Linguistics

Austrian Linguistic Inheritance

Many Austrian and German landlords had possessions of parts of Istria from the early middle ages, but it was not until 1815 that the whole of Istria passed under the administration of Austria after a brief period of French rule which began in 1797.

For a full century, Istria remained part a valued territory of the Austrian Empire which was called Kustenland, principally because of its strategic position for the Austrian war Navy (Pola), and also because of the fashionable resort that evolved for the Austrian nobility in Opatija (Abbazia). The Austrians were fair administrators and  left a good impression in the minds of many nostalgic Istrians.

For strange reasons, the Austrians never forced their language on Istria. On the contrary, even in the military Navy Istro-Venetian was the language spoken in common rather than German. However, after a century of contact with officials and a numerous garrison in Pola, many German words infiltrated the Istrian speech of the common people.

The table below lists such words, some of which were of localized usage, whereas some others were widely accepted throughout Istria (the bolded words are of wider usage).