the 19th-20th century, the other believes the issue was purely political in nature.


Examples

A comparison of the
Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
in standard Slovene, Standard Prekmurje Slovene, Kajkavian Croatian, and standard Croatian. The Prekmurje Slovene version is taken from a 1942 prayer book (Zálozso János Zvér, ''Molitvena Kniga, Odobrena od cérkvene oblászti'', Murska Sobota, 1942, third edition). The original
Hungarian orthography Hungarian orthography ( hu, helyesírás, lit=correct writing, link=no) consists of rules defining the standard written form of the Hungarian language. It includes the spelling of lexical words, proper nouns and foreign words (loanwords) in themse ...
has been transliterated into
Gaj's Latin alphabet Gaj's Latin alphabet ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Gajeva latinica, separator=" / ", Гајева латиница}, ), also known as ( sh-Cyrl, абецеда, ) or ( sh-Cyrl, гајица, link=no, ), is the form of the Latin script used for writing Serb ...
, as used in the other versions, for easier comparison.


Trivia

In 2018 a Prekmurje Slovene translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's '' The Little Prince'' was published. Singer and songwriter Nika Zorjan in 2018 created the Prekmurje Slovene version of Mariah Carey's '' All I Want for Christmas Is You'' aka ''Fse ka bi za Božič''.NIKA ZORJAN-FSE, KA BI ZA BOŽIČ BESEDILO (YouTube)
/ref>


Gallery

File:Mali katechismus (1715).JPG, The first printed book in Prekmurje Slovene: Mali cathecismus ''(Small Catechism),'' by Ferenc Temlin. File:ABC Kni'sicza.JPG, The ABC-book of Miklós Küzmics. This is also the first Hungarian-Slovenian Dictionary. File:Kis magyar nyelvtan.jpg, József Kossics: ''Small Grammar of the Hungarian language'' and ''Vandalic language.'' The work of Kossics was farther from Prekmurje Slovene. File:Nouvi Graduval.JPG, The
gradual The gradual ( la, graduale or ) is a chant or hymn in the Mass, the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, and among some other Christians. It gets its name from the Latin (meaning "step") because it was once chanted ...
of Mihály Bakos. File:Kniga molitvena (1855).JPG, The famous Prekmurje Slovene prayer-book, the ''Kniga molitvena'' from 1855. File:Molitvena Kniga (1931).JPG, The prayer-book of József Szakovics in 1931. Print was in
Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; german: Olsnitz;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. hu, Muraszombat) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the ...
. File:Molite bratje (1936).JPG, ''Pray my brothers!'' Prayer-book of József Szakovics in 1936. His script was written in the Slovene alphabet. File:Groub Vincenca Talaberja, Stevanovci.JPG, The tomb of the young Vince Talabér from Permise (Kétvölgy) in the cemetery of Apátistvánfalva with Prekmurje Slovene inscription. File:Grob Franca Sömaneka z Verice, South Bethlehem.jpg, Prekmurje Slovene gravestone in the United States (St. Michael's Cemetery, South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) File:Dvakrat 52 Bibliszke Historie.JPG, Sándor Terplán: Dvakrat 52 Bibliszke Historie ''(Twice 52 historie from Bible)'' in 1847. File:Kalendar Szrca Jezusovoga (1904).JPG, Kalendar Srca Jezušovoga ''(Jesus's Heart Calendar)'' was Prekmurje Catholic calendar between 1904 and 1944. File:Angel zbejsi Adama pa Evo z paradizoma (Mala biblia z-kejpami, 1897).JPG, The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden – picture from Mála biblia z-kejpami ''(Small Bible with pictures)'' by Péter Kollár (1897).


See also

*
Languages of Slovenia Slovenia has been a meeting area of the Slavic, Germanic, Romance, and Uralic linguistic and cultural regions, which makes it one of the most complex meeting point of languages in Europe. The official and national language of Slovenia is Slov ...
* List of Slovene writers and poets in Hungary * Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary) *
Vandalic language Vandalic was the Germanic language spoken by the Vandals during roughly the 3rd to 6th centuries. It was probably closely related to Gothic, and, as such, is traditionally classified as an East Germanic language. Its attestation is very frag ...
* János Fliszár * József Klekl (politician) *
Ágoston Pável Ágoston Pável, also known in Slovenian as Avgust Pavel (28 August 1886, Cankova, Kingdom of Hungary, today in Slovenia – 2 January 1946, Szombathely, Hungary) was a Hungarian Slovene writer, poet, ethnologist, linguist and historian. E ...


References


Sources

* Mária Mukics: ''Changing World - The Hungarian Slovenians'' (''Változó Világ'' - ''A magyarországi szlovének'') Press Publica * Mukics Ferenc: Szlovén Nyelvkönyv/Slovenska slovnica (Slovenian language-book), 1997. * ''Slovar stare knjižne prekmurščine,'' Založba ZRC,
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
2006. * Fliszár János: ''Magyar-vend szótár/Vogrszki-vendiski rêcsnik,''
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
1922. * Francek Mukič: ''Porabsko-knjižnoslovensko-madžarski slovar,''
Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...
2005. * * * Marc L. Greenberg: Glasoslovni opis treh prekmurskih govorov in komentar k zgodovinskemu glasoslovju in oblikoglasju prekmurskega narečja. ''Slavistična revija'' 41/4 (1993), 465-487.
Marc L. Greenberg: Archaisms and innovations in the dialect of Središče: (Southeastern Prlekija, Slovenia). ''Indiana Slavic studies'' 7 (1994), 90-102.

Marc L. Greenberg: Prekmurje grammar as a source of Slavic comparative material. ''Slovenski jezik'' 7 (2009), 28-44.
* Marc L. Greenberg: Slovar beltinskega prekmurskega govora. ''Slavistična revija'' 36 (1988). 452–456. eview essay of Franc Novak, Slovar beltinskega prekmurskega govora [A Dictionary of the Prekmurje Dialect of Beltinci * Franci Just: ''Med verzuško in pesmijo,'' Poezija Prekmurja v prvi polovici 20. stoletja, Franc-Franc,
Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; german: Olsnitz;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. hu, Muraszombat) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the ...
2000. * Vilko Novak: ''Slovar stare knjižne prekmurščine'', Založba ZRC,
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
, 2006. * Vilko Novak: ''Martjanska pesmarica,'' Založba ZRC,
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
, 1997. * Vilko Novak: Zgodovina iz spomina/Történelem emlékezetből – ''Polemika o knjigi Tiborja Zsige Muravidéktől Trianonig/Polémia Zsiga Tibor Muravidéktől Trianonig című könyvéről,'' Založba ZRC,
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
, 2004. * Anton Trstenjak: ''Slovenci na Ogrskem'', Narodopisna in književna črtica, objava arhivskih virov MARIBOR 2006. * Marija Kozar: ''Etnološki slovar slovencev na Madžarskem'', Monošter-
Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...
1996. * Források a Muravidék történetéhez 1./Viri za zgodovino Prekmurja 1.
Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...
-
Zalaegerszeg Zalaegerszeg (; hr, Jegersek; sl, Jageršek; german: Egersee) is the administrative center of Zala county in western Hungary. Location Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders and west-south ...
, 2008. Ö * Források a Muravidék történetéhez/Viri za zgodovino Prekmurja 2.
Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...
-
Zalaegerszeg Zalaegerszeg (; hr, Jegersek; sl, Jageršek; german: Egersee) is the administrative center of Zala county in western Hungary. Location Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders and west-south ...
2008. * ''Molitvena Kniga, Odobrena od cérkvene oblászti,'' edit: József Szakovics 1942. * Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota, ''Katalog stalne razstave,''
Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; german: Olsnitz;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. hu, Muraszombat) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the ...
1997. * Jerneja Kopitarja Glagolita Clozianus/Cločev Glagolit,
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
1995. * Življenje in delo Jožefa Borovnjaka, Edit: , Maribor 2008. * Bea Baboš Logar: Prekmurska narečna slovstvena ustvarjalnost – mednarodno znanstveno srečanje: prekmurščina zanimiva tudi za tuje znanstvenike, Vestnik July 17, 2003. * Predgovor. Nouvi Zákon, Stevan Küzmics, Pokrajinski Muzej Murska Sobota 2008. (Translations: in English Peter Lamovec; in Hungarian Gabriella Bence; in Slovene Mihael Kuzmič)


External links


Marko Jesenšek: STILISTIKA PREKMURSKIH OGLAŠEVALSKIH BESEDIL/STYLISTICS IN ADVERTISING TEXTS IN PREKMURJE


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090220023921/http://www.ms.sik.si/PJMagyar_ford_bibl_1715.htm Hungarian books in Prekmurje Slovenian 1715-1919
Hungarian books in Prekmurje Slovenian 1920-1944

PREKMURSKI PUBLICISTIČNI JEZIK V PRVI POLOVICI 20. STOLETJA

Američan, ki je doktoriral iz prekmurščine

"Zame prekmurščina ni narečje, temveč jezik" – Branko Pintarič, gledališki ustvarjalec (For Me, Prekmurje Slovenian Is Not a Dialect, But a Language)

Preučevanje jezika in literature (Slovene)

Marko Jesenšek: The Slovene Language in the Alpine and Pannonian Language Area

Six stories from Prekmurje (1)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prekmurje Slovene Cultural heritage of Slovenia