Slovenian

The Slovenian language, first written in the 11th century (Freising leaflets), was practically the sole cement of the Slovenian nation. The written language really emerged in the 16th century, at the time of Protestantism, when some 30 religious works were published, including the complete translation of the Bible (1584).

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At the time of the Enlightenment, philologists codified it, and compulsory education, introduced at the beginning of the XIXe century, gave it a secular and popular foundation. Over and above political or administrative divisions, Romanticism accelerated the development of literature, which flourished in the 19th century.

Slovenian was thus normally used in administration and schools from the middle of the 19th century, within the Habsburg Empire. After the First World War, most of the Slovenian-populated territory became part of the first Yugoslavia. Slovenian was one of the three official languages of Yugoslavia after 1945. In addition to the inhabitants of Slovenia, Slovenian minorities in Italy, Austria and Hungary use Slovenian, which is also spoken in some traditional emigration countries (USA, Argentina, Germany).

Slovenian, which belongs to the South Slavic languages, has always been written in the Latin alphabet and in a way that is relatively close to pronunciation. The current alphabet - gajica - which comprises three characters with diacritical marks, dates from 1850. Like other Slavic languages, Slovene has declensions and the double aspect of the verb, but it is above all the use of the dual that constitutes its linguistic particularity.

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