Grant H. Lundberg: Dialect leveling in Haloze, Slovenia

Abstract

In my description of Kajkavian dialects (the Northwestern group of Croatian dialects bordering on Slovenia; Lončarić 1996), I skipped over their relationship with Haloze, giving it less attention than other segments. This was because recent works on Haloze and on the neighboring Croatian Kajkavian dialects were lacking, as Zorko (1998) and Lundberg point out. There were basic reliable data for the Slovenian side but insufficient data on the Croatian side. After Zorko’s good overview and Lundberg’s good preliminary studies (1999, 2005a, 2005b), we now have this excellent monograph on the Haloze dialect or Haloze group. Unfortunately, we do not yet have a corresponding work for the Croatian area which would give us a full picture of this part of Slovenian-Croatian linguistic relations.

Lundberg’s monograph is dialectological and sociolinguistic. It considers the development of the system and its genesis from the reconstructed Slovenian and Croatian initial system in this area and explains the present state of the Haloze dialect group as a convergence of neighboring local dialects and the standard language. For particular periods of development he draws parallels with historical and political-territorial events on the border between the Austrian and Hungarian parts of the empire. I will look mainly at dialectological questions, particularly from the Croatian point of view.

The monograph has three large thematic chapters: chapter 2, Haloze Dialects, Meje and Belavšek; chapter 3, Historical Developments; chapter 4, Dialect Leveling in Haloze; along with the Introduction and Conclusion. In keeping with the considerations above, I will speak more about the dialectological, genetic side of the question.