The vast majority of citizens of this republic speak the state language of Slovenia and prefer Slovenian in everyday life, at work and in everyday communication at all levels. The Republic of Slovenia is a popular tourist destination among Russian travelers and for a comfortable trip, guests only need to know a little English. In tourist areas and resorts of Slovenia, it is spoken by the majority of hotel and restaurant staff, shop assistants and guides of museums and other attractions.
Some statistics and facts
- Slovenian is spoken by more than 91% of the population of the republic. The Constitution proclaims it to be the only official language of Slovenia. All media are required to appear on it or have a translation or subtitles in Slovenian of any videos and fragments in foreign languages.
- The official language in the Slovenian province of Istria is Italian. Many ethnic Italians live in the border area, and therefore all important information, including road signs, is duplicated in two languages.
- In the Prekmurje region, many people speak Hungarian as their native language. The Hungarian minority historically lives compactly in this Slovenian region.
- For a long time, the main foreign language for Slovenes was German. It remained the language of science, culture and trade until the end of the twentieth century, when it was replaced by English.
- The state language of Slovenia is fluently spoken by about 2 million people, most of whom live in Slovenia, and the rest in Croatia, Austria, Italy, Hungary and the USA.
Slavic Slovenian
The self-name of the Slovenian language, translated from Old Church Slavonic, means "Slavic". It is a literary Slavic language, originating many centuries ago from the southern and western Slavic tribes. The first written sample of Slovene has come down to us in the form of "Brizhin Passages" - religious texts written in the 10th century AD. in Latin. The manuscript is one of the oldest examples of Slavic writing in general.
In the Middle Ages, the development of the Slovene language was greatly influenced by German, and in the modern state language of Slovenia there are many borrowings from there or Germanisms. Serbo-Croatian, Russian and Czech also contributed to the formation of the Slovenian vocabulary.
Surprisingly, a language of such a small country as Slovenia is considered one of the most heterogeneous in the world. More than 40 different dialects and adverbs are used on the territory of the republic and the adjacent regions of neighboring states.
