The Littoral dialect group (''primorska narečna skupina'') is a group of very heterogeneous dialects of Slovene. The Littoral dialects are spoken in most of the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral (, ; ; ), is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg poss ...

(except for the mountainous areas around Tolmin and Cerkno, where Rovte dialects are spoken) and in the western part of

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica (plateau), Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the Goriška, Gor ...

. They are also spoken by

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

in the Italian provinces of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

and

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

, and in the mountainous areas of eastern

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

( Venetian Slovenia and Resia).

Phonological and morphological characteristics

Among other features, this group is characterized by diphthongization of yat > ''ie'' and ''o'' > ''uo'', and late denasalization of *''ę'' and *''ǫ''. The western dialects in this group have preserved

pitch accent A pitch-accent language is a type of language that, when spoken, has certain syllables in words or morphemes that are prominent, as indicated by a distinct contrasting pitch (music), pitch (tone (linguistics), linguistic tone) rather than by vol ...

whereas the others have a non-tonal stress accent.

Individual dialects and subdialects

* Resia(n) dialect (''rezijansko narečje'', ''rezijanščina''); spoken in the Resia Valley (

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) * Soča dialect (''obsoško narečje''); spoken in the Upper Soča Valley * Torre Valley dialect (''tersko narečje'', ''terščina''); spoken in the upper Torre Valley (Italy) and in the Breginj area (Slovenia) * Natisone Valley dialect (''nadiško narečje'', ''nadiščina''); spoken in the Natisone Valley in Venetian Slovenia (Italy) and in western parts of the Gorizia region (Slovenia) * Brda dialect (''briško narečje'', ''briščina''); spoken in the Brda () area in Slovenia and in Italy, as well as in some suburbs of

(Italy) * Karst dialect (''kraško narečje'', ''kraščina''); spoken in the north-western parts of the Karst Plateau, in the lower Vipava Valley and in the lower Soča Valley, as well as in some suburbs of

and

(Italy) ** Banjšice subdialect (''banjški govor'', ''banjiški govor''); spoken on the Banjšice Plateau * Istrian dialect (''istrsko narečje'', ''istrščina''); spoken in Slovenian Istria and parts of the Italian Province of Trieste ** Rižana subdialect (''rižanski govor''); spoken in northern Slovenian Istria and parts of the Province of Trieste (Italy) ** Šavrin Hills subdialect (''šavrinski govor'', ''šavrinščina''); spoken in southern Slovenian Istria * Inner Carniolan dialect (''notranjsko narečje'', ''notranjščina''Logar, Tine. 1996. ''Dialektološke in jezikovnozgodovinske razprave''. Ljubljana: SAZU, p. 65.); spoken in western

, the upper Vipava Valley, and southern Karst Plateau, as well as in most of the Slovenian-inhabited suburbs of

(Italy) * Čičarija dialect (''čiško narečje'', ''čički dialekt''Rigler, Jakob. 1963. ''Južnonotranjski govori''. Ljubljana: SAZU, pp. 11–12.); spoken in a few villages in Slovenian Istria on the border with

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littoral dialect group Slovene dialects