A “Secret” Language Found Only in Rijeka, Croatia

Once a deeply connected port city, Rijeka has previously been the centre of many border disputes and changes of various nations who desired strategic and expanded sea access. The historically lengthy clash of nations has brought an assortment of people, cultures, and influences into the region.

Valvasor, Janez Vajkard (1641–1693). Image source: mapy.mzk.cz

Rijeka became a multi-ethnic port city, even rivalling Venice in the 15th Century, and bustled with merchants and traders from an assortment of backgrounds and empires. From this time, the city fell under Habsburg rule until the end of the First World War, and even received corpus separatum status in 1776 awarding the city semi-autonomy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire due to the success of the port.

The years that followed saw Rijeka part of various other empires and states — at one point, the city was even ruled by 7 different nations within a century.

Over time, the mingling of many languages gave birth to Fiuman, a Lingua Franka (Frankish Tongue) which served as a bridge/common language for the thousands of people inhabiting and visiting Rijeka who did not share native languages.

Port of Fiume in 1909 (Percy Alden, 1909. Hungary of To-Day). Image source: archive.org

What is Fiuman?

Fiuman is considered a dialect of the Venetian language, strongly influenced by Croatian, Chakavian, Hungarian, German, and Slovenian. Venetian was brought to Rijeka as early as the 9th and 10th centuries by merchants, sailors and statesmen, and coexisted in the city alongisde Croatian/Chakavian from around the 15th Century.

Venetian is a sister language to Italian and fellow romance language, spoken primarily in the North East of Italy, in the Veneto Region. Over time Fiuman evolved from Venetian within Rijeka, and by the early 20th Century, it was understood by almost all its inhabitants, and used at home and in social life.

The end of the Second World War saw the re-formation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Rijeka was incorporated into the Republic. An exodus, forced removal and killings of ethnic Italians from the region after the War meant that the language mostly departed with them.

Fiume, the Harbor, Croatia, Austro-Hungary (Unknown author, c. 1890–1900). Image source: loc.org

Fiuman Today

It’s estimated that Fiuman is still spoken by around 2% of the population in Rijeka (according to the 2011 census). You can hear it occasionally being spoken in passing on the streets, and it can be read in some literary works by local authors including Mario Schittar, Gino Antoni, Oscarre Russi, Egidio Milinovich.

Identity document of Riccardo Zanella, President of the Independent State of Fiume. Image source: fiumefil.com

The speakers of Fiuman identify themselves as Fiumani (Fiumans), a recognised minority people in Rijeka. Since they are bilingual speakers, they tend to mix their communication with both standard Italian and Croatian words. Although the dialect is considered to be (inevitably) dying, older generations of Fiumani are proud of their heritage and successfully pass down their dialect to younger generations.

Italian High School Rijeka-Fiume (Sabrina Fusari, 2021). Image source: Total Croatia News

Since 2016, the Italian minority in Rijeka have had the right to use Italian language and script within the public domain, including educational and cultural activities due to the implementation of Statut Grada Rijeke (Statute of the City of Rijeka). Italian has since become more accessible within Italian community-led education and cultural institutions. However, Fiuman is rarely present in education and traditional media, but it can be found often on social media.

Let’s see how Fiuman compares to the other languages found in Rijeka (English included for context):

English

I was born in Rijeka, in an attic at number one Ciotta Street, opposite the Fenice Theatre, in the famous coldest winter of the century (so they said) 1928/29, with a lot of snow, and I — as a child and let’s say, as a young man — saw, like all of us in Rijeka, things that are already ancient history or almost.

Fiuman

Mi son nato a Fiume, in una sofita in via Ciotta numero uno, visavì del Teatro Fenice intel famoso inverno più fredo del secolo (i diseva) 1928/29, con tanta neve, e — de muleto e disemo cussì de giovinoto — go visto come tuti noi a Fiume, robe che le xe oramai storia antica o squasi.

Italian

Io sono nato a Fiume, in una soffitta in via Ciotta numero uno, di fronte al Teatro Fenice, nel famoso inverno più freddo del secolo (dicevano) 1928/29, con tanta neve e — da ragazzino e diciamo, così, da giovanotto — ho visto, come tutti noi a Fiume, cose che sono oramai storia antica o quasi.

Croatian

Ja sam rođen u Rijeci, na tavanu u Ciottinoj ulici broj jedan, nasuprot Teatra Fenice, u famoznoj najhladnijoj zimi stoljeća (tako su govorili) 1928./29., uz mnogo snijega, te sam — kao mališan i recimo, tako, kao mladić — vidio, kao i svi mi u Rijeci, stvari koje su već drevna povijest ili skoro.

Tram in Rijeka, L. Kossuth Street (Unknown author, c. 1910). Image source: Muzej Grada Rijeke

The dialect is considered a symbol belonging to the minority community of the Fiumani, who often use it to identify themselves as natives of Ancient Rijeka. In this environment, being spoken by a relatively small (and dwindling) number of speakers within a dominant setting of Croatian, it’s key to continue its preservation.

Additional Reading

• Fiuman–Croatian Dictionary. Source: lokalpatrioti-rijeka.com
• Who are Fiumani? And How is it Spelled Correctly? Source: lokalpatrioti-rijeka.com
• Ricardo Zanella. Source: primorskihrvat.hr

Sources

• Maša Plešković, Branka Drljača Margić, Tihana Kraš, Speakers’ attitudes and perceptions in relation to the maintenance of the Fiuman dialect (2021). Source: hrcak.srce.hr
• Fiuman Dialect. Source: academic-accelerator.com
• Luana Ivošević, The Use of Standard Croatian, Standard Italian and the Fiuman Dialect: A Case Study (2015). Source: zir.nsk.hr
• Giulio Scala, Ricordi Fiumani (2018). Source: rigocamerano.it