The Buzet dialect (Croatian: buzetski dijalekt) is a dialect of the Chakavian^{[citation needed]} regiolect or language within Croatia. It is spoken in northern Istria around Buzet.

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (September 2022)

The Buzet dialect is transitional between the Slovenian language and Kajkavian language. Some consider it part of the Kajkavian language area, and in the past it was classified (e.g. by Fran Ramovš) as a Slovenian dialect.^{[citation needed]}

The primary features that separate Buzet dialect from the rest of the Chakavian dialects are in the development of the Common Slavic vocalism:

• */ě/ > /ẹ/ (closed e)
• */e/, */ę/ > opened e (just like in most Kajkavian speeches)
• */u/ > /ü/
• syllabic */l/ > /u/
• */ǫ/ > /a/

Prosodical system diverges from that of other Chakavian speeches (having lost, for example, the difference between long a short accented vowels).^{[citation needed]} Another unusual feature is the usage of Kajkavian interrogative pronoun kaj "what",^{[citation needed]} instead of the usual Chakavian ča.

As far as the division of Chakavian dialects in Southeastern and Northwestern is concerned, Buzet dialect belongs to Northwestern Chakavian.^{[citation needed]}

The Buzet dialect has been extensively described in the book Buzetski govori (Annales, Kopar 2005) by Nataša Vivoda.

References

• Brozović, Dalibor (1988). Čakavsko narječje; Jezik srpskohrvatski / hrvatskosrpski, hrvatski ili srpski (in Serbo-Croatian). Zagreb: JLZ Miroslav Krleža. ISBN 953-0-30225-8.
• Vivoda, Nataša (2005). Buzetski govori (in Slovenian). Koper: Univerza na Primorskem, Znanstveno-raziskovalno središče, Založba Annales. ISBN 961-6033-65-4.