From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Dalmatian (the Northern dialect was called Vegliot and the Southern Ragusan) is an extinct Romance language formerly spoken along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, near Dubrovnik. Its last native speaker was killed by a landmine in 1898.
Note, that the term Dalmatian today is often referred to the Croatian dialect spoken in Dalmatia, a Čakavian-ikavian Croatian with many words picked up from the Italian and even some German. This dialect and the original Dalmatian language are very distinct, though, and should not be mixed up.
Thought to be a language that bridged the gap between the Romanian language and Italian, Dalmatian was related more closely to Italian than the nearby Romanian dialects, such as the nearly extinct Istro-Romanian, also spoken in nearby Istria, Croatia.
It is interesting to note that Dalmatian kept the Latin words related to urban life which were lost in Romanian. It is thought that the Dalmatians retained an active urban society, whereas the Romanians were driven into small mountain settlements during the Great Migrations of the Dark Ages.
Here's the Lord's prayer in Dalmatian, Italian and Istro-Romanian:
Characteristics
Language sample: Lord's Prayer
| Dalmatian | Italian | Istro-Romanian |
|---|---|---|
| Tuota nuester, che te sante intel sil, | Padre nostro che sei nei cieli, | Ciace nostru car le shti en cer, |
| sait santificuot el naun to. | sia santificato il tuo nome. | neca se sveta nomelu teu. |
| Vigna el raigno to. | Venga il tuo regno. | Neca venire craliestvo to. |
| Sait fuot la voluntuot toa, coisa in sil, coisa in tiara. | Sia fatta la tua volontà anche in terra com'è fatta nel cielo. | Neca fie volia ta, cum en cer, asha shi pre pemint. |
| Duote costa dai el pun nuester cotidiun. | Dacci oggi il nostro pane cotidiano | Pera nostre saca zi de nam astez. |
| E remetiaj le nuestre debete, | E rimettici i nostri debiti, | Odproste nam dutzan, |
| coisa nojiltri remetiaime a i nuestri debetuar. | come anche noi li abbiamo rimessi ai nostri debitori. | ca shi noi odprostim a lu nostri dutznici. |
| E naun ne menur in tentatiaun, | E non ci esporre alla tentazione, | Neca nu na tu vezi en napastovanie, |
| miu deleberiajne dal mal. | ma libneraci dal maligno. | neca na zbaveshte de zvaca slabe. |
