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(h1) Language Lessons
(h2) Writing
Speakers of Vlaški/Žejanski (Vlashki/Zheyanski, also, Istro-Romanian) use their
language primarily for everyday verbal communication. As a result, there is no standard
spelling system, devised for the needs of the speakers.
The language exists in written form in academic publications, but different researchers
developed different writing systems to fit their specific needs and preferences. Because
we make available written materials from different sources on this website, it is a good
idea to gain some familiarity with them.
(h3) Different spelling systems
Allowing for smaller variations, the spelling systems developed by researchers in the past
can be divided into two basic types: Modified Romanian and Mixed. A third system,
based on the Croatian alphabet, is used in materials prepared in the scope of the
Preservation of the Vlaški/Žejanski Language project, presented on this website.
1. Modified Romanian Orthography (e.g., Morariu, 1928; Cantemir, 1959)
This spelling system is based on the Romanian alphabet and includes several special
characters and character combinations to represent those sounds of Vlaški/Žejanski that
do not exist in Romanian. Its main disadvantage is that there is no one-to-one relationship
between sounds and letters/letter combinations used to represent it: The same sound can
be represented with more than letter/letter combination.
2. Mixed Orthography (e.g., Puşcariu, 1926; Kovačec, 1998; Sârbu and Frăţilă,
1998; Filipi 2002)
This spelling system, first introduced by the well-known Romanian linguist Sextil
Puşcariu, combines characters used in Romanian and Slavic (Croatian) languages with a
few special characters. It represents an attempt to make the cumbersome Modified
Romanian Orthography more efficient and has the longest tradition of use in scholarly
materials on the language. There are many variations on this system and the actual
number and type of characters used differs depending on the needs and preferences of the
scholar.
3. Modified Croatian Orthography (Vrzić, 2009) [link to Library: Vrzic 2009]
This spelling system seeks to further simplify and unify the Mixed Orthography with the
goal of providing a system that could be easily read and written by the majority of
today’s Vlaški/Žejanski speakers. It reduces the number of special characters to only
three (â, å, ę) and uses Croatian letters, with which most speakers are already familiar, to
represent all other sounds of the language. [link na sekciju Pronunciation]
(h3) Spelling systems reference table
This table compares the three different spelling systems described above to each other.
Click here [link na pdf ove tablice] to print out the table below for your own use and here
[link na sekciju Pronunciation] to hear the sounds of the language with examples.
Modified
Mixed
Modified
Romanian
Orthography
Croatian
Orthography
Example1
Orthography
Morariu
Kovačec
(1928)
(1998)
a
a
a
acmo / acmo / akmo
a (boldface type)
å
å
ab / åb / åb
ă
â
â
cănd / când / kând
b
b
b
bât
c (+a, å, â, o, u,
c (+a, å, â, o, u,
k
ca / cå / kå
consonant)
consonant)
1
Vrzić (2009)
A word, as it would be written following the Modified Romanian Orthography, is given first. After a
slash, the same word is written using the Mixed Orthography and then the Modified Croatian Orthography.
ce, ci, cĭ (word
č
č
cira / čirå / čirå
d
d
d
dintru / dintru / dintru
-
(;)
(dz)
- / ;ero / dzero (very rare)
e
e
e
fecior / fečor / fečor
e (boldface type)
ę
ę
sera / sęra / sęra
f
f
f
fini / fini / fini
g
g
g
grumb / grumb / grumb
gh (+i, e, ę,
g
g
blage / blågę / blågę
g
γ
g
grije / γriže / griže
-
(ğ)
(đ)
- / ğoventu / đoventu (very
final)
consonant)
rare)
h
h
h
hiti
i
i
i
inche / inkę / inkę
ĭ, i
A
j
ĭo / Ao / jo
î
â
â
în / ân / ân
ch (+i, e, ę)
k (+i, e, ę)
k
che / ke / ke
ch (+i, e, ę),
t”
ć
chia / t”å / ćå
l
l
l
la / la / la
l’
l’
lj
l’epur / l’epur / ljepur
m
m
m
manchie / månt”e / månće
n
n
n
nevu / nęvu / nęvu
n’
ń
nj
n’ive / ńive / njive
o
o
o
opt / opt / opt
p
p
p
per / per / per
r
r
r
rada / råda / råda
s
s
s
sare / såre / såre
ş
ş
š
şti / şti / šti
t
t
t
tari / tari / tari
chi (+a, å, â, o, u)
ţ
ţ
c
ţire / ţire / cire
u
u
u
ur / ur / ur
ŭ, u
ṷ
u
gŭanti / γṷånti / guånti
v
v
v
vir / vir / vir
z
z
z
zice / ziče / ziče
j
ž
ž
juca / žucå / žukå