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Reference.org
Resian dialect
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<p>The Resian dialect or simply Resian is a distinct <a href="/facts/Variety_(linguistics)/QyllMQha">variety</a> in the South Slavic continuum, generally considered a <a href="/facts/Slovene_dialects/7HBK2WUY">Slovene dialect</a> spoken in the <a href="/facts/Resia_(UD)/5JDpVUHa">Resia Valley</a>, <a href="/facts/Province_of_Udine/Eds06Rm6">Province of Udine</a>, <a href="/facts/Italy/tUf0PDYF">Italy</a>, close to the border with <a href="/facts/Slovenia/EcYU22W4">Slovenia</a>. </p><p>Together with the <a href="/facts/Rosen_Valley_dialect/gbhtx1l4">Rosen Valley dialect</a> and <a href="/facts/Ebriach_dialect/gdRrja8E">Ebriach dialect</a> in <a href="/facts/Carinthia/KYdoqzvx">Carinthia</a>, it is one of the three dialects of Slovene spoken entirely outside the borders of Slovenia. It is unequivocally one of the most distinct and difficult dialects to understand for speakers of central Slovene dialects, especially because most Resians are not familiar with standard Slovene. Its distinguishing characteristic is <a href="/facts/Centralized_vowel/FPoEtAFD">centralized</a>, breathy vowels. It borders the Slovene <a href="/facts/Torre_Valley_dialect/u9t6oFN4">Torre Valley dialect</a> to the south and the <a href="/facts/So%25C4%258Da_dialect/ETYe7d10">Soča dialect</a> to the east, both separated by tall mountain ranges. On the other sides, it mostly borders <a href="/facts/Friulian_language/2nFd3v8K">Friulian</a>, but also <a href="/facts/Bavarian_language/mdBH4q9z">Bavarian</a> to the north. It belongs to the Littoral dialect group, although it shows few similarities with other Littoral dialects and evolved from the Carinthian dialect base, northern Slovene, as opposed to other Littoral dialects, which evolved either from western or southern Slovene. It is spoken by fewer than a thousand people and is listed as a <a href="/facts/Definitely_endangered_language/qcw97ryL">definitely endangered language</a> according to <a href="/facts/UNESCO/QSbkRv3o">UNESCO</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Red_Book_of_Endangered_Languages/5PjLQ2PM">Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger</a></i>. Despite this, Resians value their language and it is being passed down to younger generations. </p>