Istro-Romanians
Encyclopedia
Istro-Romanians / Istrorumeni (ethnonym
: Rumeni and occasionally also Rumâri and Rumêri; are called Ćići and "Vlahi" (Istrian Vlachs
) by the local Croatian and Slovenian population, Istro-Romanians by linguists and Rumunji in the Republic of Croatia) are an ethnic group
living in northeastern Istria
, currently spanning over a small area of Croatia
and a small part of Slovenia
mostly in a region called Ćićarija
(Croatian
) or Čičarija (Slovene) (historical name: Ciceria) and in a region west of Mt. Učka
(Monte Maggiore) with a current ethnic population of 1,200, but with only 170 acknowledged speakers of the Istro-Romanian language
in 1998 in Croatia, including 27 children. In 2010, the Croatian Constitution granted Romanians ("Rumunji") status as one of 22 national minorities"http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Novosti/sabor-izglasao-novi-ustav.aspx". Romanians in Slovenia (living in two very small villages) do not have any officially recognized status of minority.
") dates back to 1329, when Serbian chronicles mention that a Vlach population was living in the area, although there was an earlier mention from the 12th century of a leader in Istria called Radul which may have been a Romanian name.
In his monumental book, Historia antica, e moderna sacra, e profana, della città di Trieste, published in his native town of Trieste in 1698, Fra Ireneo della Croce (1625–1713) wrote:
He mentions a people who, "beside the Slavic idiom common for all the Karst area, speak also their own and particular language, which is similar to Wallachian and contains many different Latin words." He was referring to the language of the Chichi - Cici (the Istro-Romanians) who, in his own time, were known to inhabit an extensive part of Istria up to and perhaps beyond Trieste.
Some linguists believe that the Istro-Romanians migrated to their present location about 600 years ago from Transylvania
, after the Black Death
depopulated Istria
, as was told to generations of Istro-Romanians who handed down this story from parent to child by word of mouth. Some loan words also suggest that before reaching Istria, the Istro-Romanians lived for a longer period of time in Dalmatia
near the Cetina river, but this is mere speculation as the loan words could easily have come from other Slavic peoples' who emigrated to Istria, and such loan words also exist in Daco-Romanian, the official language of Romania. Another unsupported theory is that they came from Serbia
. What cannot be disputed, however, is that the Istro-Romanian dialect splits from that of Daco-Romanian
speakers later than the other Romanian dialects (Aromanian
and Megleno-Romanian
), thus further discounting credibility in the Serbian theory. This of course would hinge on definitions of such terms as "Serbia", since there are some Daco-Romanian speakers in modern Serbia (see Romanians of Serbia
), although the majority of Romanians there speak Aromunian (a.k.a. Macedo-Romanian), a distinctly different dialect from Istro-Romanian.
The Transylvanian connection is emphasized by linguists, but more importantly, is alive in the memory of some of the Istrorumeni themselves who break themselves into two distinct groups - the cici or cicci surrounding the Mune and Žejane area and the vlahi of the southern Šušnjevica region even though their speech is identical save for a few local distinctions. Interestingly enough, Iosif Popovici entitled his book Dialectele române din Istria (Halle, 1909) - that is, "The Dialects..." not "The Dialect..." - indirectly suggesting there were several types of Istro-Romanian dialects in Istria.
Romanian linguists are divided in their opinions: Prof. Dr. Iosif Popovici (1876–1928), who had travelled extensively in Istria, endorsed the theory the Istro-Romanians were natives of Ţara Moţilor
(Western Transylvania) who "descended" into Istria
sometimes during the Middle Ages
. ("Dialectele române din Istria", I, Halle a.d.S., 1914, p. 122 and following). This opinion was shared by Ovid Densusianu
(1873–1938) (a Romanian folklorist, philologist, and poet who introduced trends of European modernism into Romanian literature, and therefore not a recognized linguistic authority) stated that Istro-Romanians were not native to Istria (Histoire de la langue roumaine, I, p. 337): "Un premier fait que nous devons mettre en evidence, c'est que l'istro-roumain n'a pu se développer à l'origine là où nous le trouvons aujourd'hui".
The Serbian dialectologist and phonologist Pavle Ivić
, respected for his work toward the standardization of the Serbian language, speculated that at the beginning of the Middle Ages a sizable Roman population inhabited all of the Balkans
, from west to east, across the former Yugoslavia.
In the 15th century, a purportedly similar population of Rumeri from the near mainland, as noted by Frankopan (Frangipani) princes in their chronicles, in northernmost Krk
(Veglia) island, villages Poljica and Dubašnica at actual Makarska. In the mid-19th century they were gradually assimilated, and only some of their toponyms and plant names persist; also their Paternoster (Cace nostru) was noted there.
When Istria was part of the Austrian Empire
, the Istro-Rumanians were the majority of a small "comune" near the Arsa
river, as shown in the 1910 Austrian census In 1922, after the union of Istria to Italy, the Italian government allowed the creation of the city of "Valdarsa" for the istroromanian community: under the leadership of Andrea Glavina they obtained even a school in Istro-Romanian language
. This town of Valdarsa (now reduced to the 200 inhabitants of the village of Šušnjevica) reached a population of 3,000 in 1942.
After World War II, many Istro-Romanians left their ancestral homes, as did many other Istrian refugees throughout the peninsula, due to discrimination, violence and threats by the incoming Communist regime. A small number remained in Istria while others emigrated to various countries of Europe, most notably Italy, the U.S.A., and throughout the world. Those who stayed under Yugoslav rule underwent forced assimilation
as much as, if not more than, they had under the prior brief Italian rule. The Italian writer and historian Giuseppe Lazzarini believes that there are more than 5,000 Istro-Romanian descendants in Istria
, but most of them identified themselves (1991 Census: 811 Istro-Romanians) with other ethnic groups instead of as Istro-Romanian. Lazzarini believes that the Istro-Romanians are the descendants of the Roman legionnaires (brought in by Augustus
to eastern Istria
to colonize the borders of Roman Empire
) and Aromanian shepherds, who escaped the Ottoman
invasions and moved to a plague depopulated Istria
in the 15th century. Other historians and linguists, however, disagree with this theory inasmuch as the Aromanian and Istro-Romanian languages are very different and distinguishable from each other.
Also significant is that unlike most of other Romanian speakers, who are Eastern Orthodox, the Istro-Romanians were and are Roman Catholic, likewise pointing to a different migratory pattern and historical evolution.http://www.istro-romanian.com/prayers.htm In 1998, a detailed monograph on Istro-Romanians, their population, culture, glossary, grammar (reflective only of the acknowledged speakers in Istria, not the majority of native speakers who left Istria after World War II), texts, and exhaustive bibliography was published by A. Kovačec (see references below). Other Romanian, Italian and Dalmatian linguists have published their own atlases, dictionaries and vocabularies before and since then.
Ethnonym
An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms or endonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for...
: Rumeni and occasionally also Rumâri and Rumêri; are called Ćići and "Vlahi" (Istrian Vlachs
Vlachs
Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...
) by the local Croatian and Slovenian population, Istro-Romanians by linguists and Rumunji in the Republic of Croatia) are an ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
living in northeastern Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, currently spanning over a small area of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and a small part of Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
mostly in a region called Ćićarija
Ćićarija
Ćićarija is a mountainous plateau in the northern and north-eastern part of Istria peninsula, 45 km long and 10–15 km wide. It mostly lies in Croatia, while its northern part lies in Slovenia...
(Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
) or Čičarija (Slovene) (historical name: Ciceria) and in a region west of Mt. Učka
Ucka
The Učka is a mountain range that rises behind Opatija riviera, on the Istrian peninsula, in northwestern Croatia. It forms a single morphological unit together with the Čičarija range which streches from the bay of Trieste to Rijeka...
(Monte Maggiore) with a current ethnic population of 1,200, but with only 170 acknowledged speakers of the Istro-Romanian language
Istro-Romanian language
Istro-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language that is still spoken today in a few villages and hamlets in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in what is now Croatia as well as in other countries around the world where the Istro-Romanian people settled after the two...
in 1998 in Croatia, including 27 children. In 2010, the Croatian Constitution granted Romanians ("Rumunji") status as one of 22 national minorities"http://www.novilist.hr/Vijesti/Novosti/sabor-izglasao-novi-ustav.aspx". Romanians in Slovenia (living in two very small villages) do not have any officially recognized status of minority.
History
The first historical record of Romanians in the Istrian region purportedly dates back to 940 A.D. when scholarly Roman Emperor Constantine VII recorded in De Administrando Imperio" that there were Latin-language speakers in this area who called themselves Romans but who did not come from Rome. A later historical record of Romanians in Istria (not necessarily the "Cici", and possibly the "MorlacchiMorlachs
Morlachs were a population of Vlachs. In another version their name comes from the slavic terms of "morski-Vlasi" or Sea Vlachs...
") dates back to 1329, when Serbian chronicles mention that a Vlach population was living in the area, although there was an earlier mention from the 12th century of a leader in Istria called Radul which may have been a Romanian name.
In his monumental book, Historia antica, e moderna sacra, e profana, della città di Trieste, published in his native town of Trieste in 1698, Fra Ireneo della Croce (1625–1713) wrote:
- "Un'altra memoria antica, degna d'osservatione non minore della già addotte Antichità Romane, osservo in alcuni Popoli addimandati comunemente Chichi habitanti nelle Ville d'Opchiena, Tribichiano, e Gropada situate nel Territorio di Trieste, sopra il Monte cinque miglia distante dalla Città verso Greco: Et in molti altri Villaggi, aspettanti à Castel nuovo, nel Carso Giurisditione de gl'Illustrissimi Signori Conti Petazzi, quali, oltre l'Idioma I Sclavo comune à tutto il Carso, usano un proprio, e particolare consimile al Valacco, intracciato con diverse parole, e vocaboli Latini, come scorgesi dall'ingiunti, & à bel Studio qui da me riferiti. Non deve meravigliarsi chi legge, fe questi Popoli, quali proffessano l'origine loro da Carni, e suoi discendenti, venuti dalla Toscana à fondare la Nostra antica Provincia de' Carni, habbiano sempre conservato l'uso antico della lingua Romana, ò Latina, idioma comune de' loro Antenati, come constumano hoggidì pure al sentire [335] di Gio:Lucio (a) i Popoli nella Valacchia: Valachi autem hedierni quicunque lingua Valacha loquuntur, se ipsos non dicunt Vlahos, aut Valachos, sed Romanos, & à Romanis ortos gloriuntur; Romanaque lingua loqui prositentur, quiod sicut sermo ipsorum comprobat: ita mores quoque crum Italis quam Slavis similiores conveniunt, Che perciò anco i nostri Chichi, addimandansi nel proprio linguaggio Rumeri: Essendo sentimento del mentovato Lucio, (b) che l'uso della lingua latina, fiorì anticamente non solo nell'Italia, ma anco nella Dalmatia, nell'Illirico, & altre parti: Lingua romana, sive Latina Dalmatas usos ad ann. 1200. VVilliemus Tyrius testatur. lib. 2. cap. 17."
He mentions a people who, "beside the Slavic idiom common for all the Karst area, speak also their own and particular language, which is similar to Wallachian and contains many different Latin words." He was referring to the language of the Chichi - Cici (the Istro-Romanians) who, in his own time, were known to inhabit an extensive part of Istria up to and perhaps beyond Trieste.
Some linguists believe that the Istro-Romanians migrated to their present location about 600 years ago from Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, after the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
depopulated Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, as was told to generations of Istro-Romanians who handed down this story from parent to child by word of mouth. Some loan words also suggest that before reaching Istria, the Istro-Romanians lived for a longer period of time in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
near the Cetina river, but this is mere speculation as the loan words could easily have come from other Slavic peoples' who emigrated to Istria, and such loan words also exist in Daco-Romanian, the official language of Romania. Another unsupported theory is that they came from Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. What cannot be disputed, however, is that the Istro-Romanian dialect splits from that of Daco-Romanian
Daco-Romanian
Daco-Romanian is the term used to identify the Romanian language in contexts where distinction needs to be made between the various Eastern Romance languages...
speakers later than the other Romanian dialects (Aromanian
Aromanian language
Aromanian , also known as Macedo-Romanian, Arumanian or Vlach is an Eastern Romance language spoken in Southeastern Europe...
and Megleno-Romanian
Megleno-Romanian language
Megleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
), thus further discounting credibility in the Serbian theory. This of course would hinge on definitions of such terms as "Serbia", since there are some Daco-Romanian speakers in modern Serbia (see Romanians of Serbia
Romanians of Serbia
Romanians are a recognised national minority in Serbia. The total number of declared Romanians in the 2002 Serbian census was 34,576, while 40,054 people declared themselves Vlachs; there are differing views among some of the Vlachs over they should be regarded as Romanians or as members of a...
), although the majority of Romanians there speak Aromunian (a.k.a. Macedo-Romanian), a distinctly different dialect from Istro-Romanian.
The Transylvanian connection is emphasized by linguists, but more importantly, is alive in the memory of some of the Istrorumeni themselves who break themselves into two distinct groups - the cici or cicci surrounding the Mune and Žejane area and the vlahi of the southern Šušnjevica region even though their speech is identical save for a few local distinctions. Interestingly enough, Iosif Popovici entitled his book Dialectele române din Istria (Halle, 1909) - that is, "The Dialects..." not "The Dialect..." - indirectly suggesting there were several types of Istro-Romanian dialects in Istria.
Tara Motilor
Țara Moților , also known as Țara de Piatră is an ethnogeographical region of Romania in the Apuseni Mountains, on the superior basin of the Arieș and Crişul Alb River rivers...
(Western Transylvania) who "descended" into Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
sometimes during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. ("Dialectele române din Istria", I, Halle a.d.S., 1914, p. 122 and following). This opinion was shared by Ovid Densusianu
Ovid Densusianu
Ovid Densusianu was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist and folklorist. He is known for introducing new trends of European modernism into Romanian literature.He was a professor at the University of Bucharest, and a member of the Romanian Academy....
(1873–1938) (a Romanian folklorist, philologist, and poet who introduced trends of European modernism into Romanian literature, and therefore not a recognized linguistic authority) stated that Istro-Romanians were not native to Istria (Histoire de la langue roumaine, I, p. 337): "Un premier fait que nous devons mettre en evidence, c'est que l'istro-roumain n'a pu se développer à l'origine là où nous le trouvons aujourd'hui".
The Serbian dialectologist and phonologist Pavle Ivić
Pavle Ivic
-Biography:Professor Pavle Ivić was a leading South Slavic and general dialectologist and phonologist. Both his field work and his synthesizing studies were extensive and authoritative...
, respected for his work toward the standardization of the Serbian language, speculated that at the beginning of the Middle Ages a sizable Roman population inhabited all of the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, from west to east, across the former Yugoslavia.
In the 15th century, a purportedly similar population of Rumeri from the near mainland, as noted by Frankopan (Frangipani) princes in their chronicles, in northernmost Krk
Krk
Krk is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....
(Veglia) island, villages Poljica and Dubašnica at actual Makarska. In the mid-19th century they were gradually assimilated, and only some of their toponyms and plant names persist; also their Paternoster (Cace nostru) was noted there.
When Istria was part of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, the Istro-Rumanians were the majority of a small "comune" near the Arsa
Raša (river)
The river Raša, in Croatian Istria is a major river of Croatia's Istria County. Its mouth is in the long ria of Raški zaljev/Porto d'Arsia, which is a drowned river valley scoured out when world sea levels were lowered, then drowned by the rising waters of the post glacial era...
river, as shown in the 1910 Austrian census In 1922, after the union of Istria to Italy, the Italian government allowed the creation of the city of "Valdarsa" for the istroromanian community: under the leadership of Andrea Glavina they obtained even a school in Istro-Romanian language
Istro-Romanian language
Istro-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language that is still spoken today in a few villages and hamlets in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in what is now Croatia as well as in other countries around the world where the Istro-Romanian people settled after the two...
. This town of Valdarsa (now reduced to the 200 inhabitants of the village of Šušnjevica) reached a population of 3,000 in 1942.
After World War II, many Istro-Romanians left their ancestral homes, as did many other Istrian refugees throughout the peninsula, due to discrimination, violence and threats by the incoming Communist regime. A small number remained in Istria while others emigrated to various countries of Europe, most notably Italy, the U.S.A., and throughout the world. Those who stayed under Yugoslav rule underwent forced assimilation
Forced assimilation
Forced assimilation is a process of forced cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups, into an established and generally larger community...
as much as, if not more than, they had under the prior brief Italian rule. The Italian writer and historian Giuseppe Lazzarini believes that there are more than 5,000 Istro-Romanian descendants in Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, but most of them identified themselves (1991 Census: 811 Istro-Romanians) with other ethnic groups instead of as Istro-Romanian. Lazzarini believes that the Istro-Romanians are the descendants of the Roman legionnaires (brought in by Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
to eastern Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
to colonize the borders of Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
) and Aromanian shepherds, who escaped the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
invasions and moved to a plague depopulated Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
in the 15th century. Other historians and linguists, however, disagree with this theory inasmuch as the Aromanian and Istro-Romanian languages are very different and distinguishable from each other.
Also significant is that unlike most of other Romanian speakers, who are Eastern Orthodox, the Istro-Romanians were and are Roman Catholic, likewise pointing to a different migratory pattern and historical evolution.http://www.istro-romanian.com/prayers.htm In 1998, a detailed monograph on Istro-Romanians, their population, culture, glossary, grammar (reflective only of the acknowledged speakers in Istria, not the majority of native speakers who left Istria after World War II), texts, and exhaustive bibliography was published by A. Kovačec (see references below). Other Romanian, Italian and Dalmatian linguists have published their own atlases, dictionaries and vocabularies before and since then.
Extant (Remaining) Settlements
- Area north of Mount ĆićarijaĆićarijaĆićarija is a mountainous plateau in the northern and north-eastern part of Istria peninsula, 45 km long and 10–15 km wide. It mostly lies in Croatia, while its northern part lies in Slovenia...
- Žejani (Istro-RomanianIstro-Romanian languageIstro-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language that is still spoken today in a few villages and hamlets in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in what is now Croatia as well as in other countries around the world where the Istro-Romanian people settled after the two...
: Jeiăn), 140 inhabitants
- Žejani (Istro-Romanian
- Area west of Mount UčkaUckaThe Učka is a mountain range that rises behind Opatija riviera, on the Istrian peninsula, in northwestern Croatia. It forms a single morphological unit together with the Čičarija range which streches from the bay of Trieste to Rijeka...
(historical name: Monte Maggiore) and near Lake ČepićČepićČepić, also spelled Ceppi, Cepic, Čepich, Cepich, is a location in Istria, Croatia....
/ Arsa- Šušnjevica (Şuşńieviţe, Susńieviţa, Istro-Romanian: Suseni)
- Nova VasNova VasNova Vas may refer to*Nova Vas, Brtonigla, village in the Brtonigla municipality in Croatia*Nova Vas, Kršan, village in the Kršan municipality in Croatia*Nova Vas, Poreč, settlement within the town of Poreč in Croatia...
(Noselo, Istro-Romanian: Sat Nou) - JasenovikJasenovikJasenovik is a village situated in Niš municipality in Serbia....
(Istro-Romanian: Sucodru, meaning "under woods") - Kostrčani (Istro-Romanian: Costârceân)
- Letaj (Istro-Romanian: Letai)
- BrdoBrdoBrdo is a South Slavic toponym, meaning "hill". A common placename, it can refer to several locations in countries with South Slavic populations, primarily Serbia and Slovenia:-Serbia:*Brdo , village near Nova Varoš...
(Berdo / Birdo, Istro-Romanian: Bârdo)
- Slovenia
- Skadanščina
- Golac
See also
- IstriaIstriaIstria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
- Istro-Romanian languageIstro-Romanian languageIstro-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language that is still spoken today in a few villages and hamlets in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in what is now Croatia as well as in other countries around the world where the Istro-Romanian people settled after the two...
- Istro-Romanian grammarIstro-Romanian grammarThe grammar of the Istro-Romanian language shares similar grammar with other Eastern Romance languages.-Morphology:The theorized evolution of Istro-Romanian from Daco-Romanian, a language that may have evolved independently, shows two distinct features:...
- Thraco-RomanThraco-RomanThe terms Thraco-Roman and Daco-Roman refer to the culture and language of the Thracian and Dacian peoples who were incorporated into the Roman Empire and ultimately fell under the Roman and Latin sphere of influence.-Meaning and usage:...
- Eastern Romance substratumEastern Romance substratumThe Eastern Romance languages developed from the Proto-Romanian language, which in turn developed from the Vulgar Latin spoken in a region of the Balkans which has not yet been exactly determined, but is generally agreed to have been a region north of the Jireček Line.That there was...
- Romanian languageRomanian languageRomanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
- Origin of the Romanians
- Romance languagesRomance languagesThe Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
- Legacy of the Roman EmpireLegacy of the Roman EmpireThe legacy of the Roman Empire refers to the set of cultural values, religious beliefs, as well as technological and other achievements of Ancient Rome which were passed on after the demise of the empire itself and continued to shape other civilizations, a process which continues to this day.-...
- The Balkan linguistic unionBalkan linguistic unionThe Balkan sprachbund or linguistic area is the ensemble of areal features—similarity in grammar, syntax, vocabulary and phonology—among the languages of the Balkans. Several features are found across these languages though not all need apply to every single language...
External links
- Istro-Romanian Community Worldwide, a site created by and for Istro-Romanians
- Difficult cultural situation of the Istro-Romanian minority particularly threatened
- La situation culturelle difficile de la minorité istro-roumaine particulièrement menacée
- Istro-Romanians in Croatia, a site created by a Romanian