Upper Carniolan dialect
Encyclopedia
The Upper Carniolan dialect (gorenjsko narečje, gorenjščina) is a major Slovene dialect in the Upper Carniolan dialect group
. It is spoken in most (but not all) of Upper Carniola
. It is one of the two central Slovene dialects and was also used as a written language from the 17th century onwards, and especially in the second half of the 18th century.
, the usual circumflex advancement, and two accentual retractions with some exceptions. It has eight monophthongal accented vowels, as in standard Slovene. In preaccentual position there is narrowing of o and e, and akanye
in postaccentual position. There is extensive syncope, partial development of g to [γ], general preservation of bilabial w, and general hardening of soft l and n. There is extensive morphophonemic alternation (l > w and k g h > č j/ž š), spirantization and devoicing of stops in word-final position (e.g., d > s), and simplification of šč to š. Neuter nouns become masculine, the ending -om becomes -am, the u-stem conjugation is robust, and there is a long infinitive (ending in -ə).
Upper Carniolan dialect group
The Upper Carniolan dialect group is a group of closely related dialects of Slovene. The Upper Carniolan dialects are spoken in spoken in most of Upper Carniola and in Ljubljana.-Phonological and morphological characteristics:...
. It is spoken in most (but not all) of Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jesenice, Tržič, Škofja Loka, Kamnik, and Domžale.- Historical background :...
. It is one of the two central Slovene dialects and was also used as a written language from the 17th century onwards, and especially in the second half of the 18th century.
Phonological and morphological characteristics
The Upper Carniolan dialect has a pitch accentPitch 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...
, the usual circumflex advancement, and two accentual retractions with some exceptions. It has eight monophthongal accented vowels, as in standard Slovene. In preaccentual position there is narrowing of o and e, and 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...
in postaccentual position. There is extensive syncope, partial development of g to [γ], general preservation of bilabial w, and general hardening of soft l and n. There is extensive morphophonemic alternation (l > w and k g h > č j/ž š), spirantization and devoicing of stops in word-final position (e.g., d > s), and simplification of šč to š. Neuter nouns become masculine, the ending -om becomes -am, the u-stem conjugation is robust, and there is a long infinitive (ending in -ə).