The Influence of the Consonants of the Međimurje Dialect on the Pronunciation in the Croatian Standard Language
The Influence of the Consonants of the Međimurje Dialect on the Pronunciation in the Croatian Standard Language

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses the problems that native speakers of the Međimurje dialect face when they speak the Croatian standard language. These speakers are Kajkavians. Kajkavians are speakers of one of the three major dialects of the Croatian language (the other two being Štokavians and Čajkavians). Among other things, the authors describe the problems of correct pronunciation of the palatal affricates č and ć, the tendency of Kajkavians to devoice consonants at the end of words, the softening of some consonants before front vowels, dropping of consonants in consonant clusters, etc. The authors also give some practical recipes for teachers teaching Croatian as a mother tongue in primary schools to help them teach their students to acquire correct pronunciation of consonants in the Croatian standard language. They also claim that the familiarity of the students with the differences between the consonants in the local speech of the Kajkavian dialect and the standard Croatian language might help them to learn foreign languages.

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