Here is one for the all the former Yugoslavians here. At one point, about 50 years ago, I understand that the majority language in the city of Trieste was Italian. Was it the same Italian as spoken in 'mainland' Italy or was it a regional dialect? Which dialectical group would it have belonged to?
Unless I'm mistaken, Trieste IS a city in Italy. One of my godd friend's, Georgia, is from there - and yes, she speaks Italian (along with a few other languages, but what is important is that her mother tongue is Italian). The city borders Slovenia and she has told me there is indeed a big Slovenian population there. Are we talking about a different Trieste? Sorry, the first thing my mind wanders to is the city in Italy.
Harvey, are you referring to Rijeka (Fiume)
Sorry, you are absolutely right. I'm embarrassed.
The source material I was looking at was old... done at a time when Trieste's status was still up in the air. The southern part of the Trieste region went to Yugoslavia, with the Italian speaking city of Fiume.
So I guess, my questions actually are about Fiume. Although I am still interested in the regional dialect spoken in the region.
Look up Venetian, the Italic dialect of Venice, with quite a prestige until Standard Italian took its place.
Rijeka is the third-largest Croatian city and, therefore, most of its inhabitants speak Croatian. However, there is an Italian-speaking minority. I believe their dialect would be similar to Istrian Italian, which, in turn, might be sth. like Venetian.