Slovene

The article on Slovenian language was prepared on the occasion of the European Year of Languages in 2001.

December, 2001

Slovene is a fully developed and internally richly-structured modern language. The codification of literary Slovene in grammars, dictionaries and normative reference books has a rich tradition stemming from the 16th century (the first Slovene book was printed in 1550). In a year that the European Union has proclaimed the European Year of Languages, it is especially important to turn our attention to the role of the less commonly used languages and to language planning policies capable of staving off pressures of assimilation and of the melting pot of languages.

Linguistic situation

Slovene is an Indo-European language with a highly developed inflectional system (e.g. preservation of the dual). In comparison to the majority of other Slavic languages, Slovene has a number of characteristic features in the areas of phonology, lexicology and morphology. Slovene is the official and state language of the Republic of Slovenia and the native language of approximately 2.4 million people: about 1.85 million of them live in the Republic of Slovenia.

Dialectologists have established the presence of 46 clearly defined dialects, divided into six regional groups: Carinthian, Upper Carniolan, Lower Carniolan, Littoral, Rovte, Styrian and Pannonian. >>>

Historical overview

Sources indicate that two waves of Slavic settlement reached what is now Slovene territory in the 6th century. The Freising Fragments and some other copies show that in the 10th century Slovene was already beginning to take shape from Alpine Slavic as a distinct language. Long after the loss of Carantania's political independence the language of this tradition continued to be used (for example in the enthronement ceremony of the Carinthian duke until 1414).

The era of the Slovene literary language begins with Primož Trubar. His Abecedarium and Catechismus were published in 1550. The reforms under Maria Teresa and Joseph II, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars: the use of Slovene in public life began to spread into public schools and offices, and the literacy rate of the population increased. The new state of affairs was codified in Jernej Kopitar's grammar of 1808. The status of the literary language was considerably elevated by the high-quality poetic creations of France Prešeren (Poezije, 1847).

During the second half of the 19th century, Slovene began to be used widely. The Slovene pronunciation norms (S.Škrabec) were thus the most important decision for the development and growth of the public prestige of Slovene at that time and later. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire within Yugoslavia as well, Slovene was not on an equal footing for long.

After the Second World War, Slovene regained the status of an official language and was also one of the state languages of the Yugoslav federation. Nonetheless, the old political and cultural linguistic problems (the privileged position of Serbo-Croatian) arose once more. When a group of Slovene civilians was tried before a military court in Ljubljana in 1988, and the court conducted its business in Serbo-Croatian, this was one of the prime arguments in the call for the 1990 plebiscite. >>>

The situation today

In the new state of Slovenia, Slovene fully asserted itself immediately in the military, in the customs service, and in state protocol, and in every case its use has expanded into all areas that have opened up with the newest innovations in social and technological development. The growing interest in Slovene as a foreign language (it is taught in Ljubljana and at 30 universities abroad) and the fact that Slovene has worked in an exemplary fashion in the translated version of the Windows 2000 operating system are worth stressing. >>>

Summarised for the Internet from a longer contribution prepared for a German collection of scientific papers by Dr Janez Dular, the acting director of the Office for the Slovene Language.
The contribution will be published in spring 2002.

Information on the collection:
Nina Janich / Albrecht Greule (eds.)
Sprachkulturen in Europa, Ein internationales Handbuch
ŠLinguistic culture in Europe, an international manualĆ
Gunter Narr Verlag, Tübingen, 2002
ISBN 3-8233-5873-1

Related links
O slovenščini / On Slovene
Publication by European Parliament Information Office for Slovenia, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Government Office for European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, 2007

National Libraries Treasures of Europe

Centre for Slovene as a Second/Foreign Language

IN THIS CHAPTER
Historic Overview | Linguistic Situation | Situation Today