This paper discusses the current language situation among the Italian minority in Slovenian Primorje in Koper. During the fi eld research conducted by the authors’ team, narratives in Italian were recorded from informants. Using discursive and structural-typological methods of analysis, the authors reveal that the linguistic reality of modern Koper is perceived as constantly changing, and the Italian spontaneous speech of respondents is intertwined with borrowings from the surrounding South Slavic languages. The modern language situation is the result of historical changes in the Istria region during the twentieth century. In addition to insertions and quotations in Slovenian, items from the Croatian language are found, refl ecting the linguistic situation of the Yugoslav period and the border position of the Slovenian Primorje. Special attention is paid to analysis of the language competence of Italians in the Slovenian language, among representatives of both the older and younger generations of students. In the Slovene language of Italians, a number of features peculiar to Slavic dialects in Italy are found, which allows us to discuss the same linguistic factors. It is possible to reconstruct the language competence of older people only partially on the basis of indirect evidence. There is a discrepancy between the rights guaranteed under the law (the use of the Italian language) and the linguistic reality faced by informants, which may be the result of both a decline in the prestige of Italian and of the small number of the Italian diaspora, part of which is subject to language assimilation, including as a result of mixed marriages. The paper also discusses the role of the media and the linguistic landscape in the region.