Hungarian Slovenes
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Hungarian Slovenes (
History
The ancestors of modern Slovenes have lived in the western part of the
In the 10th century, the western border of the
In 1920, the number of Slovenes that had remained in Hungary was estimated at around 7,000, but in the next decades many of them emigrated to other Hungarian cities, mostly to Budapest. In 2001, there were around 5,000 Slovenes in Hungary, of whom only around 3,000 remained in their original settlement zone in western Vas County, with others living mostly in larger urban areas.
Language and terminology
The Hungarian Slovenes speak a specific dialect of Slovene (the Prekmurje Slovene), which is almost identical with the dialect spoken in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia. The traditional Magyar name for the Slovenes used to be Vendek or Vends; as a result, many Slovenes in Hungary accepted this name as a common denomination, although in their dialect, they always referred to themselves as Slovenes (Slovenci). In the last decades of the 19th century, and especially during the Horthy regime, the denomination "Wends" was used in order to emphasize the difference between the Hungarian Slovenes and other Slovenes, including attempts in creating a separate identity.
Religion
Differently from their counterparts in Prekmurje, where there is a significant
Slovenes in Somogy
In the 17th and 18th century numerous
The other most relevant reminiscence of Slovene presence is the wedding custom in Tarany, where the figure of the guest caller at weddings, still present in the local traditions of the Slovenes from the Rába Valley and those from the Prekmurje region in Slovenia, has been maintained. Both in Tarany and in the Rába Valley the guest caller is dressed in a robe decorated with knitting. In addition, he carries a stick with a hedgehog fur wrapped round its bottom. The customs at the deathbed, the vigil, and funerals are also similar. Furthermore, the descendants of the Slovenes in Somogy do not observe the typical Hungarian Easter Monday custom, in which men and boys douse women and girls with Eau de Cologne, otherwise typical in the region.[citation needed]
Whereas the Slovenes from the Rába Valley still maintain their language and culture, the consciousness of the inhabitants of Tarany about their ancestors is in constant decrease. In the 2001 Hungarian census, just 44 people declared themselves Slovene in the Somogy County.[citation needed]
Frequent Slovene surnames in Hungary
- Bajzek (Bajzek)
- Doncsecz (Dončec)
- Gyécsek (Geček)
- Korpics (Korpič)
- Pavlics (Pavlič)
- Sulics (Šulič)
- Szvétecz (Svetec)
Prominent Slovenes in Hungary
- Mihály Bakos (c. 1742 – 1803)
- Károly Doncsecz (1918–2002)
- Tibor Gécsek (born 1964)
- József Kossics (1788–1867)
- István Küzmics (c.1723 – 1779)
- Ágoston Pável (1886–1946)
- Antal Rogán (born 1972)
- Antal Stevanecz (1861–1921)
See also
- Hungary–Slovenia relations
- Demographics of Hungary
- Hungarians in Slovenia
- List of Slovene writers and poets in Hungary
- Republic of Prekmurje
- Slovene Lands
- Slovenes in Somogy
- Wendish question
- Slovene March (Kingdom of Hungary)
- Prekmurje
- Prekmurje Slovenes
References
- ^ (in Slovene) http://www.vilenica.si/press/porabska_kultura_na_vilenici.pdf Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- Mária Mukics: Changing World - The Hungarian Slovenes (Változó Világ - A magyarországi szlovének) Press Publica
External links
- Media related to Slovene minority in Hungary at Wikimedia Commons