Slovene as a “minoritised language” in Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia: genealogical linguistic and sociolinguistic aspects

The article offers an overview of Slovene, present in its historical (also autochthonous or traditional) linguistic area alongside the national border in the neighbouring countries of present-day Slovenia (an independent state since 25 June 1991), i.e. in Austria, Italy, Hungary, and Croatia, from two different linguistic points of view, viz. the genealogical linguistic and the sociolinguistic perspective. From the viewpoint of linguistic genealogy, Slovene dialects in the enumerated four countries unambiguously form part of the Slovene dialect continuum. From a sociolinguistic point of view, Slovene enjoys a de iure legal protection as a minority language in all the neighbouring countries of Slovenia. However, not in all the regions under protection the legislation in question is also being applied de facto. In such contexts, Slovene has gradually become a “minoritised language” in relatively recent times, with accelerated linguistic assimilation in the last decades of the 20th century. It is under such circumstances that the phenomenon of modern Slovene written dialects can be observed.