| Brda dialect | |
| Also Known As: | Gorizia Hills dialect |
| Nativename: | ˈbrìːško naˈrìeːči̯e |
| Pronunciation: | in Slovenian pronounced as /ˈbɾíːʃkɔ naˈɾíɛːt͡ʃi̯ɛ/ |
| States: | Slovenia, Italy |
| Region: | Gorizia Hills |
| Ethnicity: | Slovenes |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Balto-Slavic |
| Fam3: | Slavic |
| Fam4: | South Slavic |
| Fam5: | Western South Slavic |
| Fam6: | Slovene |
| Fam7: | Littoral |
| Map: | Littoral dialect group.svg |
| Mapcaption: | The Brda dialect |
The Brda dialect (in Slovenian pronounced as /ˈbɾíːʃkɔ naˈɾéːt͡ʃjɛ/,[1] [2]), or Gorizia Hills dialect, is a Slovene dialect spoken in the Gorizia Hills in Slovenia and Italy. It is known for extreme vowel reduction in final position. It borders the Natisone Valley dialect to the north and the Karst dialect to the east, and Friulian to the west. The dialect belongs to the Littoral dialect group, and it evolved from Venetian–Karst dialect base.[3]
It is spoken in a territory with around 6,000 Slovene speakers, most of whom have a degree of knowledge of the dialect.
The dialect is spoken west of the Soča River in the Gorizia Hills, extending from Lig in the north, along the Soča River in the east, up to Oslavia (Slovenian: Oslavje) and Gradiscutta (Slovenian: Gradiščula) in the south and to Dolegna del Collio (Slovenian: Dolenje) in the west.
In Slovenia, the dialect is spoken in most of the territory of the Municipality of Brda (except for its northwesternmost strip, where the Natisone Valley dialect is spoken) and in the westernmost part of the Municipality of Kanal ob Soči. Notable settlements include Hum, Kojsko, Kozana, Šmartno, Medana, Dobrovo, Plave, and Anhovo.
In Italy, it is spoken in the northeastern area of the Province of Gorizia, in the municipalities of San Floriano del Collio (Slovenian: Števerjan), and in part of the municipalities of Cormons (Slovenian: Krmin) and Dolegna del Collio (Slovenian: Dolenje). It is also spoken in the western suburbs of the town of Gorizia: in Piedimonte del Calvario (Slovenian: Podgora), Piuma (Slovenian: Pevma), and Oslavia.
The Brda dialect lost pitch accent, unlike the nearby Natisone Valley and Torre Valley dialects; however, some southeastern microdialects (especially around Kojsko) have developed new tonal oppositions, which are morphologically correlated. These dialects distinguish between circumflex and acute accent on long vowels; short ones always have the same pitch. The dialect is in the late stages of losing length oppositions. It has undergone two accent shifts—the → and → accent shift in most of its territory—but some locales retain the initial accentuation.
The Brda dialect has mostly uniform sounds for long vowels; however, for short vowels, sounds can vary drastically. The vowel Slovenian: *ě̄ turned into Slovenian: iːe. The vowels Slovenian: *ę̄ and Slovenian: *ā are now both pronounced as Slovenian: aː, the first one in Kozana as Slovenian: oː if not followed or preceded by a nasal consonant. The vowel Slovenian: *ē turned into Slovenian: eː. The vowel Slovenian: *ǭ turned into Slovenian: oː in most microdialects; some speakers near the Karst dialect pronounce it as Slovenian: uːo, and Slovenian: *ō is a diphthong Slovenian: uːo in most microdialects. Alpine Slavic Slovenian: *ī is still pronounced as Slovenian: iː and Slovenian: *ū is still pronounced as Slovenian: *uː. Syllabic Slovenian: *ł̥̄ turned into Slovenian: uː and Slovenian: *r̥̄ turned into Slovenian: ər. Newly accented Slovenian: *ə is pronounced as Slovenian: *əː, and long Slovenian: *ə̄ is pronounced as Slovenian: aː.
In closed syllables, short Slovenian: *è turned into Slovenian: eː, Slovenian: *ò into Slovenian: oː, and Slovenian: *ì, Slovenian: *ù, and Slovenian: *ę̀ into Slovenian: əː, lengthening in the process. The only unlengthened vowel is Slovenian: *à, which turned into Slovenian: ḁ around Kojsko, but may have also turned into a long vowel in other microdialects. The vowel Slovenian: *o before a stressed syllable usually turned into Slovenian: u, although it also changes into Slovenian: ḁ. The vowels Slovenian: *a and Slovenian: *i before the stress turn into Slovenian: e. Vowel Slovenian: *ě after the stress turned into Slovenian: i. Final Slovenian: *i, Slovenian: *u, Slovenian: *ę, and Slovenian: *ǫ are not pronounced anymore; the only exception is the third-person singular ending Slovenian: -i (e.g., (on) Slovenian: vȋdi → Slovenian: vìːdẹ).
Consonant changes are rather common in the Littoral dialects. Palatal Slovenian: *ń and Slovenian: *ĺ are pronounced the same in most microdialects; the latter turned into Slovenian: i̯ in Kozana and west of that. The consonant Slovenian: *g turned into Slovenian: ɣ and into Slovenian: x at the end of a word. Final Slovenian: m turned into Slovenian: n in the west. The clusters Slovenian: čr-, Slovenian: čl-, and Slovenian: pš- turned into Slovenian: čer-, Slovenian: čel-, and Slovenian: peš-, respectively.[4]
The Brda dialect has separate dual forms only in masculine o-stems in the nominative, vocative, and accusative cases; elsewhere they merged with the plural forms. A special case is the second-person plural, where the ending is Slovenian: -ta (from the dual form) and the ending Slovenian: -te is used only for vikanje. The dialect uses the long infinitive, although final Slovenian: -i is dropped, but the accent remains the same. Neuter nouns are feminized in the plural.
The dialect also has different endings for the third-person plural form in the present tense. It is Slovenian: -i̯o in the west, but Slovenian: -i̯ in the east.
The greatest changes to morphology occurred around Kojsko, where the declension fundamentally changed. Because of vowel reduction, most endings were lost, and so different cases have different tones—either circumflex or acute—which helps determine the case.
| Nominatve | -̑ | -̑a | -́ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genitive | -̑a | -̑u | ||
| Dative | -́ | -̑em ~ -̑əm | ||
| Accusative | nom or gen | -̑a | -́ | |
| Locative | -́ | -̑ix | ||
| Instrumental | -̑əm | -̑əm ~ -áːm | ||
| Vocative | -̑ | -̑a | -́ | |
| Nominatve | -̑o | -́ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genitive | -̑a | -̑ | ||
| Dative | -́ | -̑em ~ -̑əm | ||
| Accusative | -̑o | -́ | ||
| Locative | -́ | -̑ix | ||
| Instrumental | -̑əm | -̑əm ~ -áːm | ||
| Vocative | -̑o | -́ | ||
| Nominatve | -̑a | -́ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genitive | -́ | -̑ | ||
| Dative | -́ | -̑em | ||
| Accusative | -́ | -́ | ||
| Locative | -́ | -̑ix | ||
| Instrumental | -́ | -áːm | ||
| Vocative | -̑a | -́ | ||