The Prekmurja region (Northern Slovenia) is located between the rivers Mur & Raba - the history of the region is briefly outlined with special attention to the period when it was a part of the ...Austro-Hungarian empire. Written records in the dialect are represented mostly by Biblical & other religious texts. The Prekmurja dialect belongs to the Pannonian group of Slovenian dialects & is closely related to the Croatian Kajka spoken in neighboring areas. Major studies of the dialect are listed & characterized; & the first comprehensive description of Prekmurja phonetics was completed by A. Pavel (A vashideg kuti szloven nyelvjaras hangtana (The Phonetics of the Slovenian Dialect of Cankova, Budapest, 1909). The representation of Prekmurja vowels & conss in works by native writers is examined & many Hungarian features in the orthography are found. HA Tr & Modified by Z. Dubiel
The first book written in the Prekmurian dialect of Slovenian was a translation by F. Temlin of the Small Catechism of Martin Luther & appeared in Halle in 1715. It is hypothesized that Temlin ...utilized Hungarian orthography, as did Croatian authors & the Prekmurian manuscript hymnals before him. Hungarian influences include: a & e for both long & short vowels; replacement of the standard long o by the diphthong ou; c by cz; s by z; c by c (esh), cs, or ch; & s by (esh), (esh)(esh), or s; all three also used instead of z. Additional changes include replacement of the preposition vu by uu; word final n & v by m & f; j by i, ij, & y; & l by u & o. The name of Christ is spelled with a small k in about half of all cases. Prepositions v 'in', s 'with', & z 'from' are always written as part of the following words. It was not unusual for Temlin to write two or three words together, especially pronouns. Although h in word initial position was not pronounced in the Prekmurian dialect, Temlin retained it under literary influences. HA Tr & Modified by M. Meeks
Among the regions of Slovenic folk culture which exhibit ancient & clear peculiarities of the Alpine regions, is the Alpine system with its material & social structure. The historian Simon Rutar ...pointed out the Friulian shepherds, who introduced cheese-making to the Slovenes. Other historians wanted nothing to do with this idea. The philologist & folklorist Ivan Grafenauer examined the portions of the Romance-Slovene Vlahi in the Slovene folk-tradition. In his comparisons of the Slovene, German, & Rhaeto-Romance folktales about the captured wild man (which throw light on the question of cheese-making in the East Alps), he maintained that the relation of the Rhaetian-Alemanic concept of the wild man (the cheese-maker) to the corresponding Slovenic goes across the Romanic region, & perfectly fits the South Romanic nomenclature of cheese making. Pre-Slovenic names of some Alps in Slovenia are: 'Konma,' 'Krn,' 'Krma,' 'Matajur,' 'Porezen,' & 'Trenta.' Perhaps through Friulian, if not through Romanic connections, the Alps 'Tamar' & 'Mali Tamar' got their pre-Romanic names, & also the Alpine structures tamar, tamor, & tamara which originally designated a fenced area for spending the night (corral), & later a crude hut for the shepherd & stock. In Resia, tamariti means to move with the herd from one meadow to another. In the Kanal valleys, tamar, stan, or bajta mean Alpine hut. Romanic parallels are added & referred to in Hubschmied's pre-Romanic etymology. Medrije, medrija, mederja, & medernja mean a fenced resting area, & an Alp is named Medrija. Friulian madria, according to Hubschmied, is perhaps Illyrian mandia, Greek mandra, or Latin madra. An isolated name for shepherd's hut is tega, teha -- in Rhaeto-Romanic ategia, & in Gallic attegia. Bajta for shepherd's hut is of Friulian or Italian origin. The name of the Alp 'Kasina' derives from the Italian cascina. The milkday & checking for milk are named mizura, which corresponds to Friulian & Rhaeto-Romanic forms. The turner for the kettle is cgan, czgan -- as compared to Rhaeto-Romanic cigan, cigona, etc. The cheese-stirrer is trnac in the Julian Alps -- in comparison to Friulian tornazzo & Rhaeto-Romanic taral, tares, tarai, turjet. The 1st milk is koljada, from the Friulian cagliade. The butterchurn is pinja, in Friulian, pigne. Buttermilk is batuda, metuda, matuda, in Friulian batude. A flock of about 120 sheep is cap, in Friulian ciap; a flock of 40 sheep is kornar, in Italian, quarnaro. A wooden container for milk is napa, nafa. HA Tr & Modified by M. Ambler
