The dialect is rather poorly studied, and the only microdialect covered in detail is the
Selca microdialect, which this section focuses on. The phonology is similar to that of the
Upper Carniolan dialect. It evolved from the southern proto-dialect, which was characterized by early lengthening of non-final vowels, which are now represented by the same sound. The dialect lacks diphthongs for the most part, which is a rarity for Slovene dialects, but common for the Upper Carniolan dialect. Generally, all long
e-like sounds turned into
ẹː and all long
o-like sounds turned into
ọː. *
e and *
o that became stressed after the → shift are open-mid
eː and
oː, respectively. One of the key differences that distinguishes it from the Upper Carniolan dialect is the shortening of long *
ī and *
ū because of the influence of the
Rovte dialects. Stressed syllabic *
ł̥ turned into
oːu̯ and *
r̥ turned into
ər. Long *
ə̄ turned into
aː. There is extensive
syncope and a many short vowels were reduced, to an even greater extent than in the Upper Carniolan dialect. Short stressed *
-ù, *
-ì, and *
-ě̀ have all turned into ə; the same holds true most of the time for their unstressed counterparts. If these sounds are adjacent to
l,
m, or
n, they often turn into syllabic
l̥,
m̥, and
n̥. Ukanye (
o →
u) is present for initial *
o-. The most commonly omitted vowel is *
i, which is often omitted in final position, and sometimes also medially. Omissions of *
ə, *
ě, and *
u are also common. Final
obstruents still retain voicing. In
Sorica in the westernmost part of the dialect, alveolar *
s, *
z, and *
c merged with post-alveolar *
š, *
ž, and *
č, respectively. This is a feature more common in the
Bača subdialect. == Morphology ==