Prekmurje Slovene

Prekmurje Slovene is spoken by approximately 110,000 speakers worldwide. of which 80,000 in Prekmurje, 20,000 throughout in Slovenia (especially in Maribor and Ljubljana) and 10,000 in other countries. In Hungary, it is used by the Slovene-speaking minority in the Vas County in and around the town of Szentgotthárd. Other speakers of the dialect live in other Hungarian towns, particularly Budapest, Szombathely, Bakony, and Mosonmagyaróvár. The dialect was also spoken in Somogy (especially in the village of Tarany), but it has nearly disappeared in the last two centuries. There are some speakers in Austria, Germany, the United States, and Argentina. == Status ==

. The Prekmurje language was standardized with this book. Prekmurje Slovene has a defined territory and body of literature, and it is one of the few Slovene dialects in Slovenia that are still spoken by all strata of the local population. Some speakers have claimed that it is a separate language. Prominent writers in Prekmurje Slovene, such as Miklós Küzmics, and there has been a revival of literature in Prekmurje Slovene since the late 1990s. Others consider Prekmurje Slovene a regional language, without denying that it is part of Slovene. The linguist Janko Dular has characterized Prekmurje Slovene as a "local standard language" for historical reasons, followed by the Prekmurje writer Feri Lainšček. However, Prekmurje Slovene is not recognized as a language in Slovenia or Hungary, nor does it enjoy any legal protection under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In 2016, the General Maister Society (Društvo General Maister) proposed that primary schools offer education in the Prekmurje Slovene. Some regional politicians and intellectuals advocate Prekmurje Slovene. Alongside Resian, Prekmurje Slovene is the only Slovene dialect with a literary standard that has had a different historical development than the rest of the Slovene ethnic territory. For centuries, it has been used as a language of education as well as in the press and liturgy. The historical Hungarian name for the Slovenes living within the borders of the Kingdom of Hungary (as well as for the Slovenes in general) was Vendek, or the Wends. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Prekmurje authors used to designate this language variety as sztári szlovenszki jezik 'old Slovene'. Both then and now, it is also referred to as the "Slovene language between the Mura and Raba" (Slovenščina med Muro in Rabo; Slovenski jezik med Mürov i Rábov). Prekmurje Slovene is widely used in the regional media (Murski Val Radio, Porabje, Slovenski utrinki), films, literature. The youth write SMS messages and web comments in their local tongue. In Prekmurje and Hungary, several streets, shops, hotels, etc. bear Prekmurje Slovene names. In the 2012 protests in Slovenia in Murska Sobota, the protesters used Prekmurje Slovene banners. It is the liturgical language in the Lutheran and Pentecostal churches and in the Catholic Church of Hungarian Slovenes. Marko Jesenšek, a professor at the University of Maribor, has stated that the functionality of Prekmurje Slovene is limited, but "it lives on in poetry and journalism." Scholars in modern linguistics, dialectology and other fields consistently use the term prekmurščina, denoting it as a language. The Slovene affix -ščina signifies a language (e.g. nemščina 'German'), dialect (e.g., celjščina 'Celje dialect'), or manner of speaking (e.g. latovščina 'jargon'). == Name ==

In 1988, Slovene English-language specialist Stanko Klinar ascertained that it is grammatically correct to use the name Prekmurian (alongside forms like Ljubljanian and Mariboran). The name Prekmurian first appeared in a scientific publication in 1977. Previous scientific texts in the 1990s and 2000s mostly used the terms Prekmurje Slovene, Prekmurje language, Prekmurje dialect etc. (e.g. Greenberg). Nowadays, the most popular term in scientific texts is Prekmurian. == Dialects ==

Prekmurje Slovene is used as: • The dialect of the hilly Goričko, in northern Prekmurje, particularly in the villages of Grad, Gornji Petrovci, Križevci, Kuzma, Kuzma, Rogašovci, Šalovci, and Mačkovci. • The Raba March (Porabje) subdialect in Hungary, a variety of the Goričko dialect. • THe dialect of the lowland Ravensko in Central Prekmurje, particularly in the villages of Puconci, Cankova, Bogojina, Bakovci, Tišina, Petanjci, Moravske Toplice, and Rakičan. • The Murska Sobota subdialect, i.e. the speech of the town of Murska Sobota; it is a variety of the Ravensko dialect. • The Dolinsko subdialect in South Prekmurje, particularly in the villages of Beltinci, Bratonci, Črenšovci, Velika Polana, Turnišče, Žižki, Renkovci, Bistrica (Dolnja, Gornja and Srednja). It is also named the Marko (markovsko or markasto) dialect due to the prevalence of the personal name Marko (Mark) in the past. == History ==

Early history The Prekmurje Slovene developed from the language of the Carantanian Slavs who settled around Balaton in the 9th century. Due to the political and geographical separation from other Slovene dialects (unlike most of the contemporary Slovenia, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire, Prekmurje was under the authority of the Kingdom of Hungary for almost a thousand years), the Prekmurje Slovene acquired many specific features. Separated from the cultural development of the remainder of ethnic Slovene territory, the Slovenes in Hungary gradually forged their own specific culture and also their own literary language. in the 16th and 17th centuries, a few Slovene Protestant pastors fled from Carniola and Styria to Hungary. They brought along the Bible of Jurij Dalmatin, which was used in Felsőszölnök. and Postil of Primož Trubar, which was used in Gornji Petrovci. The Hungarian Slovenes found it difficult to understand the language of these books. By the 16th century, a theory linking the Hungarian Slovenes to the ancient Vandals became popular. Accordingly, Prekmurje Slovene was frequently designated in Hungarian Latin documents as the Vandalian language (Latin: lingua vandalica, Hungarian: Vandál nyelv). For a long time, the circumstances of the two-tier development of the Slovene language was ignored in Slovenian linguistics and science. The current form of the standard Slovene language only developed in the 19th century. Prior to this, the Slovene language norm was twofold: the Central Slovene language (mostly in Carniola) and the Eastern Slovene language (in Styria and Hungary). For a brief period, there were also two variants of the Eastern Slovene language: the Prekmurje Slovene and the Eastern Styrian Slovene (in the regions of Ormož, Ljutomer and Lenart of Slovene Hills). The literary traditions of the Prekmurje Slovene developed during the Protestant Reformation: mostly manuscript hymnals with religious hymns, psalms from the 16th and 17th century, and a contract from 1643. The standard language emerged at the beginning of the 18th century and developed slowly. The standard Prekmurje Slovene followed homogeneous grammatical rules and phonetic characteristics. An example of this is the use of the wovels ö or ü and diphthongs in writing. Manuscripts were also written in the Eastern Styrian Slovene language. Printed books in this language were also published. However, there were no homogeneous grammatical or phonologycal forms in this language variant. Styrian Slovene authors had thoroughly different ideas about the standard language. The Styrian Slovene literary language eventually ceased to exist and was replaced by the Central Slovene language. 18th century The first book in the Prekmurje Slovene appeared in 1715 and was written by the Lutheran pastor Ferenc Temlin. The most important authors from this period were the Lutheran pastor István Küzmics and the Roman Catholic priest Miklós Küzmics who set the standard for the Prekmurje regional standard language in the 18th century. István translated the entire New Testament into Prekmurje Slovene (Nouvi Zákon 1771). István was born in Ravensko (lowland) and based his standard language on the Ravensko dialect of Prekmurje Slovene, just like it was used in old regional manuscripts. He also expanded the language with elements from the Goričko (highland) dialect. Miklós Küzmics was born in Goričko but he followed István's language scheme. He adopted further elements from the Goričko and Dolinsko dialects. Miklós wrote several books, which were reprinted in the 20th century. His prayer book (Kniga molitvena, 1783) became very popular. His text and coursebook (''ABC Kni'sicza'', 1790) was used for decades in Slovene schools. Important standardization work in Prekmurje Lutheran literature was also performed by István Szijjártó and Mihály Bakos. Versus Vandalici, the first literary poem in the Prekmurje Slovene, was written in 1774. 19th century in the Prekmurje Slovene. The scientific vocabulary in the Prekmurje Slovene was codified by Imre Augustich's Prirodopis (1878). In 1823, Mihály Barla wrote a new set of rules for writing the Prekmurje Slovene. He introduced three new characters to denote diphthongs: ô (ou), ê (ej), and â (aj). The new orthography was put forward in two new hymnals, ''Diktomszke, versuske i molitvene kni'zicze (1820) and Krscsanszke nôve peszmene knige (1823). In 1820, a Lutheran teacher named István Lülik wrote a new textbook Nôvi abeczedár,'' which was published three times (1853, 1856, 1863). His book used Barla's orthography even though it was only used in the Prekmurje Lutheran literature. Lülik wrote the first grammar of the Prekmurje Slovene, but it was never printed. The first secular book in the Prekmurje Slovene was a ceremony book for weddings (Sztarisinsztvo i zvacsinsztvo. 1804; the author is probably István Szijjártó). The Catholic priest József Kossics used the Prekmurje Slovene in new functions. He didn't write religious books but books on history, grammar and etiquette. His stance was in line with the tendency for national encouragement. The Lutheran pastor Sándor Terplán translated the Psalms (''Knige 'zoltárszke''. 1848) and wrote new schoolbooks. János Kardos translated numerous poems of Sándor Petőfi, János Arany and a few Hungarian poets. He drafted new schoolbooks, for ex. Nôve knige cstenyá za vesznícski sôl drügi zlôcs. Kardos approached the language in a conservative manner: he was not open for Slovene or Croatian and stuck to archaic elements. Kárdos' purism was very similar to the purism of Fran Levstik in Carniola. Unlike Kardos, József Borovnyák was a Catholic priest who adapted standard Prekmurje Slovene to the standard Slovene. Borovnyák also contributed to the functional development of the Prekmurje Slovene, e.g. with his political brochure Máli politicsni vodnik (1869). In 1875, the poet, writer, translator and journalist Imre Augustich established the first Prekmurje Slovene newspaper. Prijátel (The Friend). Then he wrote a new Hungarian–Prekmurje Slovene grammar (Návuk vogrszkoga jezika, 1876) and translated works of Hungarian poets and writers. Augustich approached the standard Slovene, but at first he retained the Hungarian alphabet. Later he introduced the Gaj alphabet in the Prijátel and in a new coursebook Prirodopis s kepami, the first natural science book in the Prekmurje Slovene. In 1871, József Bagáry wrote the first schoolbook that used the Gaj alphabet (Perve knige – čtenyá za katholičánske vesničke šolê). The Magyarization policy tried to exclude it from school usage but it enjoyed such a popularity in schools that it was reprinted in 1886. In the last decades of the 19th and 20th centuries, the terms "Wends" and "Wendish language" were promoted mostly by pro-Hungarians to emphasize the difference between the Hungarian Slovenes and other Slovenes, attempting to create a separate ethnic identity for them. The Prekmurje Slovene language kept up with the changes of the modern era and was able to reinvent itself on its own or by adopting innovations from the (Central) Slovene and Croatian languages. The assertion that the Prekmurje Slovene slowly declined with modernization in the mid-19th century is not credible. It is contradicted by the first science books (by Kossics and Augustich) and the first news publications. 20th century In 1908, Albert Apponyi, the Hungarian minister of education and religion, implemented a new act that demanded the school subjects to be taught in Hungarian language in all schools of the Kingdom of Hungary. The purpose of the act was to magyarize national minorities. School education in Prekmurje Slovene ceased. In 1914–1918, József Klekl, a politician and later a congressman in Belgrade, reformed the Prekmurje Slovene literary language János Berke started to collect the vocabulary for the first Prekmurje Slovene dictionary, which was then published in part by János Fliszár under the title Vogrszki-vendiski rêcsnik in 1922. The entire dictionary with fifty thousand terms has been preserved in manuscript. In 1941, the Hungarian Army occupied the area of Prekmurje, and it aimed to eradicate Prekmurje Slovene and standard Slovene by 1945, assisted by the Slovene irredentist Mikola. After 1945, the Communist Yugoslavia banned the printing of books and newspapers in the Prekmurje Slovene, and only standard Slovene and Serbo-Croatian were used in administration and education. In Hungary, the dictator Mátyás Rákosi banned every minority language and deported the Slovenes to the Hungarian Plain. There has been a significant uptick of interest in the Prekmurje Slovene and cultural heritage since Slovenia became independent. Several associations, publishers, and self-published prints of both old and new books have appeared in the Prekmurje Slovene. 21st century In the 21st century, the Prekmurje Slovene has become more visible in Slovenian cultural life. It can be more frequently heard in different interviews on TV channels and radios (Murski val, Slovenski utrinki). Today, the Prekmurje Slovene is also written on public signs, such as some shop signs, which attests to its growing use in the region. In 2018, a translation of Exupery's The Little Prince was published in Prekmurje Slovene. In 2018, the singer and songwriter Nika Zorjan wrote the Prekmurje Slovene version of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You under the title Fse ka bi za Božič. On an occasion she opined: "The Prekmurje people are often local patriots and sometimes we say with pride: This is Prekmurje Slovene, not Slovene." The popular Slovenian singer-songwriter Vlado Kreslin also sings in the Prekmurje Slovene. His website is fully available in Prekmurje Slovene. == Phonology ==

The vowel ö occurs only in a few words as a variant of closed e or ö. It has plain a in long stressed syllables and rounded a in short stressed and unstressed syllables in the Goričko (upland) and Ravensko (lowland) dialects. The relationship is reversed in the lower Dolinsko dialect where the long stressed a is rounded. Long vowels and most diphthongs occur only stressed in syllables. If the stress shifts the vowel shortens and the diphthong usually loses its glide, e.g.: Nom. Boug; Gen. Bogá. Diphthongs The diphthong ej (ei) is a short, closed e followed by a shorter, less fully articulated i, e.g.: dejte (child), bejžati (run), pejnezi (money), mlejko (milk), bejli (white). The diphthong ou consists of a short o and a short, less fully articulated u, e.g.: rouka (hand), nouga (foot), goloub (dove), rour (chimney), gospoud (lord). Prekmurje Slovene is very rich in the diphthongs ej and ou. Various Slovene dialects feature these diphthongs, but they differ phonetically from the diphthongs of Prekmurje Slovene. The diphthongs ou and ej were written in the old standard Prekmurje Slovene with separate signs ê and ô, but they were only used in the books and newspapers of the Lutheran Slovenes. The diphthong ou in the northern Goričko subdialects (mostly near the Rába) and in the settlements along the Hungarian-Slovene border is reduced to au. The Ravensko dialect and some Goričko subdialects have diphthongs üj or öj. Diphthongs in open syllables, when part of polysyllabic words, separate into their components, e.g. nominative sou (salt), genitive soli or nominative krau (king) and genitive krala. Vowel alternations a>e Unstressed a and a in a diphthong with i or j often sound like an open e. This system is most typical of the lower Lowland (Dolinsko) dialect, e.g. eli (or) (Ravensko, Goričko, Standard Slovene: ali), nezaj (back) (Ravensko, Goričko, Standard Slovene: nazaj), dele (forward) (Ravensko, Goričko: dale, Standard Slovene: dalje). o>i This is a sporadic dissimilation and assimilation. e.g.: visiki (high, Standard Slovene visok). o>e In inflected forms, a soft consonant (c, č, š, ž, j) is usually followed by o instead of e in Standard Slovene. For example: z noužicon (Standard Slovene z nožem 'with knife'), s konjon (Standard Slovene s konjem 'with horse'). In neuter nominative singular and accusative o is also heard instead of e, e.g.: mojo delo, našo delo, (Standard Slovene moje delo, naše delo 'my work', 'our work'). Innovative e may be only heard in the eastern subdialects of the Dolinsko dialect, mostly along the Slovene-Croatian border (near the Međimurje). o>u The diactric ŭ refers to the non-frontedness of the vowel. For ex. un, una Standard Slovene on, ona (he, she). The diactric u occurs even more frequently in the Dolinsko dialect, e.g. kunj (horse) (Ravensko, Goričko, Standard Slovene: konj), Marku (Mark) (Ravensko, Goričko, Standard Slovene Marko). a>o For example zakoj (why) (Standard Slovene zakaj). u>ü The historical u is pronounced almost without exception as ü and it is also spelled this way. For example küp (mound) (Standard Slovene kup), küpiti (purchase) (Standard Slovene kupiti), düša (soul) (Standard Slovene duša), lüknja (slit) (Standard Slovene luknja), brüsiti (facet) (Standard Slovene brusiti). In words starting with a v, there are mixed forms, whereas Standard Slovene retains u, for example vüjo (ear) (Standard Slovene uho), vujti (escapes) (Standard Slovene uiti). The u derived from the earlier ol preceding a consonant does not convert into ü, for ex. pun (full) (Standard Slovene poln), dugi (long) (Standard Slovene dolg), vuna (wool) (Standard Slovene volna), vuk (wolf) (Standard Slovene volk). Consonant alternations Z prior to nj often sounds like ž, for example ž njin (with him) (Standard Slovene z njim). k>c For example tenko, natenci (thin, thinly) (Standard Slovene tanko, natanko). This type of alternation was even more frequent in the old Prekmurje Slovene, for example vuk, vucke, vuci (wolf, wolves) (Standard Slovene volk, volki, Croatian vuk, vuci). Today it is preserved in the speech of the elderly in Goričko and the subdialect of Hungarian Slovenes. m>n The final m in Prekmurje Slovene almost always sounds like n (just like in other Pannonian Slovene dialects or in the Chakavian). For example znan (I know) (Standard Slovene znam), man (I have) (Standard Slovene imam), tan (there) (Standard Slovene tam), vüzen (Easter) (Standard Slovene vuzem z zlaton (with gold) (Standard Slovene z zlatom), ran (building) (Standard Slovene hram). Exceptions: grm (bush), doum (home), tram (strut) etc. The change of m>n can also occur in a middle position, preceding consonants; for example: Nom. vüzen, Gen. vüzma. nj>n The n has developed from an nj in final or medial positions, for example ogen (fire) (Standard Slovene ogenj), kniga (book) (Standard Slovene knjiga). Nj reappears in declined forms, for example ognja (Genitive). lj>l The hard lj (ł) has totally disappeared from Prekmurje Slovene, for example: klüč (key) (Standard Slovene ključ), lübiti, lübezen (love) (Standard Slovene ljubiti, ljubezen), grable (rake) (Standard Slovene grablje). h>j or ∅ In certain regions and in certain positions it is still present as h. • In initial positions before a vowel or syllable forming r its usage is ambiguous and regionally variable. For example hüdi, üdi (evil) (Standard Slovene hud). In noun iža (house) (Standard Slovene hiša) h is absent in all Prekmurje dialects. • in the middle position between vowels where h is present, a j has replaced it, for example küjati (cook) (Standard Slovene kuhati). • G usually disappears if followed by consonants and in the middle position preceded by consonants, for example lad (cold) (Standard Slovene hlad), sprneti (decay) (Standard Slovene trohneti). • H in the final syllable and in medium position followed by consonants usually turns into j, which merges with the preceding vowel to form a diphthong,; for example lejko (perhaps, easily) (Standard Slovene lahko). • In the final position, preceded by a vowel, it changes into j,; for example grej (sin) (Standard Slovene greh), krüj (bread) (Standard Slovene kruh). There are a few exceptions: shajati (to go along with something), zahtejvati (demand) etc. bn>vn For example drouvno (tiny) (Standard Slovene drobno). p>f For example ftic, ftič, ftica (bird) (Standard Slovene ptic, ptič, ptica). j>d For example žeden (thirsty) (Standard Slovene žejen). hč>šč For example nišče (nobody) (Standard Slovene nihče). kt>št For example što (who) (Standard Slovene: kdo). ljš>kš For example boukši (better, right) (Standard Slovene boljši). dn (dnj)>gn (gnj) For example gnes, gnjes (today) (Standard Slovene danes). Nom. škegen (barn), Gen. škegnja. t>k Mainly preceding an l. • In the initial position, for example kmica (darkness), klačiti (to tread) (Standard Slovene tlačiti), kusti (thick, fat) (Standard Slovene tolst). • In the medial position, for example mekla (broom) (Standard Slovene metla). • In the final position, soldak (soldier). == Orthography ==

Historically, Prekmurje Slovene was not written in the Bohorič alphabet used by Slovenes in Inner Austria, but in the Hungarian alphabet. János Murkovics's textbook (1871) was the first book to use Gaj's latin alphabet. Before 1914: Aa, Áá, Bb, Cc, Cscs, Dd, Ee, Éé, Êê, Ff, Gg, Gygy, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Lyly, Mm, Nn, Nyny, Oo, Ôô, Öö, Őő, Pp, Rr, Szsz, Ss, Tt, Uu, Üü, Űű, Vv, Zz, Zszs. After 1914: Aa, Áá, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Éé, Êê, Ff, Gg, Gjgj, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Ljlj, Mm, Nn, Njnj, Oo, Ôô, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Zz, Žž. == Morphology ==

Nouns in Prekmurje Slovene can be masculine, feminine or neuter, like in Standard Slovene. Nouns, adjectives and pronouns have three numbers: singular, dual, and plural, just like in Standard Slovene. Feminine Feminine nouns ending in a. Feminine nouns ending with a consonant. Declension of feminine adjectives. Masculine Masculine nouns ending in a consonant. The singular accusative of masculine nouns designating animate things is the same as their genitive. The singular accusative of nouns designating inanimate things is the same as their nominative. Masculines nouns ending in a. Declension of masculine adjective. Neuter Neuter nouns ending in o and e. In declension, nouns such as tejlo (body, Standard Slovene: telo) or drejvo (three, Standard Slovene: drevo) do not lengthen as in the Standard Slovene with the syllable –es (Prekmurje Slovene: nominative tejlo, drejvo, genitive tejla, drejva; Standard Slovene: nominative telo, drevo, genitive telesa, drevesa). Declension of neuter adjective. Personal pronouns Singular Singular (Prekmurje Slovene) Nom. ges/jes (Masc.Fem.) ti(j) (Masc.Fem.) un (Masc.) una (Fem.) Gen. mene(j)me tebe(j)te njegaga njeje Dat. menimi tebiti njemi njej/njojji Ac. mene(j)me tebe(j)te njegaga njoujo Loc. meni tebi njen njej/njoj Inst menof(v)/meuf tebof(v)/teuf njin njouf(v) Singular (Standard Slovene) Nom. jaz (Masc.Fem.Neut.) ti (Masc.Fem.Neut) on (Masc.) ona (Fem.) ono (Neut.) Gen. meneme tebete njegaga njeje njegaga Dat. menimi tebiti njemumu njej/njiji njemumu Ac. meneme-me tebete-te njegaga-(e)nj njojo-njo njega/onoga-(e)nj Loc. pri meni pri tebi pri njem pri njej/nji pri njem Inst. z mano/menoj s tabo/teboj z njim z njo z njim Dual Dual (Prekmurje Slovene) Nom. müva (Masc.), müve (Fem.) vüva (Masc.), vüve (Fem.) njüva/njiva/oneva (Masc), njüve/njive (Fem.) Gen. naj(a) vaj(a) njiva(Masc), njivi (Fem.) Dat. nama vama njima Ac. naj(a) vaj(a) njiva(Masc), njivi (Fem.) Loc. nama vama njima Inst. nama vama njima Dual (Standard Slovene) Nom. midva (Masc.), medve (Fem.Neut.) vidva (Masc.), vedve (Fem.Neut.) onadva (Masc.), onidve (Fem.Neut.) Gen. naju vaju njiju Dat. nama vama njimajima Ac. naju vaju njijuju-nju Loc. naju vaju njiju Inst. nama vama njima Plural Plural (Prekmurje Slovene) Nom. mi (Masc. fem.) vi (Masc. fem.) uni (Masc.), une (Fem.) Gen. nas vas njih/njijih/je Dat. nan van njinjin Ac. nas vas njih/njejihje Loc. nas/nan vas/van njij Inst. nami vami njimi Plural (Standard Slovene) Nom. mi (Masc.), me (Fem. neut.) vi (Masc.), ve (Fem. neut.) oni (Masc.), one (Fem.), ona (Neut.) Gen. nas vas njihjih Dat. nam vam njimjim Ac. nas vas njih/njejih-nje Loc. nas vas njih Inst. nami vami njimi Reflexive pronoun Prekmurje Slovene Nom. — Gen. sebe(j)se Dat. sebisi Ac. sebe(j)se Loc. sebi/sebej Inst. sebof(v)/seuf Standard Slovene Nom. — Gen. sebese Dat. sebisi Ac. sebese-se Loc. sebi Inst. sabo/seboj Numerals The names for numerals in Prekmurje Slovene follow a similar way to that found in Standard Slovene or other Slavic languages. Then again, the archaic way of forming two-digit numbers has been preserved. The ten comes first, followed by the singular digit number. A conjunction is not needed. In Standard Slovene, the numerals from 21 to 99 are formed by placing the singular in front of the ten ("four-and-twenty"), like in German language. Verb The verb ending in Prekmurje Slovene is most frequently üvati or avati, more rarely ovati (the ending ovati is the most frequent in Standard Slovene). In conjugation, the endings are also dissimilar in Prekmurje Slovene and standard Slovene. Example: Prekmurje Slovene: nategüvati, obrezavati, conj. nategüvlen/nategüjen, obrezavlen, Standard Slovene: nategovati, obrezovati, conj. nategujem, obrezujem. In the Goričko dialect and some western subdialects of Ravensko, the infinitive ending is -niti (zdigniti), as it is in Standard Slovene (dvigniti), or rarely -nouti (Prekmurje Slovene obrnouti, Standard Slovene obrniti). In the Dolinsko dialect and other Ravensko subdialects, the infinitive ending is -noti (zdignoti), as it is in Croatian (and Kajkavian). Present tense Prekmurje Slovene Singular lübin lübiš lübi Dual lübiva lübita lübita Plural lübimo lübite lübijo Standard Slovene Singular ljubim ljubiš ljubi Dual ljubiva ljubita ljubita Plural ljubimo ljubite ljubijo Past tense Prekmurje Slovene Singular san/sen lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) si lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) je lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) Dual sva lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) sta lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) sta lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) Plural smo lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) ste lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) so lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) Standard Slovene Singular sem ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) si ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) je ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) Dual sva ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) sta ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) sta ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) Plural smo ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) ste ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) so ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) Future tense Prekmurje Slovene Singular mo lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) boš lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) de lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) Dual va lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) ta lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) ta lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) Plural mo lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) te lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) do lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) Standard Slovene Singular bom ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) boš ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) bo ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) Dual bova ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) bosta ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) bosta ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) Plural bomo ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) boste ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) bodo ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) Present conditional Prekmurje Slovene Singular bi lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) bi lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) bi lübo(Masc.)lübila(Fem.) Dual bi lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) bi lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) bi lübila(Masc.)lübili(Fem.) Plural bi lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) bi lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) bi lübili(Masc.)lübile(Fem.) Standard Slovene Singular bi ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) bi ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) bi ljubil(Masc.)ljubila(Fem.) Dual bi ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) bi ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) bi ljubila(Masc.)ljubili(Fem.) Plural bi ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) bi ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) bi ljubili(Masc.)ljubile(Fem.) == Vocabulary ==

The Prekmurje Slovene vocabulary is very rich and differs significantly from the Standard Slovene vocabulary. The dialect includes many archaic words that have disappeared from modern Slovene. Along with the three dialects spoken in Venetian Slovenia and the Slovene dialects of eastern Carinthia, Prekmurje Slovene is considered the most conservative of all Slovene dialects in regard to the vocabulary. The Prekmurje Slovene has expanded its vocabulary to a large degree with words from other Slavic languages (mainly from Kajkavian Croatian, Standard Slovene, Styrian Slovene, Serbo-Croatian, partly from the Czech and Slovak) and non-Slavic languages (mainly from Hungarian and German, partly from Latin and Italian). More recent and less assimilated words are typically from English. Comparison Loanwords Prekmurje Slovene also contains many words of mostly German and Hungarian origin. The German loanwords mostly originate from the Austro-Bavarian dialect. There is still a strong German influence in the Goričko dialect. We also find Latin loanwords: bauta, bunta (storage, Latin voluta, Standard Slovene trgovina), cintor (cemetery, Latin coementerium, Standard Slovene pokopališče), kanta (can, Latin canna, Standard Slovene ročka), oštarija (inn, Italian osteria, Standard Slovene gostilna), upkaš (hoopoe, Latin upupa, Standard Slovene smrdokavra) etc. Loanwords adopted from Serbo-Croatian in the period of Yugoslavia: dosaden (tedious, Serbo-Croatian dosadan, Standard Slovene dolgočasen), novine (newspaper, Serbo-Croatian novine, Standard Slovene časopis), život (live, Serbo-Croatian život, Standard Slovene življenje). == Wendish question ==

There are many theories on how Prekmurje Slovene emerged as a language. The oldest theory from the 16th century argued that the Slovenes east of the Mura were descendants of the Vandals. == Examples ==

A comparison of the Lord's Prayer in Standard Slovene, Old Prekmurje Slovene, new Prekmurje Slovene, Kajkavian Croatian, and Standard Croatian. The Prekmurje Slovene versions is taken from a 1942 prayer book (Zálozso János Zvér, Molitvena Kniga, Odobrena od cérkvene oblászti, Murska Sobota, 1942, third edition) and from a 2022 prayer book Jezuš tovariš moj. For easier comparison, the original Hungarian alphabet has been transliterated into Gaj's Latin alphabet, as used in other versions. Examples from main Prekmurje Slovene dialects Slovene national anthem in Prekmurje Slovene ==Gallery==

File:Mali katechismus (1715).JPG|The first printed book in Prekmurje Slovene: Mali cathecismus (Small Catechism), by Ferenc Temlin. File:ABC Kni'sicza.JPG|The ABC-book of Miklós Küzmics. This is also the first Hungarian-Slovenian Dictionary. File:Kis magyar nyelvtan.jpg|József Kossics: Small Grammar of the Hungarian language and Vandalic language File:Szlovenszke nove knige cstenya (1872).JPG|János Kardos's school book from 1872 File:Kniga molitvena (1855).JPG|The famous Prekmurje Slovene prayer-book, the Kniga molitvena from 1855. File:Prijatel (1.4.1876).JPG|The first Prekmurje newspaper Prijátel (Friend) by Imre Augustich File:Molite bratje (1936).JPG|Pray my brothers! Prayer-book of József Szakovics in 1936. His script was written in the Slovene alphabet. File:Groub Vincenca Talaberja, Stevanovci.JPG|The tomb of the young Vince Talabér from Permise (Kétvölgy) in the cemetery of Apátistvánfalva with Prekmurje Slovene inscription. File:Grob Franca Sömaneka z Verice, South Bethlehem.jpg|Prekmurje Slovene gravestone in the United States (St. Michael's Cemetery, South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) File:Novine (1. obletnica pridruzitve Prekmurja, 22.8.1920).JPG|The most important Prekmurje Slovene-language newspaper Novine (1913–1941) by József Klekl File:Kalendar Szrca Jezusovoga (1904).JPG|Kalendar Srca Jezušovoga ''(Jesus's Heart Calendar)'' was Prekmurje Catholic calendar between 1904 and 1944. File:Dober pajdas kalendarium (1911).jpg|Dober pajdás kalendárium (Good Friend Calendar) from 1911. It contains various articles on politics, everyday life, literature and science File:Szlovenszke szenszke knige (1919).jpg|Oneiromancy in Prekmurje Slovene == See also ==