Chakavian | |
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čakavica / čakavština | |
Native to | Croatia, a few in Slovenia (Račice, Kozina) |
Ethnicity | Croats, Slovenes |
Native speakers
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c. 660,000 (2001) |
Indo-European
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Standard forms
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Dialects | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Glottolog | chak1265 |
Distribution of Chakavian
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Chakavian or Čakavian /tʃæˈkɑːviən/, /tʃə-/, /-ˈkæv-/ (Serbo-Croatian: čakavski [tʃǎːkaʋskiː], proper name: čakavica or čakavština [tʃakǎːʋʃtina], own name: čokovski, čakavski, čekavski) is a dialect of the Serbo-Croatian language spoken by a minority of Croats. It has a low mutual intelligibility with Shtokavian. There is much internal diversity, to the point where intelligibility between the northern and southern varieties of Chakavian is low. All three main Serbo-Croatian dialects are named after their most common word for "what?", which in Čakavian is ča or ca. Chakavian is spoken mainly in the northeastern Adriatic: in Istria, Kvarner Gulf, in most Adriatic islands, and in the interior valley of Gacka, more sporadically in the Dalmatian littoral and central Croatia.