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Istro-Romanian is an Eastern Romance language spoken today in a few villages and hamlets in the peninsula of Istria, on the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia as well as in other countries around the world where the Istro-Romanian people settled after the two world wars, most notably in Italy, the United States, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Sweden, Germany, and other countries. Before the 20th century, Istro-Romanian was spoken in a substantially broader part of northeastern Istria surrounding the Ćićarija mountain range (ancient ''Mons Carusadius''). Its remaining speakers call themselves ''Vlahi'' (originally a name given to them by ethnic Croats), as well as ''Rumunski'', ''Rumeni'', ''Rumeri'', ''Rumunji'', ''Ćići'' and ''Ćiribiri''. (The last mentioned originated as a disparaging nickname for the Istro-Romanian language, rather than its speakers.) The Istro-Romanians now comprise two groups: the ''Ćići'' around Žejane (denoting the people on the north side of Mt. Učka) and the ''Vlahi'' around Šušnjevica (denoting the people on the south side of Mt. Učka (Monte Maggiore). However, despite distinctions and interjection of words from other languages which varies from village to village, their language is otherwise linguistically identical. The number of Istro-Romanian speakers is very loosely estimated to be less than 500, the "smallest ethnic group in Europe" and listed among languages that are "seriously endangered" in the UNESCO ''Red Book of Endangered Languages''.〔http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/europe_index.html〕 Due to its very small number of speakers living in about eight minor hamlets and two considerable villages, notably Žejane and Šušnjevica, there is no public education or news media in their native Istro-Romanian language. There are also several hundred native speakers who live not only in Queens, New York (as is mistakenly believed by newcomers to the study of the language),〔()〕 but throughout the five boroughs of New York City, as well as in upstate New York and the neighboring states of New Jersey and Connecticut; there are also still native speakers in California. There are native speakers of Istro-Romanian in Italy, Canada, Argentina, Sweden, and Australia. Since 2010, the Croatian Constitution recognizes Romanians ("Rumunji") as one of 22 national minorities. However, there have been many significant challenges facing Istro-Romanians in preserving their language, culture and ethnic identity, including emigration from communism and migration to nearby cities and towns after World War II, when the Paris Peace Treaty with Italy that was signed on February 10, 1947 took Istria away from Italy (which had previously gained Istria after World War I) and awarded it to Yugoslavia, the parent country of present-day Croatia and Slovenia, who split Istria in two parts amongst themselves, while Italy retained the small portion near Trieste. ==Recent history== The number of Istro-Romanian speakers has been reduced due to their assimilation into other linguistic groups that were either already present or introduced by their respective new rulers of Istria: in the 1921 Italian census, there were 1,644 declared Istro-Romanian speakers in the area, while in 1926 Romanian scholar Sextil Pușcariu estimated their number to be closer to 3,000. Studies conducted in Istria in 1998 (?) by the Croatian linguist Kovačec revealed only 170 active speakers (but those counted presumably are only those still residing in the original villages where the language was actively spoken, thereby excluding those who moved to larger towns in Istria), most of them being bilingual (or trilingual), except for 27 children. In 1922, the Italian regime of Benito Mussolini declared the village of Susnieviza—which they renamed to Valdarsa after the Arsa Valley (''valle d'Arsa'') region (it has since reverted to the pre-Italian name but written in Croatian as Šušnjevica)—to be the seat for the Istro-Romanians, with a designated school in the Istro-Romanian language. This was achieved through the efforts of Andrea Glavina, one of the town's native sons who had been university educated in Romania. The town of Šušnjevica (with adjacent villages) reached a population of 3,000 in 1942. After World War II and the ceding of Istria to Yugoslavia, the population of Šušnjevica alone was subsequently reduced to 200 inhabitants. On the other hand, the major northern village Žejane and nearby hamlets at the Slovenian border are less Italianized and more Slavicized. Many villages in the area have names that are of Romanian origin, such as ''Jeian'', ''Buzet'' ("lips"), ''Katun'' ("hamlet"), ''Letaj'', ''Sucodru'' ("under a forest"), ''Costirceanu'' (a Romanian name). Some of these names are official (recognized by Croatia as their only names), while others are used only by Istro-Romanian speakers (ex. Nova Vas|Noselo). The actual fate of the Istro-Romanian language is very uncertain, because in Istria only about 350 people partly understand it; its active bilingual speakers are fewer than 200 (that is, those who openly admit they speak it, the actual number may be greater), and fewer than 30 children know it now. Without an urgent, effective and active international support, the unique Istro-Romanian language will probably become extinct in the next generation or two. Istro-Romanian is considered an endangered language. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Istro-Romanian language」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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