Language change and influences in the urban vernacular of the town of Zadar

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the urban vernacular of today's town of Zadar. Using sociolinguistic methods and more recent theoretical studies, we aim to answer the question why some dialectal variables disappear, why some of them are in a state of variation and some are still firmly present in Zadar's vernacular? Using previous research we follow the influence of the neighboring new štokavian dialect andstandard language on the kajkavian dialect in Zadar and, based on the answers of the younger and older generation, we made an attempt to interpret them according to the theories of the chosen variables which are analyzed within the sociolinguistic framework of urban and rural dialects.