The Styrian dialect group (štajerska narečna skupina, štajerščina) 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.

Phonological and morphological characteristics

Among other features, this group is characterized by loss of pitch accent

Pitch accent

Pitch accent is a linguistic term of convenience for a variety of restricted tone systems that use variations in pitch to give prominence to a syllable or mora within a word. The placement of this tone or the way it is realized can give different meanings to otherwise similar words...

, tonemically high and lengthened accented syllables, lengthening of accented short syllables, and frequent development of a > , and u > ü in the eastern part of the territory.

Individual dialects and subdialects

• Central Savinja dialect
  Central Savinja dialect
  The Central Savinja dialect is a Slovene dialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is spoken in the central Savinja Valley in the basins of the Bolska, Paka, and Hudinja rivers east of the Upper Savinja dialect and west of the Central Styrian dialect, south of the Mežica and South Pohorje dialects,...
  
   (srednjesavinjsko narečje, srednja savinjščina)
• 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...
  
   (zgornjesavinjsko narečje, zgornja savinjščina)
  • Solčava subdialect
    Solčava subdialect
    The Solčava subdialect is a Slovene subdialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is a subdialect of the Upper Savinja dialect spoken around Solčava and the Logar Valley. It is the westernmost of the dialects in the Styrian dialect group.-Phonological and morphological characteristics:The Solčava...
    
     (solčavski govor)
• 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...
  
   (srednještajersko narečje, osrednja štajerščina)
• South Pohorje dialect
  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...
  
   (južnopohorsko narečje, štajerska pohorščina)
  • Kozjak subdialect
    Kozjak subdialect
    The Kozjak subdialect is a Slovene subdialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is a subdialect of the South Pohorje dialect, which it greatly resembles, and is the northernmost member of the Styrian dialect group...
    
     (kozjaški govor)
• Kozje-Bizeljsko dialect
  Kozje-Bizeljsko dialect
  The Kozje-Bizeljsko dialect , also known as the Brežice-Kozje dialect or the Bizeljsko-Sotla dialect is a Slovene dialect in the Styrian dialect group...
  
   (kozjansko-bizeljsko narečje)
• Lower Sava Valley dialect
  Lower Sava Valley dialect
  The Lower Sava Valley dialect is a Slovene dialect in the Styrian dialect group, bordering on the Lower Carniolan dialect group. It is spoken in the Sava Valley from Litija to Brežice and along the lower course of the Savinja River...
  
   (posavsko narečje, posavščina)
  • Zagorje-Trbovlje subdialect
    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...
    
     (zagorsko-trboveljski govor)
  • Laško subdialect
    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....
    
     (laški govor)
  • Sevnica-Krško subdialect
    Sevnica-Krško subdialect
    The Sevnica-Krško subdialect is a Slovene subdialect in the Styrian dialect group. It is a subdialect of the Lower Sava Valley dialect, extending along both banks of the Sava River from Zidani Most to just before Brežice, and then continuing on the right bank to the Croatian border...
    
    (sevniško-krški govor)