Paşi spre istroromâni
Steps towards the Istro-Romanians
Living on Istria Isle (Croatia) 1,000 km. far away from the rest of population speaking Romanian language, the community of Istro-Romanians called the attention upon themselves and began to be researched by their contemporaries quite late in the second half of the 19th century. To fully understand their defining features those interested in this community have to do the first step, approaching everything that was written or recorded in images about them. The Istro-Romanians are still a historical, ethnographical and linguistic enigma. The second step is to know their environment and habitat in which they live. In time in the localities – Jeiane and Susnievita but also in the few hamlets there was recorded a dramatic shortage of the Istro- Romanian population as a result of their linguistic and social assimilation. Nowadays there are a few speakers of this dialect. The third step should be the knowledge of personalities seen as individuals, bearers of culture and tradition, still preserving the way of speaking and trying to cope with life as much as possible having in view they are only a micro-linguistic group. The near future is concerned on the way this community will be helped to survive and definitely supported in the context of a tolerant and multicultural Europe.
Keywords: community, steps, population, culture, micro-linguistic group
1. Teodor Burada, O călătorie în satele româneşti din
Istria / A Voyage through the Romanian Villages in
Istria, Iaşi, Tipografia Naţională, 1896
2. Josif Popovici, Dialectele romîne / Romanian
Dialects, HALLE A.D.S. Editura Autorului, 1914
3. Sextil Puşcariu, Studii istroromâne / Istro-Romanian
Studies, Bucureşti, Institutul de arte grafice Carol Gobl,
1906
