Upper Carniolan dialect group

Map of regional groups of Slovene dialects

  Upper Carniolan

The Upper Carniolan dialect group (gorenjska narečna skupina^[1]) is a group of closely related dialects of Slovene. The Upper Carniolan dialects are spoken in most of Upper Carniola and in Ljubljana.

Phonological and morphological characteristics

Among other features, this group is characterized by monophthongal stressed vowels, an acute semivowel, pitch accent, standard circumflex shift, and two accentual retractions with some exceptions. It features narrowing of o and e in preaccentual position, akanye (reduction of o to a) in postaccentual position, and strong syncope. There is a partial development of g to [ɣ], preservation of bilabial w, and general hardening of soft l and n.^[2]

Individual dialects and subdialects

• Upper Carniolan dialect (gorenjsko narečje, gorenjščina^[3])
  • Eastern Upper Carniolan subdialect (vzhodnogorenjski govor, vzhodna gorenjščina^[4])
• Selca dialect (selško narečje, selščina^[5])

References

1. Smole, Vera. 1998. "Slovenska narečja." Enciklopedija Slovenije vol. 12, pp. 1–5. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, p. 2.
2. Toporišič, Jože. 1992. Enciklopedija slovenskega jezika. Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, p. 52.
3. Logar, Tine. 1996. Dialektološke in jezikovnozgodovinske razprave. Ljubljana: SAZU, p. 12.
4. Logar, Tine. 1996. Dialektološke in jezikovnozgodovinske razprave. Ljubljana: SAZU, p. 45.
5. Priestly, Tom S. 1984. "O popolni izgubi srednjega spola v selščini: enodobni opis," Slavistišna revija 32: 37-47.