Minority languages of Austria

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Languages of Austria
Ludmannsdorf (Ortstafel).jpg
A bilingual sign in Ludmannsdorf
Minority

Minority languages are spoken in a number of autochthonous settlements in Austria. These are:

Contents

The Austrian Federal Constitution calls for the respect and promotion of ethnic groups resident in Austria and a special set of rights for Austrian Croats, Czechs, Hungarians, Romani, Slovaks and Slovenes was established under the terms of the Ethnic Group Act (German : Volksgruppengesetz) 1976. [2] The rights of Croats and Slovenes are also set forth in the Austrian State Treaty. [2] Austria signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on 5 November 1992 and application of the charter became effective under international law on 1 October 2001. [1]

In the view of the representatives of the speakers of minority languages, however, the federal laws concerning regional or minority languages, as well as the Austrian application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, remain too restrictive. [3]

Official Minority Languages

Croatian

Dialects of Burgenland Croats by J. Lisac Hrvati gradisce.gif
Dialects of Burgenland Croats by J. Lisac

A group of Chakavian dialects known as Burgenland Croatian are traditionally spoken by the Burgenland Croats in the Austrian state of Burgenland, where it has official recognition as a minority language. The origin lies in the aftermath of the Ottoman occupation of Lika, Krbava, Kordun, Banovina, Moslavina and Western Bosnia during the course of the Turkish wars (1533–1584). During this time and after, several waves of refugees arrived in the southeastern borderlands of Austria, where were granted land and independent ecclesiastical rights by the Austrian King Ferdinand I. Following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918, the area in which the Burgenland Croats lived was divided between Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. After 1921, most of these areas became part of Austria, which established a new province of Burgenland, which later gave the Burgenland identifier to these Croats. In 1922, Austria founded the Apostolic administration of Burgenland, and began to abolish bilingual schools, by introducing the German language to all primary schools. This process was temporarily stopped after the adoption of The National Education Act, which allowed for Croatian-language elementary schools. After Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, this law was abolished. In 1955, the Austrian State Treaty was signed. It gave permission to the Burgenland Croats to use Croatian in education, judiciary, and public administration. With the adoption of the Law on National Minorities in 1976, use of Croatian in public life became limited. After a constitutional complaint was heeded in 1987, parts of the law were changed and Croatian was introduced as an official language in 6 out of 7 districts of Burgenland. [4] As of 2001 there were 19,412 speakers, according to official reports. [5] Due to the ongoing process of urbanization and the poor economic situation in many parts of Burgenland, many speakers of Burgenland Croatian varieties also live in Vienna and Graz.

Like the Croatian standard language, Burgenland Croatian combines features from the Chakavian, Shtokavian and Kajkavian dialects. But unlike standard Croatian, which is mostly based on the most widespread Shtokavian dialect, the Burgenland variant of Croatian is based on the Chakavian dialect. Burgenland Croatian includes phrases no longer used in standard Croatian, as well as certain phrases and words taken from German and Hungarian. Names are often written according to Hungarian orthography, due to the Magyarisation policies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Almost all Burgenland Croats are fluent in German.

Slovene

Federal Gymnasium for Slovenes 49 Klagenfurt Sankt Peter Prof. Janezic Platz 1 Slowenisches Gymnasium 31032009 91.jpg
Federal Gymnasium for Slovenes

The Slovene-speaking community in Austria has traditionally inhabited a strip of territory in Austrian states of Carinthia and Styria. [6] A significantly larger share of the community lives in Carinthia. [6] The entire community is bilingual in German as well, and the local Slovene dialect is not entirely the same as standard Slovene. [6] The Carinthian group of Slovene dialects extends beyond the present borders of Carinthia. Carinthian Slovene dialects are spoken throughout Slovenian Carinthia and extend into the Pohorje Mountains and along the upper Drava Valley in Slovenian Styria. Additionally, a Carinthian Slovene dialect is spoken in the Upper Carniolan locality of Rateče in Slovenia (close to the border with Italy), whereas in the nearby town of Kranjska Gora, a transitional dialect between Carinthian and Upper Carniolan is spoken. The Official Census of 1991 reported 15,500 Slovene speakers in the state of Carinthia, with some estimates going up to 31,000 or 5.7% of the state's population at the time. [6] The Slovenian Gymnasium in Klagenfurt is the central educational institution for the Slovene speaking community of Austria. [7] In 1992 there were 3,000 pupils enrolled in bilingual classes. [7]

During the time of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia its authorities and authorities of constituent Socialist Republic of Slovenia and Socialist Republic of Croatia were involved in a series of disputes over the treatment of ethnic minorities in Austria. [8] Slovenian dissatisfaction was caused by differences in interpretation of the Austrian State Treaty as well as the decision by Carinthian authorities to end compulsory bilingual schooling in 1958. [8] In April 1971 the Slovene "Contact Committee" expressed their dissatisfaction in a memorandum to the Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky in which they listed requests for specific measures for the protection of the Slovene language. [8] On 11 November 1976 approximately 150,000 people in Ljubljana participated in an officially sponsored protest in solidarity with the Slovene community. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 Carinthian plebiscite</span> Referendum in Austria which determined its border with Yugoslavia

The Carinthian plebiscite was held on 10 October 1920 in the area in southern Carinthia predominantly settled by Carinthian Slovenes. It determined the final border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) after World War I. The predominantly Slovene-speaking plebiscite area voted to remain part of Austria with a 59% majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Slavic languages</span> Language family

The South Slavic languages are one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches by a belt of German, Hungarian and Romanian speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prekmurje</span> Traditional region of Slovenia

Prekmurje is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarian minority, lying between the Mur River in Slovenia and the Rába Valley in the westernmost part of Hungary. It maintains certain specific linguistic, cultural and religious features that differentiate it from other Slovenian traditional regions. It covers an area of 938 square kilometers (362 sq mi) and has a population of 78,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kajkavian</span> South Slavic supradialect or language

Kajkavian is a South Slavic supradialect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia and Gorski Kotar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian March</span> Historical region in Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia

The Julian March, also called Julian Venetia, is an area of southeastern Europe which is currently divided among Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia. The term was coined in 1863 by the Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, a native of the area, to demonstrate that the Austrian Littoral, Veneto, Friuli, and Trentino shared a common Italian linguistic identity. Ascoli emphasized the Augustan partition of Roman Italy at the beginning of the Empire, when Venetia et Histria was Regio X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Carniola</span> Historical land, Habsburg crown land

The Duchy of Carniola was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarchy, it became a constituent land of the Austrian Empire in 1804 and part of the Kingdom of Illyria until 1849. A separate crown land from 1849, it was incorporated into the Cisleithanian territories of Austria-Hungary from 1867 until the state's dissolution in 1918. Its capital was German: Laibach, today Ljubljana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slovene dialects</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgenland Croats</span> Ethnic group in Austria

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Carniola</span> Traditional region of Slovenia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgenland Croatian</span> Regional variety of the Chakavian dialect of Croatian

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Austria</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Slovenia</span> Languages of the country and its peoples

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Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians are the indigenous minority of Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of the minority group is guaranteed in principle by the Constitution of Austria and under international law, and have seats in the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prekmurje Slovene</span> Slovene dialect

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This article uses Logar transcription.

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Southwestern Istrian, also known as Chakavian-Shtokavian, Shtokavian-Chakavian, or Shtakavian-Chakavian ikavian, is one of the dialects of the Chakavian language in Istria, Croatia. Through the history there were different hypothesis which classified it, besides in Chakavian, instead in Shtokavian, because it is a transitional dialect. It is the most widespread Chakavian dialect in Istria.

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References

  1. 1 2 "3rd Report of the Republic of Austria-pursuant to Article 15 (1) of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages". Federal Chancellery of Austria . Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Rights of Minorities". Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs . Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  3. "EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES-APPLICATION OF THE CHARTER IN AUSTRIA 3rd monitoring cycle" (PDF). Council of Europe . Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  4. "gradišćanski Hrvati | Hrvatska enciklopedija". Enciklopedija.hr. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  5. "Bevölkerung 2001 nach Umgangssprache, Staatsangehörigkeit und Geburtsland" [Population 2001 by colloquial language, nationality and country of birth] (in German). Archived from the original on 6 June 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Priestly, Tom (2003). "Maintenance of Slovene in Carinthia (Austria): Grounds for Guarded Optimism?". Canadian Slavonic Papers. 45 (1/2): 95–117. doi:10.1080/00085006.2003.11092320. JSTOR   40870503. S2CID   143561008.
  7. 1 2 Zupančič, Jernej (1993). "Socialgeographic Transformation and National Identity - the Case of the Slovene Minority in Carinthia (Austria)". GeoJournal. 30 (3): 231–234. doi:10.1007/BF00806711. JSTOR   41145785. S2CID   189880584.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Tollefson, James W. (January 1981). "The Maintenance of Slovenian in Carinthia: A Yugoslav-Austrian Dispute". Canadian Slavonic Papers. 23 (3): 302–314. doi:10.1080/00085006.1981.11091673. JSTOR   40867905.