The Istrian dialect (istrsko narečje, istrščina) is a Slovene dialect in the Littoral dialect group. It is spoken in Slovenian Istria in most of the rural areas of the municipalities of Koper, Izola and Piran, as well as by the Slovenes living in the Italian municipalities of Muggia and San Dorligo della Valle, as well as in the southern suburbs of Trieste (Servola, Cattinara).
Phonological and morphological characteristics
The Istrian dialect does not have pitch accent and is non-diphthongal. Long a is rounded to ɔ, fronted a is common, including as a reflex of e and original ə, and syllabic l has developed into u. The dialect has soft ľ, soft ń, ć, and šć. The dialect has lost the dual morphologically. The conditional is made with the auxiliary bin. The dialect has been influenced by Croatian as spoken in Buzet and Ćićarija. The dialect is further subdivided into the Rižana and Šavrini Hills subdialects.