5 things to know about the Slovene language
1. THERE ARE THREE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES IN SLOVENIA
Slovene is the official language of the Republic of Slovenia and the most widely spoken. It is the mother tongue of around 2,4 million people, of whom around 1,85 million live in Slovenia.
Two minority languages, Italian and Hungarian, are also recognized and protected as official languages in their municipalities.
Slovene/Italian bilingual sign
Slovene-Hungarian bilingual street sign
2. SLOVENE GRAMMAR
Slovene language has 25
letters to write 29 sounds. There are 3 grammatical numbers, 6 grammatical
cases, 8 declensions, 3 grammatical genders and 4 tenses.
Slovene language is one of the rare languages where besides singular (ednina) and plural (množina) the dual (dvojina) is in use, which brings complex grammatical patterns.
dual (dvojina) for mother (mati), daughter (hči) and madam (gospa)
At the same time, this is also the reason why it is called the language of love (sLOVEne), and a slogan From Slovenia with Love was developed eventually.
popular heart for a picture in Bled with sLOVEnia slogan influence PICTURE
Source: mojaObčina.si
3. MORE THAN 46 DIALECTS
Even though Slovene is spoken by app. 2.4 million people, there are more than 50 dialects across the country. Even Slovenes from Ljubljana will get in trouble while in Prekmurje, and there is a different dual usage in the Maribor region (sma instead of formal sva for we two are) with lots of German words; in Koper you can order coffee with Italian, like latte macchiato. The Slovene language indeed is empowered with cultural and social background.
The eight regional groups of dialects are the following: Upper Carniolan, Lower Carniolan, Styrian, Pannonian, Carinthian, Littoral, Rovte, and Mixed Kočevje.
Slovene Dialects
4. STRONG THEATRE AND SPOKEN SLOVENE THROUGHOUT HISTORY
Besides rich literature development, the Slovene language was widely spread in history with the spoken word. This is why we can still see theatre's strong presence in most Slovene towns, with up to 200 premiers per year. Occasional shows and drama groups in small villages are also very common.
The most well-known are Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, Slovene National Theatre - Drama Ljubljana, and Slovene National Theatre - Maribor Drama. Slovenes have Slovene Theatre in Trieste, Italy, and a Puppet Theatre for children in Ljubljana and Maribor. In the summer, there can be many open-air theatre events across the country.
SNG Maribor Theatre
5. THE SLOVENE LANGUAGE IS SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD
Besides Slovene national minorities in neighboring countries and the particularly strong links in the fields of culture, schooling and education, economics, and politics, Slovenes emigrated from Slovene ethnic territory in three waves, so the Slovene diaspora is also strongly presented. They mostly left for Argentina, the USA, Australia, Canada, and across Europe to the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany. The 1960s witnessed a wave of economic migrants, mostly headed to Germany, Sweden, France, Australia, Canada, and the USA.
Slovenes have developed strong volunteer immigration communities abroad, and activities for the Slovene language & identity preserving are still present. The Slovene traditions continue with the future generations, the third and the fourth.
Cleveland Kurentovanje poster
for Kurentovanje, a festival to scare the winter away with costumes in
Slovenia, usually in February/March. Kurent is a traditional Slovene
Carnival character.
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