Italian language in Slovenia

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Marked in red, the municipalities in which the Italian language is co-official.

The

mother tongue, mostly Istrian Italians. Their numbers drastically decreased following the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus (1943–1960). Italian has a strong presence in Slovenia, both historical and current. An estimated 15% of Slovenians speak Italian as a second language, which is one of the highest percentages in the European Union.[1]

History

Between the

Istriot origin) adopted the Venetian language. Koper/Capodistria was an important centre of art and culture during the Italian Renaissance.[2] During Austrian rule
, which lasted until 1918, Italian was the official language of these areas, along with German. Only in the late 19th century, Slovene became co-official, but only in those rural areas where there was a Slovene ethnic majority.

Changes to the Italian eastern border from 1920 to 1975.
  The Austrian Littoral, later renamed Julian March, which was assigned to Italy in 1920 with the Treaty of Rapallo (with adjustments of its border in 1924 after the Treaty of Rome) and which was then ceded to Yugoslavia in 1947 with the Treaty of Paris
  Areas annexed to Italy in 1920 and remained Italian even after 1947
  Areas annexed to Italy in 1920, passed to the Free Territory of Trieste in 1947 with the Paris treaties and definitively assigned to Italy in 1975 with the Treaty of Osimo
  Areas annexed to Italy in 1920, passed to the Free Territory of Trieste in 1947 with the Paris treaties and definitively assigned to Yugoslavia in 1975 with the Osimo treaty

During Austrian rule many

Risorgimento: as a consequence, the Austrians saw the Italians as enemies and favored the Slav communities of Istria,[4] fostering the nascent nationalism of Slovenes and Croats.[5]

During the meeting of the Council of Ministers of 12 November 1866, Emperor

Slavization of the areas of the empire with an Italian presence:[6]

His Majesty expressed the precise order that action be taken decisively against the influence of the Italian elements still present in some regions of the Crown and, appropriately occupying the posts of public, judicial, masters employees as well as with the influence of the press, work in South Tyrol, Dalmatia and Littoral for the Germanization and Slavization of these territories according to the circumstances, with energy and without any regard. His Majesty calls the central offices to the strong duty to proceed in this way to what has been established.

— Franz Joseph I of Austria, Council of the Crown of 12 November 1866[7]

There are some claims,

municipality of Koper
, 87% of the urban population was Italian speaking, while in its predominantly rural surroundings, they represented the 22,3% of the population. In Izola, Italian speakers amounted to 97% in the town, but only 12,8% in the surroundings. Only in the Piran municipality, they had a majority both in the urban and rural areas, with 95,9% and 64%, respectively.

After World War One, the entire

Socialist Yugoslavia, and the vast majority of the Italian-speaking population of the coastal town was either expelled by the Communist regime or decided to flee to Italy, in what became known as the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus. Only about a tenth of the Italian-speaking population remained. However, due to international and bilateral agreements that followed the change in administration of the Free Territory of Trieste, they were granted linguistic rights
, and the entire territory of their traditional settlement became bilingual.

Geographic distribution and population

A multilingual sign in Slovenian and Italian (also partly in Croatian) near Koper/Capodistria.
Bilingual, Slovene-Italian, issue of the Slovenian passport

Italian is co-official with

mother tongue speakers of the language, of whom 1,832 declared themselves as being ethnic Italian, 1,195 as ethnic Slovenes, 34 as Croats
, and 37 belonged to an ethnicity that was not listed.

Of the total 3,762 Italian native speakers in Slovenia, 2,853 live in one of the three municipalities where it is co-official: 1,174 in Piran, 1,059 in Koper, and 620 in Izola. Around 15% of all Slovenians speak Italian as a second language, which is the highest percentage in the European Union after

Slovenian Littoral
, where daily economic and personal contacts with neighboring Italy are common.

Usage of Italian

According to the Slovenian constitution, the Italian language is co-official in the areas of

Slovenian Istria where the Italian people have been traditionally present as an autochthonous
population. According to law, all official signs are to be written in both languages, as should all public notifications. Italian is to be used in all public offices in the bilingual area. Italian can be used in the municipal assemblies of Koper, Izola and Piran, although in practice almost all discussions are carried out in Slovene.

Education and Italian language

Beside Slovene language schools, there are also kindergartens, primary schools,

upper secondary schools with Italian as the language of instruction in Koper/Capodistria, Izola/Isola and Piran/Pirano. At the state-owned University of Primorska
, however, which is also established in the bilingual area, Slovene is the only language of instruction (although the official name of the university includes the Italian version, too).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Directorate General for Education and Culture; Directorate General Press and Communication (2006). Europeans and their Languages (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
  2. ^ Prominent Istrians
  3. ^ "Trieste, Istria, Fiume e Dalmazia: una terra contesa" (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  4. ^ Die Protokolle des Österreichischen Ministerrates 1848/1867. V Abteilung: Die Ministerien Rainer und Mensdorff. VI Abteilung: Das Ministerium Belcredi, Wien, Österreichischer Bundesverlag für Unterricht, Wissenschaft und Kunst 1971
  5. ^ Relazione della Commissione storico-culturale italo-slovena, Relazioni italo-slovene 1880-1956, "Capitolo 1980-1918" Archived 13 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Capodistria, 2000
  6. ^ Die Protokolle des Österreichischen Ministerrates 1848/1867. V Abteilung: Die Ministerien Rainer und Mensdorff. VI Abteilung: Das Ministerium Belcredi, Wien, Österreichischer Bundesverlag für Unterricht, Wissenschaft und Kunst 1971, vol. 2, p. 297. Citazione completa della fonte e traduzione in Luciano Monzali, Italiani di Dalmazia. Dal Risorgimento alla Grande Guerra, Le Lettere, Firenze 2004, p. 69.)
  7. ISBN 3484311347
    .
  8. ^ "Istrian Spring". Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Istria" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 886–887.

External links

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