About the Dictionary
This dictionary is an electronic version of August Kovačec's Istrorumunjski-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i
tekstovima) [Istro-Romanian--Croatian Dictionary (with Grammar and Texts)] [link to Bibliography]. This
dictionary is currently the only bilingual dictionary of the language in print. Pending further funding, in the
next phase of our project we hope to create the reverse side of the dictionary—Croatian--Istro-Romanian—as
well as to translate the dictionary into English.
This dictionary contains more than 3,000 headwords. Many are accompanied by their principal contextual and
regional variants. Headwords for nouns list their indefinite and definite form as well as irregular plural forms.
Headwords for verbs, adjectives and pronouns are accompanied by their inflected forms, when these are not
predictable. Numerous examples of headwords used in phrases and sentences are provided, making this
dictionary a very useful learning tool.
On the dictionary page, next to each headword, we provide the links to the Pronunciation Key [link to
Pronunciation Key] and List of Abbreviations [link to Pronunciation Key].
The dictionary is based on a text corpus collected between 1961 and 1967 in the villages where
Vlaški/Žejanski (Vlashki/Zheyanski, also, Istro-Romanian) was spoken at the time: Žejân/Žejane,
Sušnjevicę/Šušnjevica, Noselo/Nova Vas, Sukodru/Jesenovik, Kostârčån/Kostrčan(i), Bârdo/Brdo, Zankovci,
and Gradinje. The corpus contains a total of approximately 45,000 words, including repetitions.
Electronic Dictionary Credits
The electronic conversion of the dictionary was performed by Helen Langone and Neologica (E-mail:
helen@neologica.net), with permission from the author and publisher.
The conversion of the dictionary was funded with a grant from the County of Istria awarded in 2008 and
carried out in the scope of the Preservation of the Vlaški/Žejanski Language project.
Search Tips

When searching words, you can paste in accented characters/diacritics, or type the characters without
the diacritics. (For example: To find the verb “acaţå” paste in the word “acaţå” or type in “acata”
without the special character ţ and diacritic ˚.)

If the word you are looking up is a reflexive verb, you can leave the “se” off. (For example: If you
search for the verb “abåte,” the search will return both the transitive “abåte” and the reflexive “abåte
se.”
Pronunciation Key
This is a practical guide for the non-specialist to the spelling system used to transcribe Vlaški/Žejanski
(Vlashki/Zheyanski, also, Istro-Romanian) words in this dictionary. We provide approximate Croatian and
English sound equivalents for the most commonly used letters.
Letter
Croatian Equivalent
English Equivalent
a
a
Similar to a in bud.
å
Sound a pronounced in the back of the
Similar to a in call.
mouth, between Croatian a and o.
â
Similar to the sound pronounced, but not
Similar to ir in bird.
written, between t and r in Croatian trg.
b
b
b
c (+a, å, â, o, u)
k
k, “hard” c
č
č
ch
d
d
d
;
dz
ds in buds
e
e
e
ę
Very open e, between Croatian a and e.
Similar to English a in cat.
f
f
f
g
g
g
γ
No equivalent; a raspy sound pronounced
No equivalent; a raspy sound pronounced
in the back of the mouth, similar to
in the back of the mouth, similar to
Castillian g in amigo.
Castillian g in amigo.
ğ
đ
Similar to g in gin.
h
h
h
i
i
i
A
j
Similar to y in you.
k (+i, e, ę)
k
k, “hard” c
l
l
l
l’
lj
Similar to lli in million.
m
m
m
n
n
n
ń
nj
Similar to ni in onion.
ŋ
n before k or g
Similar to ng in sing.
o
o
o
p
p
p
r
r
Rolled r.
s
s
s
ş
š
sh
t
t
t
ţ
c
Like ts in cats.
t”
Similar to a very soft ć sound typical of
Similar to t and y pronounced quickly
Chakavian dialects of Croatian. Similar to
together.
t and j pronounced quickly together.
u
u
u
ṷ
Similar to u in Europa.
Similar to w.
v
v
v
z
z
z
ž
ž
Similar to s in measure.
Diacritics combining with letters for different vowels
́
Marks the placement of the word stress.
˜
Marks a nasalized vowel.
We refer linguists and other specialists August Kovačec's original print dictionary—Istrorumunjski-hrvatski
rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima) [Istro-Romanian-Croatian Dictionary (with Grammar and Texts] [link to
Bibliography]—for a detailed technical introduction to the transcription system used in the dictionary.