Prekmurje Slovene
Prekmurje Slovene, also known as the Prekmurje dialect or Eastern Slovene, is the language of Prekmurje in Eastern Slovenia, and a variety of the Slovene language. As a part of the Pannonian dialect group, it is spoken in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia and by the Hungarian Slovenes in the Vas County in western Hungary. It is used in private communication, liturgy and publications by authors from Prekmurje as well as in television, radio and newspapers. It is closely related to other Slovene dialects in neighboring Slovene Styria as well as to Kajkavian with which it is mutually intelligible to a considerable degree, and forms a dialect continuum with other South Slavic languages.
Prekmurje Slovene is part of the Pannonian dialect group, which is also known as the eastern Slovene dialect group. Prekmurje Slovene shares many common features with the dialects of Haloze, Slovenske Gorice, and Prlekija, with which it is completely mutually intelligible. It is also closely related to the Kajkavian dialects 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 have much less difficulty understanding it. The early 20th-century philologist Ágoston Pável stated that Prekmurje Slovene is actually a major, independent dialect of Slovene, from which it differs mostly in the aspects of stress, intonation, the softening of consonants and—as a result of the lack of linguistic reform—in the striking dearth of modern vocabulary and that it has preserved many older features from Proto-Slavic.
Geographical distribution
Prekmurje Slovene is spoken by approximately 110,000 speakers worldwide. of which 80,000 in Prekmurje, 20,000 throughout in Slovenia and 10,000 in other countries. In Hungary, it is used by the Slovene-speaking minority in the Vas County in and around the town of Szentgotthárd. Other speakers of the dialect live in other Hungarian towns, particularly Budapest, Szombathely, Bakony, and Mosonmagyaróvár. The dialect was also spoken in Somogy, but it has nearly disappeared in the last two centuries. There are some speakers in Austria, Germany, the United States, and Argentina.Status
Prekmurje Slovene has a defined territory and body of literature, and it is one of the few Slovene dialects in Slovenia that are 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, Ágoston Pável, József Klekl Senior, and József Szakovics, have claimed that it is a language, not simply a dialect. Evald Flisar, a writer, poet, and playwright from Prekmurje, states that people from Prekmurje "talk in our own language". It also has a written standard and literary tradition, both of which were largely neglected after World War II. There were attempts to publish in it more broadely 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, without denying that it is part of Slovene. The linguist Janko Dular has characterized Prekmurje Slovene as a "local standard language" for historical reasons, followed by the Prekmurje writer Feri Lainšček. However, Prekmurje Slovene is not recognized as a language in Slovenia or Hungary, nor does it enjoy any legal protection under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In 2016, the General Maister Society proposed that primary schools offer education in the Prekmurje Slovene. Some regional politicians and intellectuals advocate Prekmurje Slovene.
Alongside Resian, Prekmurje Slovene is the only Slovene dialect with a literary standard that has had a different historical development than the rest of the Slovene ethnic territory. For centuries, it has been used as a language of education as well as in the press and liturgy. The historical Hungarian name for the Slovenes living within the borders of the Kingdom of Hungary was Vendek, or the Wends. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Prekmurje authors used to designate this language variety as sztári szlovenszki jezik 'old Slovene'. Both then and now, it is also referred to as the "Slovene language between the Mura and Raba" .
Prekmurje Slovene is widely used in the regional media, films, literature. The youth write SMS messages and web comments in their local tongue. In Prekmurje and Hungary, several streets, shops, hotels, etc. bear Prekmurje Slovene names. In the 2012 protests in Slovenia in Murska Sobota, the protesters used 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, has stated that the functionality of Prekmurje Slovene is limited, but "it lives on in poetry and journalism."
Scholars in modern linguistics, dialectology and other fields consistently use the term prekmurščina, denoting it as a language. The Slovene affix -ščina signifies a language, dialect, or manner of speaking.
Name
In 1988, Slovene English-language specialist Stanko Klinar ascertained that it is grammatically correct to use the name Prekmurian.The name Prekmurian first appeared in a scientific publication in 1977. Previous scientific texts in the 1990s and 2000s mostly used the terms Prekmurje Slovene, Prekmurje language, Prekmurje dialect etc.. Nowadays, the most popular term in scientific texts is Prekmurian.
Dialects
Prekmurje Slovene is used as:- The dialect of the hilly Goričko, in northern Prekmurje, particularly in the villages of Grad, Gornji Petrovci, Križevci, Kuzma, Kuzma, Rogašovci, Šalovci, and Mačkovci.
- * The Raba March subdialect in Hungary, a variety of the Goričko dialect.
- THe dialect of the lowland Ravensko in Central Prekmurje, particularly in the villages of Puconci, Cankova, Bogojina, Bakovci, Tišina, Petanjci, Moravske Toplice, and Rakičan.
- * The Murska Sobota subdialect, i.e. the speech of the town of Murska Sobota; it is a variety of the Ravensko dialect.
- The Dolinsko subdialect in South Prekmurje, particularly in the villages of Beltinci, Bratonci, Črenšovci, Velika Polana, Turnišče, Žižki, Renkovci, Bistrica. It is also named the Marko dialect due to the prevalence of the personal name Marko in the past.
History
Early history
The Prekmurje Slovene 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, the Prekmurje Slovene 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 16th and 17th centuries, a few Slovene Protestant pastors fled from Carniola and Styria to Hungary. They brought along the Bible of Jurij Dalmatin, which was used in Felsőszölnök. and Postil of Primož Trubar, which was used in Gornji Petrovci. The Hungarian Slovenes found it difficult to understand the language of these books.
By the 16th century, a theory linking the Hungarian Slovenes to the ancient Vandals became popular. Accordingly, Prekmurje Slovene was frequently designated in Hungarian Latin documents as the Vandalian language.
For a long time, the circumstances of the two-tier development of the Slovene language was ignored in Slovenian linguistics and science. The current form of the standard Slovene language only developed in the 19th century. Prior to this, the Slovene language norm was twofold: the Central Slovene language and the Eastern Slovene language.
For a brief period, there were also two variants of the Eastern Slovene language: the Prekmurje Slovene and the Eastern Styrian Slovene.
The literary traditions of the Prekmurje Slovene developed during the Protestant Reformation: mostly manuscript hymnals with religious hymns, psalms from the 16th and 17th century, and a contract from 1643. The standard language emerged at the beginning of the 18th century and developed slowly. The standard Prekmurje Slovene followed homogeneous grammatical rules and phonetic characteristics. An example of this is the use of the wovels ö or ü and diphthongs in writing.
Manuscripts were also written in the Eastern Styrian Slovene language. Printed books in this language were also published. However, there were no homogeneous grammatical or phonologycal forms in this language variant. Styrian Slovene authors had thoroughly different ideas about the standard language. The Styrian Slovene literary language eventually ceased to exist and was replaced by the Central Slovene language.
18th century
The first book in the Prekmurje Slovene appeared in 1715 and was written by the Lutheran pastor Ferenc Temlin. The most important authors from this period were the Lutheran pastor István Küzmics and the Roman Catholic priest Miklós Küzmics who set the standard for the Prekmurje regional standard language in the 18th century.István translated the entire New Testament into Prekmurje Slovene. István was born in Ravensko and based his standard language on the Ravensko dialect of Prekmurje Slovene, just like it was used in old regional manuscripts. He also expanded the language with elements from the Goričko dialect.
Miklós Küzmics was born in Goričko but he followed István's language scheme. He adopted further elements from the Goričko and Dolinsko dialects. Miklós wrote several books, which were reprinted in the 20th century. His prayer book became very popular. His text and coursebook was used for decades in Slovene schools.
Important standardization work in Prekmurje Lutheran literature was also performed by István Szijjártó and Mihály Bakos.
Versus Vandalici, the first literary poem in the Prekmurje Slovene, was written in 1774.
19th century
In 1823, Mihály Barla wrote a new set of rules for writing the Prekmurje Slovene. He introduced three new characters to denote diphthongs: ô, ê, and â. The new orthography was put forward in two new hymnals, Diktomszke, versuske i molitvene kni'zicze and Krscsanszke nôve peszmene knige. In 1820, a Lutheran teacher named István Lülik wrote a new textbook Nôvi abeczedár, which was published three times. His book used Barla's orthography even though it was only used in the Prekmurje Lutheran literature.Lülik wrote the first grammar of the Prekmurje Slovene, but it was never printed.
The first secular book in the Prekmurje Slovene was a ceremony book for weddings.
The Catholic priest József Kossics used the Prekmurje Slovene in new functions. He didn't write religious books but books on history, grammar and etiquette. His stance was in line with the tendency for national encouragement.
The Lutheran pastor Sándor Terplán translated the Psalms and wrote new schoolbooks.
János Kardos translated numerous poems of Sándor Petőfi, János Arany and a few Hungarian poets. He drafted new schoolbooks, for ex. Nôve knige cstenyá za vesznícski sôl drügi zlôcs. Kardos approached the language in a conservative manner: he was not open for Slovene or Croatian and stuck to archaic elements. Kárdos' purism was very similar to the purism of Fran Levstik in Carniola.
Unlike Kardos, József Borovnyák was a Catholic priest who adapted standard Prekmurje Slovene to the standard Slovene. Borovnyák also contributed to the functional development of the Prekmurje Slovene, e.g. with his political brochure Máli politicsni vodnik.
In 1875, the poet, writer, translator and journalist Imre Augustich established the first Prekmurje Slovene newspaper. Prijátel. Then he wrote a new Hungarian–Prekmurje Slovene grammar and translated works of Hungarian poets and writers.
Augustich approached the standard Slovene, but at first he retained the Hungarian alphabet. Later he introduced the Gaj alphabet in the Prijátel and in a new coursebook Prirodopis s kepami,'' the first natural science book in the Prekmurje Slovene.
In 1871, József Bagáry wrote the first schoolbook that used the Gaj alphabet. The Magyarization policy tried to exclude it from school usage but it enjoyed such a popularity in schools that it was reprinted in 1886.
In the last decades of the 19th and 20th centuries, the terms "Wends" and "Wendish language" were promoted mostly by pro-Hungarians to emphasize the difference between the Hungarian Slovenes and other Slovenes, attempting to create a separate ethnic identity for them.
The Prekmurje Slovene language kept up with the changes of the modern era and was able to reinvent itself on its own or by adopting innovations from the Slovene and Croatian languages. The assertion that the Prekmurje Slovene slowly declined with modernization in the mid-19th century is not credible. It is contradicted by the first science books and the first news publications.
20th century
In 1908, Albert Apponyi, the Hungarian minister of education and religion, implemented a new act that demanded the school subjects to be taught in Hungarian language in all schools of the Kingdom of Hungary. The purpose of the act was to magyarize national minorities. School education in Prekmurje Slovene ceased.In 1914–1918, József Klekl, a politician and later a congressman in Belgrade, reformed the Prekmurje Slovene literary language by using elements of the Croatian and Slovene languages. In 1923, a new prayerbook titled Hodi k oltarskomi svesti was written in the Gaj alphabet.
In 1919, the majority of Prekmurje became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and Slovene and Serbo-Croatian replaced Hungarian as the languages of education and administration. Prekmurje Slovene remained the language of literature, journalism and church service.
Even though education in Prekmurje Slovene did not resume in Yugoslavia, Prekmurje Slovene flourished as a language of news in the 1920s and 1930s. It was used to write articles in the periodicals Novine, Marijin list, Marijin ograček, the calendar Kalendar Srca Jezušovoga, the Lutheran Düševni list and Evangeličanski kalendari. Slovene emigrants from Prekmurje also had their own weekly in the United States between 1921 and 1954 written in the Prekmurje Slovene: Amerikanszki Szlovencov Glász.
József Szakovics was actively involved in cultivating the Prekmurje Slovene with his books and articles in newspapers and calendars and with reprints of the oldest book of Miklós Küzmics. The prominent Prekmurje writer Miško Kranjec also wrote in Prekmurje Slovene.
In this period, several works of the world literature were also translated into the Prekmurje Slovene, e.g. Molière's Le Médecin malgré lui.
János Berke started to collect the vocabulary for the first Prekmurje Slovene dictionary, which was then published in part by János Fliszár under the title Vogrszki-vendiski rêcsnik in 1922. The entire dictionary with fifty thousand terms has been preserved in manuscript.
In 1941, the Hungarian Army occupied the area of Prekmurje, and it aimed to eradicate Prekmurje Slovene and standard Slovene by 1945, assisted by the Slovene irredentist Mikola.
After 1945, the Communist Yugoslavia banned the printing of books and newspapers in the Prekmurje Slovene, and only standard Slovene and Serbo-Croatian were used in administration and education. In Hungary, the dictator Mátyás Rákosi banned every minority language and deported the Slovenes to the Hungarian Plain.
There has been a significant uptick of interest in the Prekmurje Slovene and cultural heritage since Slovenia became independent. Several associations, publishers, and self-published prints of both old and new books have appeared in the Prekmurje Slovene.
21st century
In the 21st century, the Prekmurje Slovene has become more visible in Slovenian cultural life. It can be more frequently heard in different interviews on TV channels and radios. Today, the Prekmurje Slovene is also written on public signs, such as some shop signs, which attests to its growing use in the region.In 2018, a translation of Exupery's The Little Prince was published in Prekmurje Slovene.
In 2018, the singer and songwriter Nika Zorjan wrote the Prekmurje Slovene version of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You under the title Fse ka bi za Božič. On an occasion she opined: "The Prekmurje people are often local patriots and sometimes we say with pride: This is Prekmurje Slovene, not Slovene."
The popular Slovenian singer-songwriter Vlado Kreslin also sings in the Prekmurje Slovene. His website is fully available in Prekmurje Slovene.
Phonology
The vowel ö occurs only in a few words as a variant of closed e or ö. It has plain a in long stressed syllables and rounded a in short stressed and unstressed syllables in the Goričko and Ravensko dialects. The relationship is reversed in the lower Dolinsko dialect where the long stressed a is rounded.Long vowels and most diphthongs occur only stressed in syllables. If the stress shifts the vowel shortens and the diphthong usually loses its glide, e.g.: Nom. Boug; Gen. ''Bogá.''
Diphthongs
The diphthong ej is a short, closed e followed by a shorter, less fully articulated i, e.g.: dejte, bejžati, pejnezi, mlejko, bejli.The diphthong ou consists of a short o and a short, less fully articulated u, e.g.: rouka, nouga, goloub, rour, gospoud.
Prekmurje Slovene is very rich in the diphthongs ej and ou. Various Slovene dialects feature these diphthongs, but they differ phonetically from the diphthongs of Prekmurje Slovene. The diphthongs ou and ej were written in the old standard Prekmurje Slovene with separate signs ê and ô, but they were only used in the books and newspapers of the Lutheran Slovenes.
The diphthong ou in the northern Goričko subdialects and in the settlements along the Hungarian-Slovene border is reduced to au. The Ravensko dialect and some Goričko subdialects have diphthongs üj or öj.
Diphthongs in open syllables, when part of polysyllabic words, separate into their components, e.g. nominative sou, genitive soli or nominative krau and genitive krala.
Vowel alternations
a>eUnstressed a and a in a diphthong with i or j often sound like an open e. This system is most typical of the lower Lowland dialect, e.g. eli, nezaj, dele .
o>i
This is a sporadic dissimilation and assimilation. e.g.: visiki.
o>e
In inflected forms, a soft consonant is usually followed by o instead of e in Standard Slovene. For example: z noužicon, s konjon. In neuter nominative singular and accusative o is also heard instead of e, e.g.: mojo delo, našo delo,. Innovative e may be only heard in the eastern subdialects of the Dolinsko dialect, mostly along the Slovene-Croatian border.
o>u
The diactric ŭ refers to the non-frontedness of the vowel. For ex. un, una Standard Slovene on, ona. The diactric u occurs even more frequently in the Dolinsko dialect, e.g. kunj, Marku .
a>o
For example zakoj .
u>ü
The historical u is pronounced almost without exception as ü and it is also spelled this way. For example küp, küpiti, düša, lüknja, brüsiti .
In words starting with a v, there are mixed forms, whereas Standard Slovene retains u, for example vüjo, vujti .
The u derived from the earlier ol preceding a consonant does not convert into ü, for ex. pun, dugi, vuna, vuk .
Consonant alternations
Z prior to nj often sounds like ž, for example ž njin .k>c
For example tenko, natenci . This type of alternation was even more frequent in the old Prekmurje Slovene, for example vuk, vucke, vuci . Today it is preserved in the speech of the elderly in Goričko and the subdialect of Hungarian Slovenes.
m>n
The final m in Prekmurje Slovene almost always sounds like n. For example znan, man, tan, vüzen, ran . Exceptions: grm, doum, tram etc.
The change of m>n can also occur in a middle position, preceding consonants; for example: Nom. vüzen, Gen. vüzma.
nj>n
The n has developed from an nj in final or medial positions, for example ogen, kniga . Nj reappears in declined forms, for example ognja.
lj>l
The hard lj has totally disappeared from Prekmurje Slovene, for example: klüč, lübiti, lübezen, grable .
h>j or ∅
In certain regions and in certain positions it is still present as h.
- In initial positions before a vowel or syllable forming r its usage is ambiguous and regionally variable. For example hüdi, üdi . In noun iža h is absent in all Prekmurje dialects.
- in the middle position between vowels where h is present, a j has replaced it, for example küjati .
- G usually disappears if followed by consonants and in the middle position preceded by consonants, for example lad, sprneti .
- H in the final syllable and in medium position followed by consonants usually turns into j, which merges with the preceding vowel to form a diphthong,; for example lejko .
- In the final position, preceded by a vowel, it changes into j,; for example grej, krüj .
bn>vn
For example drouvno .
p>f
For example ftic, ftič, ftica .
j>d
For example žeden .
hč>šč
For example nišče .
kt>št
For example što .
ljš>kš
For example boukši .
dn >gn
For example gnes, gnjes . Nom. škegen, Gen. škegnja.
t>k
Mainly preceding an l.
- In the initial position, for example kmica, klačiti, kusti .
- In the medial position, for example mekla .
- In the final position, soldak.
Orthography
Historically, Prekmurje Slovene was not written in the Bohorič alphabet used by Slovenes in Inner Austria, but in the Hungarian alphabet. János Murkovics's textbook was the first book to use Gaj's latin alphabet.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.
Morphology
Nouns in Prekmurje Slovene can be masculine, feminine or neuter, like in Standard Slovene. Nouns, adjectives and pronouns have three numbers: singular, dual, and plural, just like in Standard Slovene.Feminine
Feminine nouns ending in a.Feminine nouns ending with a consonant.
Declension of feminine adjectives.
Masculine
Masculine nouns ending in a consonant. The singular accusative of masculine nouns designating animate things is the same as their genitive. The singular accusative of nouns designating inanimate things is the same as their nominative.Masculines nouns ending in a.
Declension of masculine adjective.
Neuter
Neuter nouns ending in o and e.In declension, nouns such as tejlo or drejvo do not lengthen as in the Standard Slovene with the syllable –es.
Declension of neuter adjective.
Personal pronouns
Singular
| Nom. | ges/jes | ti | un | una |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen. | mene me | tebe te | njega ga | nje je |
| Dat. | meni mi | tebi ti | njemi | njej/njoj ji |
| Ac. | mene me | tebe te | njega ga | njou jo |
| Loc. | meni | tebi | njen | njej/njoj |
| Inst | menof/meuf | tebof/teuf | njin | njouf |
| Nom. | jaz | ti | on | ona | ono |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gen. | mene me | tebe te | njega ga | nje je | njega ga |
| Dat. | meni mi | tebi ti | njemu mu | njej/nji ji | njemu mu |
| Ac. | mene me -me | tebe te -te | njega ga -nj | njo jo -njo | njega/ono ga -nj |
| Loc. | pri meni | pri tebi | pri njem | pri njej/nji | pri njem |
| Inst. | z mano/menoj | s tabo/teboj | z njim | z njo | z njim |
Dual
| Nom. | müva, müve | vüva, vüve | njüva/njiva/oneva, njüve/njive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen. | naj | vaj | njiva, njivi |
| Dat. | nama | vama | njima |
| Ac. | naj | vaj | njiva, njivi |
| Loc. | nama | vama | njima |
| Inst. | nama | vama | njima |
| Nom. | midva, medve | vidva, vedve | onadva, onidve |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen. | naju | vaju | njiju |
| Dat. | nama | vama | njima jima |
| Ac. | naju | vaju | njiju ju -nju |
| Loc. | naju | vaju | njiju |
| Inst. | nama | vama | njima |
Plural
| Nom. | mi | vi | uni, une |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen. | nas | vas | njih/nji jih/je |
| Dat. | nan | van | njin jin |
| Ac. | nas | vas | njih/nje jih je |
| Loc. | nas/nan | vas/van | njij |
| Inst. | nami | vami | njimi |
| Nom. | mi, me | vi, ve | oni, one, ona |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen. | nas | vas | njih jih |
| Dat. | nam | vam | njim jim |
| Ac. | nas | vas | njih/nje jih -nje |
| Loc. | nas | vas | njih |
| Inst. | nami | vami | njimi |
Reflexive pronoun
| Nom. | — |
|---|---|
| Gen. | sebe se |
| Dat. | sebi si |
| Ac. | sebe se |
| Loc. | sebi/sebej |
| Inst. | sebof/seuf |
| Nom. | — |
|---|---|
| Gen. | sebe se |
| Dat. | sebi si |
| Ac. | sebe se -se |
| Loc. | sebi |
| Inst. | sabo/seboj |
Numerals
The names for numerals in Prekmurje Slovene follow a similar way to that found in Standard Slovene or other Slavic languages. Then again, the archaic way of forming two-digit numbers has been preserved. The ten comes first, followed by the singular digit number. A conjunction is not needed. In Standard Slovene, the numerals from 21 to 99 are formed by placing the singular in front of the ten, like in German language.| Prekmurje Slovene | Standard Slovene | Number |
| štirideset eden | enainštirideset | 41 |
| štirideset dva | dvainštirideset | 42 |
| štirideset tri | triinštirideset | 43 |
| štirideset štiri | štiriinštirideset | 44 |
Verb
The verb ending in Prekmurje Slovene is most frequently üvati or avati, more rarely ovati. In conjugation, the endings are also dissimilar in Prekmurje Slovene and standard Slovene. Example: Prekmurje Slovene: nategüvati, obrezavati, conj. nategüvlen/nategüjen, obrezavlen, Standard Slovene: nategovati, obrezovati, conj. nategujem, obrezujem.In the Goričko dialect and some western subdialects of Ravensko, the infinitive ending is -niti, as it is in Standard Slovene, or rarely -nouti. In the Dolinsko dialect and other Ravensko subdialects, the infinitive ending is -noti, as it is in Croatian.
Present tense
| Singular | lübin | lübiš | lübi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dual | lübiva | lübita | lübita |
| Plural | lübimo | lübite | lübijo |
| Singular | ljubim | ljubiš | ljubi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dual | ljubiva | ljubita | ljubita |
| Plural | ljubimo | ljubite | ljubijo |
Past tense
| Singular | san/sen lübo lübila | si lübo lübila | je lübo lübila |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dual | sva lübila lübili | sta lübila lübili | sta lübila lübili |
| Plural | smo lübili lübile | ste lübili lübile | so lübili lübile |
| Singular | sem ljubil ljubila | si ljubil ljubila | je ljubil ljubila |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dual | sva ljubila ljubili | sta ljubila ljubili | sta ljubila ljubili |
| Plural | smo ljubili ljubile | ste ljubili ljubile | so ljubili ljubile |
Future tense
| Singular | mo lübo lübila | boš lübo lübila | de lübo lübila |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dual | va lübila lübili | ta lübila lübili | ta lübila lübili |
| Plural | mo lübili lübile | te lübili lübile | do lübili lübile |
| Singular | bom ljubil ljubila | boš ljubil ljubila | bo ljubil ljubila |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dual | bova ljubila ljubili | bosta ljubila ljubili | bosta ljubila ljubili |
| Plural | bomo ljubili ljubile | boste ljubili ljubile | bodo ljubili ljubile |
Present conditional
| Singular | bi lübo lübila | bi lübo lübila | bi lübo lübila |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dual | bi lübila lübili | bi lübila lübili | bi lübila lübili |
| Plural | bi lübili lübile | bi lübili lübile | bi lübili lübile |
| Singular | bi ljubil ljubila | bi ljubil ljubila | bi ljubil ljubila |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dual | bi ljubila ljubili | bi ljubila ljubili | bi ljubila ljubili |
| Plural | bi ljubili ljubile | bi ljubili ljubile | bi ljubili ljubile |
Vocabulary
The Prekmurje Slovene vocabulary is very rich and differs significantly from the Standard Slovene vocabulary. The dialect includes many archaic words that have disappeared from modern Slovene. Along with the three dialects spoken in Venetian Slovenia and the Slovene dialects of eastern Carinthia, Prekmurje Slovene is considered the most conservative of all Slovene dialects in regard to the vocabulary.The Prekmurje Slovene has exapnded its vocabulary to a large degree with words from other Slavic languages and non-Slavic languages. More recent and less assimilated words are typically from English.
Loanwords
Prekmurje Slovene also contains many words of mostly German and Hungarian origin. The German loanwords mostly originate from the Austro-Bavarian dialect. There is still a strong German influence in the Goričko dialect.| Prekmurje Slovene | Hungarian | Standard Slovene | English |
| beteg, betežen | betegség, beteg | bolezen, bolan | illness, ill |
| čonta, čunta | csont | kost | bone |
| engriš | egres | kosmulja | gooseberry |
| gezero, jezero | ezer | tisoč | thousand |
| pajdaš | pajtás | kamerad | buddy |
| laboška | lábas, lábos | kozica | pot |
| ugorka | uborka | kumara | cucumber |
| koudiš | koldus | berač | beggar |
| valon | való | veljaven | suitable |
| varaš | város | mesto | city, town |
| Prekmurje Slovene | German | Standard Slovene | English |
| brütif, brütof | Friedhof | pokopališče | cemetery |
| cajgar | Zeiger | kazalec | hand of watch |
| cigeu | Ziegel | opeka | brick |
| cimprati | zimmparon | graditi | build |
| cug | Zug | vlak | train |
| cvek | zwëc | žebelj | spike |
| dönok, denok | dennoch | vendar | however |
| fabrika | Fabrik | tovarna | factory |
| fašenek | Fasching | pust | carnival |
| farba | Farbe | barva | color |
| farar | Pfarrer | duhovnik | Protestant pastor |
| fejronga | Vorhang | zavesa | curtain |
| förtoj | Fürtuch | predpasnik | woman apron |
| glaž | Glas | steklo | glass |
| gratati | geraten | postati, nastati | to arise |
| gvant | Gewand | obleka | clothes |
| lampe | Lippen | usta | mouth |
| pejgla | Bügeleisen | likalnik | clothes iron |
| plac | Plaz | trg | square |
| rafankeraš, rafankerar | Rauchfangkehrer | dimnikar | chimney-sweep |
| šalica | Schale | skodelica | cup |
| šker | geschirre | orodje | tool |
| špilati | spielen | igrati | play |
| šrajf | Schrafe | vijak | screw |
| šraklin | Schürhakel | žarač, grebača | fire rake |
| žajfa | Seife | milo | soap |
We also find Latin loanwords: bauta, bunta, cintor, kanta, oštarija, upkaš etc.
Loanwords adopted from Serbo-Croatian in the period of Yugoslavia: dosaden, novine, život.
Wendish question
There are many theories on how Prekmurje Slovene emerged as a language. The oldest theory from the 16th century argued that the Slovenes east of the Mura were descendants of the Vandals.In 1627, a notable event was the Protestant visitation in the Tótság or Slovene District.
According to Hungarian dissenters, the Wendish language was of Danish, Sorbian, Germanic, Celtic, Eastern Romance or West Slavic extraction. These were false political or exaggerated claims.
According to Hungarian nationalist groups, the Wends were captured by Turkish and Croatian troops who later became part of the Hungarian society. Another popular theory created by some Hungarian nationalists was that the speakers of the Wendish language were actually Magyar peoples and that 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 were of Celtic descent, not Slavic. Mikola later also adopted the belief that the Wends were actually Slavic-speaking Hungarians. This theories were supported by the Hungarian ethnonationalistic state programme. Mikola also thought the Wends, Slovenes and Croatians, were all descendants of the Pannonian Romans, therefore they have their Latin blood and culture.
During the Hungarian revolution when Hungarians rebelled against Habsburg rule, the Catholic Slovenes sided with the Catholic Habsburgs. The Lutheran Slovenes, 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 option for the Lutheran Slovenes emerging from the Catholic Slovenian population 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. Lutheran priests and believers remained convicted that they could only adhere to their Lutheran faith when following the wish of the Hungarians and considering themselves "Wendish Slovenes". If they did not conform to this, they would be 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 of the Prekmurje region was ceded to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
After 1867, the Hungarian government in Budapest tried to assimilate the Prekmurje Slovenes. In the 19th century, there was still a ban on using Prekmurje Slovene In Somogy. József Borovnyák, Ferenc Ivanóczy, and other Slovene politicians and writers helped safeguard the Prekmurje Slovene and identity.
In the late 20th century and today, the new notion for Prekmurje Slovenes is to conceive Prekmurje Slovene as actually a Slovene language, but not dialect. The people of Prekmurje and other Slovenes have common national and ethnic identity but the people of Prekmurje have also their special separate language identity, literature, grammar and spelling. Literature in Prekmurje Slovene is linguistically clearly distinguished from the literature in standard Slovene or other Slovene dialectical traditions. Prekmurje literature is always variegated, multifarious and not only a repository of religious books, as Slovene linguistics and literary history once claimed.
In the Communist Yugoslavia, Prekmurje Slovene was looked down upon because numerous writers, such as József Klekl, were anti-communists.
Examples
A comparison of the Lord's Prayer in Standard Slovene, Old Prekmurje Slovene, new Prekmurje Slovene, Kajkavian Croatian, and Standard Croatian. The Prekmurje Slovene versions is taken from a 1942 prayer book and from a 2022 prayer book Jezuš tovariš moj. For easier comparison, the original Hungarian alphabet has been transliterated into Gaj's Latin alphabet, as used in other versions.| Standard Slovene | Old Prekmurje Slovene | New Prekmurje Slovene | Standard Kajkavian | Standard Croatian |
Oče naš, ki si v nebesih, posvečeno bodi tvoje ime, pridi k nam tvoje kraljestvo, zgodi se tvoja volja kakor v nebesih tako na zemlji. Daj nam danes naš vsakdanji kruh in odpusti nam naše dolge, kakor tudi mi odpuščamo svojim dolžnikom, in ne vpelji nas v skušnjavo, temveč reši nas hudega. Amen. | Oča naš, ki si vu nebésaj! Svéti se Ime tvoje. Pridi králestvo tvoje. Bojdi vola tvoja, kak na nébi, tak i na zemli. Krüha našega vsakdanéšnjega daj nam ga dnes. I odpüsti nam duge naše, kak i mi odpüščamo dužnikom našim. I ne vpelaj nas vu sküšávanje. Nego odslobodi nas od hüdoga. Amen. | Oča naš, šteri si v nebesaj, sveti se ime tvojo, pridi k nan kralestvo tvojo, bodi vola tvoja kak na nebi tak na zemli. Krüj naš sakdanešnji daj nan gnes, odpüsti nan duge naše, kak mi odpüščamo dužnikon našin. Ne pelaj nas v sküšnjavo, nego rejši nas hüdoga. Amen. | Otec naš, koji jesi v nebesih, sveti se ime tvoje, dojdi kralevstvo tvoje, budi volja tvoja, kak na nebu tak i na zemli. Kruh naš svakdašni daj nam denes i otpusti nam duge naše, kak i mi otpuščamo dužnikom našim, i ne uvedi nas v napast, nek izbavi nas od zla. Amen. | Oče naš, koji jesi na nebesima, sveti se ime tvoje, dođi kraljevstvo tvoje, budi volja tvoja, kako na nebu tako i na zemlji. Kruh naš svagdanji daj nam danas i otpusti nam duge naše, kako i mi otpuštamo dužnicima našim, i ne uvedi nas u napast, nego izbavi nas od zla. Amen. |
Examples from main Prekmurje Slovene dialects
| Lowland dialect | Standard Slovene |
Eden moški je kesno vnoči s konjami vlejko pune mele z mlina domou. Kda je pelo prejk potoka Mokoša, je vido gouske, štere so se koupale notri. Zeu je bič pa z norije začno mlatiti po nji. Pa so priletele do kola, prijale potače, pa so ga nej püstile naprej. Tisti moment so se spremejnile v čarno oblečene ženske, štere so bile doma ž njegove pa s sousidni vesnic. Zgrabile so ga pa začnole gvant ž njega trgati, zraven pa so njemi zagrouzile, ka njemi gezik vö potegnejo, če je vö ovadi komi. | Nek možakar je pozno ponoči s konjsko vprego vlekel poln voz moke iz mlina domov. Ko je prečkal Mokoš, je videl goske, ki so se kopale v njem. Vzel je bič in iz objestnosti švrkal po njih, pa so priletele do voza, prijele za kolesa in ga niso pustile naprej. V tem so se že spremenile v črno oblečene ženske, domačinke iz njegove in sosednje vasi. Ujele so ga in pričele trgati obleki iz njega, grozeč mu, da mu iztrgajo jezik, če jih komu izda. |
| Lower Lowland dialect | Standard Slovene |
Zidari so pri ednoj iži zidali nouvo ižo. Vertinja njin je dobro dvorila. Pouleg župe pa mesa so meli sakši den na stouli šče dobre retaše pa krapce. Piti so si pa točili po vouli. Krav pa pri iži nej bilou, ka bi je dojijli, moški so pa tüdi nigdar nej vidli, ka bi kakša sousida prinesla k iži mlejko eli kislikaj, kak je v Prekmörji pač bijla stara navada. Če so ge zidali, so sousidje pa rodbina pomagali z delon pa jestijon. Gda so zidari tak že več dnij dobro jeli, je eden od njij, šteromi je bilou sümlivo, stoupo pred obedon v küjnjo gledat, kak vertinja küja. Ravno te je zela krapce s peči, te je pa v rokaj stiskavala krotajco, šteroj je z gobca prikaplalo vrnje, z njin je pa namazala krapce. Tak so zidari gor prišli, ka je vertinja cumprnica, pa v pamet zeli, otket njoj telko kisilaka pa vrnja. | Zidarji so pri neki hiši zidali novo zgradbo. Gospodinja jim je dobro stregla. Ob juhi in mesu so imeli vsak dan na mizi tudi zavitke in pogače. Tudi pijačo so si točili po volji. Krave pa pri hiši ni bilo, da bi jo dojili in možje nikoli niso videli, da bi katera izmed sosed prinesla k hiši mleko ali skuto, kakor je bila v Prekmurju navada. Če so namreč kje zidali, so sosedje in sorodniki pomagali z delom in hrano. Ko so zidarji tako že nekaj dni dobro jedli, je eden izmed njih, ki mu je bilo vse skupaj sumljivo, stopil pred kosilom v kuhinjo, da bi videl, kako gospodinja kuha. Ravnokar je vzela pogače iz peči. Nato je v rokah stiskala krastačo, ki ji je prikapljalo iz gobca smetano, s katerim je namazala pogače. Tako so zidarji spoznali, da je gospodinja čarovnica, in ugotovili, odkod ji toliko smetane in skute. |