Burgenland Croatian language or dialect (gradišćanskohrvatski jezik) belongs to the South Slavic branch of the Slavic languages. It is a regional language variant of the Croatian language spoken in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Burgenland Croatian is recognized as a minority language in the Austrian province of Burgenland where it is spoken by 19,412 people according to official reports (2001). In Austria, Burgenland Croatian speakers also live in Vienna and Graz. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ... The Croatian language is a language of the western group of South Slavic languages which is used primarily by the Croats. ... A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a country. ... Burgenland (Hungarian Várvidék, Őrvidék or FelsÅ‘Å‘rvidék, Croatian Gradišće, Slovenian Gradiščansko) is the easternmost state or Land of Austria. ... Vienna (German: Wien ; Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian: Beč, Czech: Vídeň, Hungarian: Bécs, Romanian: Viena, Romani: Bech or Vidnya, Russian: Вена, Slovak: Viedeň, Slovenian: Dunaj) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... The Graz Schlossberg Clock Tower Graz [graːts] (Slovenian: Gradec IPA: /gra. ...

Smaller Croatian minorities in western Hungary, southwestern Slovakia and southern Czech Republic are often also called Burgenland Croats. They use the Burgenland Croatian written language and are historically and culturally closely connected to the Austrian Croats. The representatives of the Burgenland Croats estimate their total number in all three countries and emmigration at around 70,000.

History

Burgenland Croatian was the language of Croatian refugees who fled Croatia during the Turkish Wars and settled in the western part of what was then Hungary, the area where they still live. Burgenland Croats included speakers of all three dialects of the Croatian language (Shtokavian, Chakavian and Kajkavian), with the majority being the Chakavians who originally stem from the northern Adriatic coast. Following the Battle of Mohács, in 1527 some of the Croatian (and Hungarian) nobles supported Ivan Zapolja, while some preferred suzerainty to the Austrian king Ferdinand of Habsburg. ... The Croatian language is a language of the western group of South Slavic languages which is used primarily by the Croats. ... Shtokavian (Štokavian, štokavski) is the primary dialect of the Central South Slavic languages system, Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian. ... Chakavian (Čakavian, čakavski) dialect is one of the three dialects of Croatian language. ... Kajkavian (kajkavski) dialect is one of the three dialects of Croatian language. ... The Adriatic Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea separating the Apennine peninsula (Italy) from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. ...

Burgenland Croats didn't take part in the shaping of the present Croatian standard language in the 19th century. Instead, they constructed their own written standard based mainly on the local Chakavian speech and adopted Croatian alphabet, a modified Latin alphabet, as their script. The Croatian literary language is based on the Latin alphabet. ...

It is still a matter of debate whether Burgenland Croatian should be classified as a Slavic micro-language of its own. Burgenland Croatian dialects are mostly viewed as isolated dialects of the Croatian language. The Croatian language is a language of the western group of South Slavic languages which is used primarily by the Croats. ...

Written language

Burgenland Croatian written language is based mainly on the local Chakavian speeches with some influences from the other Croatian dialects spoken in Burgenland. It uses the Latin alphabet with the same diacritical modifiers as the Croatian alphabet. In the course of language development it acquired some of its own specialised vocabulary, sometimes different from that used in the standard Croatian. Chakavian (Čakavian, čakavski) dialect is one of the three dialects of Croatian language. ... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. ... The Croatian literary language is based on the Latin alphabet. ...

Spoken language

Croats living in the south of Burgenland speak mainly Shtokavian, those in the central part Kajkavian, and in the north (close to Vienna) Chakavian. Shtokavian (Štokavian, štokavski) is the primary dialect of the Central South Slavic languages system, Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian. ... Kajkavian (kajkavski) dialect is one of the three dialects of Croatian language. ... Vienna (German: Wien ; Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian: Beč, Czech: Vídeň, Hungarian: Bécs, Romanian: Viena, Romani: Bech or Vidnya, Russian: Вена, Slovak: Viedeň, Slovenian: Dunaj) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... Chakavian (Čakavian, čakavski) dialect is one of the three dialects of Croatian language. ...

External links

• Burgenland Croatian Center in Vienna (English, Croatian and German)
• Scientific Institute of the Burgenland Croats (Croatian and German)
• Croatian Cultural and Documentation Center in Eisenstadt/Željezno (German)