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Istro-Romanians
The Istro-Romanians (Istro Romanian: Rumeri or rumâri) are a Romance ethnic group native to, or associated with the Istrian Peninsula. Historically, they inhabited vast parts of it, as well as the western side of the island of Krk until 1875. However, due to several factors such as the industrialization and modernization of Istria during the socialist regime of Yugoslavia, many Istro-Romanians emigrated to other places, be they cities in Croatia like Pula and Rijeka or areas such as New York City, Trieste or Western Australia. The Istro-Romanians dwindled severely in number, being reduced to eight settlements on the Croatian side of Istria in which they do not represent the majority.
It is known that the Istro-Romanians are actually not indigenous to Istria, since the differences between the Istro-Romanian language and the now extinct geographically close Dalmatian are notable. In addition, they count with several similarities with the Transylvanian Romanians and Timok Vlachs, suggesting that the Istro-Romanians originate from the current the west of Romania or Serbia. Although it is not known exactly how and when, the Istro-Romanians settled in Istria, where they would remain for centuries until they began to suffer assimilation. Even now, with several associations and projects that aim to preserve their culture and with the support of both Croatian and Romanian governments, the Istro-Romanians are not officially recognized as a national minority.
Although it has become widely popular and is now used almost exclusively, the term "Istro-Romanian" is a somewhat controversial scientific invention, which is not used by them to identify themselves. The Istro-Romanians prefer to use names derived from their native villages, which are Jesenovik, Kostrčani, Letaj, Nova Vas, Šušnjevica, Zankovci, the Brdo area and the isolated Žejane. Others also use "Vlach", but to refer to the entire Istro-Romanian population, the names rumâri and rumeri are often employed. Their language is highly similar to Romanian, both being part of the Eastern Romance languages family alongside Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian, all descending from Proto-Romanian. However, Romania regards these ethnic groups as part of a "broad definition" of what a Romanian is, which is debatable and does not have a widely accepted view.
The Istro-Romanian culture has costumes, dances and songs with many similarities to those of Romania. Literature in Istro-Romanian is small, with the first book published in 1905. Historically, they were peasants and shepherds, with many of them being poor and without having received education until the 20th century. Today, the Istro-Romanian language has little use in education, media and religion, with the Croatian imposition in these and other domains. They are so few that they have been described as "the smallest ethnolinguistic group in Europe". It is thought that if their situation does not change, the Istro-Romanians will disappear in the following decades.
Istroromanian Romanian Official Croatian Croatian words not found in official version English Ciace nostru car le şti en cer, Tatăl nostru care eşti în ceruri, Oče naš, koji jesi na nebesima, *Ciace – Croatian Ćaća – father Our Father, Who art in heaven, neca se sveta nomelu teu. sfinţească-se numele tău. sveti se ime Tvoje, *neca – Croatian “neka” – may, let Hallowed be Thy Name. Neca venire craliestvo to. Vie împărăţia ta. dođi kraljevstvo Tvoje, - Thy Kingdom come. Neca fie volia ta, cum en cer, aşa şi pre pemânt. Facă-se voia ta, precum în cer, aşa şi pe pământ. budi volja Tvoja, kako na nebu, tako i na zemlji. - Thy Will be done,on earth as it is in Heaven. Pera nostre saca zi de nam astez. Pâinea noastră cea de toate zilele, dă-ne-o nouă astăzi. Kruh naš svagdanji daj nam danas, *saca – Croatian “svaka” – every Give us this day our daily bread. Odproste nam dutzan, şi ne iartă nouă păcatele noastre, i otpusti nam duge naše, *Odproste – Croatian “Oprostiti” forgive And forgive us our trespasses, ca şi noi odprostim a lu nostri dutznici. precum şi noi le iertăm greşiţilor noştri. kako i mi otpuštamo dužnicima našim, - as we forgive those who trespass against us. Neca nu na tu vezi en napastovanie, Şi nu ne duce pe noi în ispită, i ne uvedi nas u napast, - And lead us not into temptation, neca na zbăveşte de zvaca slabe. ci ne mântuieşte de cel rău. nego izbavi nas od Zla!. *zvaca slabe – Croatian “svako slabo” – every peril but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Istriot language
Not to be confused with Istro-Romanian language.
Istriot is a Romance language spoken by about 400 people in the southwestern part of the Istrian peninsula in Croatia, particularly in Rovinj and Vodnjan. It should not be confused with the Istrian dialect of the Venetian language.
Austrian census of 1910, classifying Istriots as Italians and showing the majority populations in reddish colors. Istriotic areas begin south of the Leme (Lim) canal
Istriot is a Romance language related to the Ladin populations of the Alps. According to the Italian linguist Matteo Bartoli, the Ladin area used to extend – until the year 1000 AD – from southern Istria to Friuli and eastern Switzerland.[3]
Its classification remained mostly unclear, but in 2017 it was classified by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History with the Dalmatian language in the Dalmatian Romance subgroup,[4] yet due to the specificities of the language, which has always had a very limited number of speakers. Istriot was also viewed:
as an independent Northern Italian language, belonging neither to the Venetian language nor to the Gallo-Italic group (opinion shared by linguists Tullio De Mauro and Maurizio Dardano);
as a variety of the Rhaeto-Romance languages by the Istriot Antonio Ive[5]
as an independent language of the Italo-Dalmatian group[6]
as an autochthonous Romance language heavily influenced by Venetian, Friulian and Slavic superstrates by Mirko Deanović[5]
When Istria was a region of the Kingdom of Italy, Istriot was considered by the authorities as a subdialect of Venetian.[7]
Historically, its speakers never referred to it as "Istriot"; it had six names after the six towns where it was spoken. In Vodnjan it was named "Bumbaro", in Bale "Vallese", in Rovinj "Rovignese", in Šišan "Sissanese", in Fažana "Fasanese" and in Galižana "Gallesanese". The term Istriot was coined by the 19th-century Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli.
This language is still spoken by some people in the Istriot communities in Fertilia and Maristella, in Sardinia.
There are about 1,000 speakers left, making it an endangered language.
Below is a comparison of Istriot with several closely related Romance languages and Latin:
Latin Italian Istriot Venetian BisiaccoVenetian English clave(m) chiave ciave ciave ciave key nocte(m) notte nuoto note/not note night cantare cantare cantŕ cantar cantar to sing capra(m) capra cŕvara cŕvara cavra goat lingua(m) lingua lengua lengua lengua language platea(m) piazza piassa piassa piassa square ponte(m) ponte ponto ponte/pont pont bridge ecclesia(m) chiesa ceza cexa cesa church hospitale(m) ospedale uspadal ospedal ospedal hospital caseu(m) lat.vulg.formaticu(m) formaggio/cacio furmajo formajo formai cheese
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