Gail Valley dialect
Encyclopedia
The Gail Valley dialect is the westernmost Slovene dialect in the Carinthian dialect group
. It is spoken in Austrian Carinthia
in the Gail Valley east of Hermagor
and west of Faak am See , in the upper Canal Valley along the Fella River to east of Pontebba
and, together with the Kranjska Gora
subdialect, along the upper course of the Sava Dolinka
River to east of Gozd Martuljek
. Settlements in the dialect area include Malborghetto
, Ugovizza, Valbruna
, Camporosso, Cave del Predil
, and Tarvisio
(in Italy), Förolach, Faak am See, Feistritz an der Gail, Arnoldstein, Fürnitz, and Mallestig (in Austria), and Rateče
, Kranjska Gora, and Gozd Martuljek (in Slovenia). Viktor Paulsen divided the Gail Valley dialect into six subdialects: the Egg-Görtschach subdialect (comprised of the Egg and Görtschach groups), the Potschach subdialect, the Saak subdialect, the Vorderberg subdialect, the Feistritz subdialect, and the Radendorf subdialect.
, reduction of vowels to ə in preaccentual position, development of open e and o > a in postaccentual position, shortening of long vowels in closed syllables, frequent epenthetic
n, v > b before e i r l, hiatus as a result of elision of intervocalic [w] (e.g., krava > kraa 'cow'), voiced obstruents in word-final position, and an inflected conditional auxiliary (besem, besi, be).
Carinthian dialect group
The Carinthian dialect group is a group of closely related dialects of Slovene. The Carinthian dialects are spoken by Carinthian Slovenes in Austria, in Slovenian Carinthia, and in the northwestern parts of Slovenian Styria along the upper Drava Valley, and in the westernmost areas of Upper...
. It is spoken in Austrian Carinthia
Carinthia (state)
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...
in the Gail Valley east of Hermagor
Hermagor-Pressegger See
Hermagor-Pressegger See is the administrative centre of the Hermagor district in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The town is named after Saint Hermagoras, the first bishop of Aquileia.-Location:...
and west of Faak am See , in the upper Canal Valley along the Fella River to east of Pontebba
Pontebba
Pontebba is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located about 100 km northwest of Trieste and about 50 km north of Udine, on the border with Austria...
and, together with the Kranjska Gora
Kranjska Gora
Kranjska Gora is a town and a municipality on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region of northwest Slovenia, close to the Austrian and Italian borders.Kranjska Gora is best known as a winter sports town, being situated in the Julian Alps...
subdialect, along the upper course of the Sava Dolinka
Sava Dolinka
The Sava Dolinka is a headwater of the Sava River in northwestern Slovenia. The 45 km Sava Dolinka starts as Nadiža Creek in the Planica Valley under Mount Zadnja Ponca in the Julian Alps, at an elevation of 1222 m, close to the Italian border. The stream goes underground soon after its source and...
River to east of Gozd Martuljek
Gozd Martuljek
Gozd Martuljek is a settlement in the Kranjska Gora municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The settlement was once called Rute, and is even today divided into Spodnje and Zgornje Rute....
. Settlements in the dialect area include Malborghetto
Malborghetto Valbruna
Malborghetto Valbruna is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 100 km northwest of Trieste and about 50 km northeast of Udine, on the border with Austria. , it had a population of 1,025 and an area of 120.5 km²...
, Ugovizza, Valbruna
Malborghetto Valbruna
Malborghetto Valbruna is a comune in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 100 km northwest of Trieste and about 50 km northeast of Udine, on the border with Austria. , it had a population of 1,025 and an area of 120.5 km²...
, Camporosso, Cave del Predil
Cave del Predil
Cave del Predil is a is a frazione subdivision of the comune of Tarvisio in the Province of Udine, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy...
, and Tarvisio
Tarvisio
Tarvisio is a town in the Province of Udine, in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region in Italy...
(in Italy), Förolach, Faak am See, Feistritz an der Gail, Arnoldstein, Fürnitz, and Mallestig (in Austria), and Rateče
Ratece
-External links:** *...
, Kranjska Gora, and Gozd Martuljek (in Slovenia). Viktor Paulsen divided the Gail Valley dialect into six subdialects: the Egg-Görtschach subdialect (comprised of the Egg and Görtschach groups), the Potschach subdialect, the Saak subdialect, the Vorderberg subdialect, the Feistritz subdialect, and the Radendorf subdialect.
Phonological and morphological characteristics
The Gail Valley dialect has pitch accentPitch accent
Pitch accent is a linguistic term of convenience for a variety of restricted tone systems that use variations in pitch to give prominence to a syllable or mora within a word. The placement of this tone or the way it is realized can give different meanings to otherwise similar words...
, reduction of vowels to ə in preaccentual position, development of open e and o > a in postaccentual position, shortening of long vowels in closed syllables, frequent epenthetic
Epenthesis
In phonology, epenthesis is the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially to the interior of a word. Epenthesis may be divided into two types: excrescence, for the addition of a consonant, and anaptyxis for the addition of a vowel....
n, v > b before e i r l, hiatus as a result of elision of intervocalic [w] (e.g., krava > kraa 'cow'), voiced obstruents in word-final position, and an inflected conditional auxiliary (besem, besi, be).