TheIstro-Romanian alphabet is a variant of theLatin alphabet used by theIstro-Romanian language. The language is notstandardized and therefore there are several writing systems for it. Up to three can be distinguished; one based on theRomanian language, one based on theCroatian language and one with characteristics of both.
TheIstro-Romanian language was firstattested in 1698 in a document written by the ItalianmonkIreneo della Croce. He gives 13 singlenouns, 8 nouns withdeterminers and 2sentences with their Italian translation. The monk used typical Italianletters, belonging to theItalian alphabet.[1] Before this,toponyms andperson names of probable Istro-Romanian origin had already been registered in previous documents.[2] The first book entirely in Istro-Romanian,Calindaru lu rumeri din Istrie (Calendar of the Romanians of Istria), would be published centuries later in 1905 by theIstro-Romanian writer and politicianAndrei Glavina and the Romanian historianConstantin Diculescu.[3]
The first attempt tostandardize the language was made by the Romanianlinguist andphilologistSextil Pușcariu in his workStudii Istroromâne (Istro-Romanian studies). He mixed elements of theRomanian orthography with others of theCroatian one, giving rise to a mixed alphabet.[4] In 1998, theCroatian linguistAugust Kovačec would publish an Istro-Romanian-Croatiandictionary in which he would update Pușcariu's hybrid version.[5]
There is also a version based on standardRomanian, created in 1928 by the Romanian journalist and professorAlexandru Leca Morariu. He introduced this system inLu frati noștri: libru lu rumeri din Istrie (To our brothers: book of the Romanians of Istria), the second book written in Istro-Romanian.[6] This system was accepted by several other Romanian researchers, such asTraian Cantemir.[7]
In 2009, the Croatian linguist and professor Zvjezdana Vrzić created a new alphabet, this time entirely based on the Croatianorthography. According to her, this alphabet represents all thephonemes found in the Istro-Romanian language and is easy to learn for them since they are already literate in Croatian. Vrzić has already implemented this system on her website "Preservation of the Vlaški and Žejanski Language".[7]
Therefore, it is generally agreed that there are three spelling systems for the language, all of them with slight changes depending on the author. None of them has been officially adopted, making the Istro-Romanian still pending standardization.[7]
| Capital letters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A | Ă | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | Ĭ | Î | J | L | Ľ | M | N | O | P | R | S | Ș | T | Ț | U | Ŭ | V | Z |
| Lower case letters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | ă | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | ĭ | î | j | l | ľ | m | n | o | p | r | s | ș | t | ț | u | ŭ | v | z |
Based on Morariu's 1928 version. It also includes thedigraphsgh andch.[7]
| Capital letters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A | Å | Â | B | C | Č | D | Ḑ | E | Ę | F | G | Γ | Ğ | H | I | Ǐ | K | L | Ľ | M | N | Ń | O | P | R | S | Ș | T | Ț | U | Ǔ | V | Z | Ž |
| Lower case letters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | å | â | b | c | č | d | ḑ | e | ę | f | g | γ | ğ | h | i | ǐ | k | l | ľ | m | n | ń | o | p | r | s | ș | t | ț | u | ǔ | v | z | ž |
Based on Kovačec's 1998 version.[7]
| Capital letters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A | Å | Â | B | C | Č | Ć | D | Đ | E | Ę | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | Š | T | U | V | Z | Ž |
| Lower case letters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | å | â | b | c | č | ć | d | đ | e | ę | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | r | s | š | t | u | v | z | ž |
Based on Vrzić's 2009 version. It also includes the digraphsdz,lj andnj.[7]