The Central Savinja dialect (srednjesavinjsko narečje, srednja savinjščina) is a Slovene dialect in the Styrian dialect group

Styrian dialect group

The Styrian dialect group is a group of closely related dialects of Slovene. The Lower Carniolan dialects are spoken in central and eastern Slovenian Styria and in the Lower Sava Valley and Central Sava Valley....

. It is spoken in the central Savinja

Savinja

The Savinja is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja valley and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps . It flows into Sava River at the town of Zidani Most. It has often flooded, such as in the 1960s,...

 Valley in the basins of the Bolska

Bolska

The Bolska is a river in Slovenia. It is 32 km long.-See also :*List of rivers of Slovenia...

, Paka, and Hudinja rivers east of the Upper Savinja dialect

Upper Savinja dialect

The Upper Savinja dialect is a Slovene dialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is spoken in the upper Savinja Valley and along the Dreta River, extending eastwards to east of Mozirje and Nazarje, up to the Solčava subdialect northwest of Luče in Solčava and the Logar Valley...

 and west of the Central Styrian dialect

Central Styrian dialect

The Central Styrian dialect is a Slovene dialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is spoken in the watersheds of the Voglajna and upper Sotla rivers in the south and the Central Dravinja Valley in the north, extending from Štore in the west to Rogatec in the east, and from Spodnja Polskava and...

, south of the Mežica

Mežica dialect

The Mežica dialect is a Slovene dialect in the Carinthian dialect group. It is spoken in the triangle bounded by Črna na Koroškem, Dravograd, and Mislinja...

 and South Pohorje

South Pohorje dialect

The South Pohorje dialect is a Slovene dialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is spoken south of the Drava River, starting east of Ruše and extending through Maribor to just before Zlatoličje, and extending as far south as the Slovenske Konjice area...

 dialects, and north of the Eastern Upper Carniolan

Eastern Upper Carniolan subdialect

The Eastern Upper Carniolan subdialect is a Slovene subdialect in the Upper Carniolan dialect group...

, Zagorje-Trbovlje

Zagorje-Trbovlje subdialect

The Zagorje-Trbovlje subdialect is a Slovene subdialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is a subdialect of the Lower Sava Valley dialect and is spoken in the Central Sava Valley, including the settlements of Zagorje ob Savi, Trbovlje, and Hrastnik.-Phonological and morphological...

, and Laško

Laško subdialect

The Laško subdialect is a Slovene subdialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is a subdialect of the Lower Sava Valley dialect, extending from east of Zidani Most nearly to Jurklošter, and in the areas of Rimske Toplice and Laško....

 subdialects. It includes the settlements of Trojane

Trojane

Trojane , is a settlement in the Municipality of Lukovica in central Slovenia. It lies on a hill near the border of two Slovene regions, Carniola and Styria. Until the freeway was finished in 2005, Trojane was on the main route from Ljubljana to Maribor.The Romans built a road on the route...

, Špitalič, Vransko

Vransko

Vransko is a small town and municipality in central Slovenia. It lies on the western edge of the Savinja Valley. This area is part of the traditional region of Lower Styria. The municipality is now part of the Savinja statistical region....

, Topolšica

Topolšica

Topolšica is a settlement in the Municipality of Šoštanj in northern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region....

, Šoštanj

Šoštanj

Šoštanj is a town and municipality in northern Slovenia. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to around 1200 as Schönstein in relation to its castle. As a market town it was first mentioned in 1348. It was given town status in 1919 and until the 1960s was the center of the Šalek...

, Velenje

Velenje

Velenje is a town and municipality in northern Slovenia. The municipality has 33.331 inhabitants. Staro Velenje is first mentioned in written doucments dating to 1264 and 1374 as small market town and was a center of handicraft and trade...

, Frankolovo

Frankolovo

Frankolovo is a settlement in the Municipality of Vojnik in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the main road north of Vojnik towards Slovenske Konjice. The area was traditionally part of the Lower Styria region...

, Vojnik

Vojnik, Slovenia

Vojnik is a town and a municipality in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the Hudinja River, to the north of Celje. Traditionally the area was part of the Lower Styria region. The municipality is now included in the Savinja statistical region....

, and Celje

Celje

Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...

.

Phonological and morphological characteristics

The Central Savinja dialect has preserved accented short vowels. It does not have the change u > ü nor a > , the diphthongs ou and ei have monophthongized but ie and uo are pronounced, and there is limited akanye

Akanye

Akanye or akanje is a phonological phenomenon in Slavic languages in which speakers pronounce the sound a instead of o. The most familiar example is probably Russian akanye...

. Vocalic r has developed into ar and vocalic l into aw. The feminine singular instrumental ending for nouns and adjectives is -oj/-uj (in contrast to standard o).