Prekmurje Slovene Grammar

Book excerpt: The Vend nyelvtan is a grammar completed in 1942 by the linguist Avgust Pavel that was designed to serve as a modern standard for the Prekmurje Slovenes who were to be subjects of Hungary. Though the grammar was meant to divide the Prekmurje Slovenes from the Slovenes of Yugoslavia, it was never put into use. Today it serves as a reflection of the lexical and grammatical peculiarities of the Prekmurje dialect as it was spoken during Pavel’s lifetime (1886–1946). The English translation of the grammar, originally written in Hungarian, offers linguists insight into a key part of the remarkable variation in Slovene. A peripheral area of Slovene, the Prekmurje dialect is in contact with German, Hungarian, and Croatian Kajkavian.