Dialectology of the Montenegrin Language

Montenegrin dialects have long been treated as part of the Serbian or Serbo-Croatian language in traditionalist dialectology. Even though they are among the best studied dialects of Slavic languages, this is the first monograph offering a synthesis of Montenegrin dialects. In Adnan Cirgic’s Dialectology of the Montenegrin Language, Cirgic addresses them as a compact unit, mostly corresponding to Montenegrin state borders, with isoglosses that cross those borders– as it tends to occur with dialects in general. Cirgic brings a different approach to classification of Montenegrin dialects, free from ideological shackles imposed by unitarian language policy in former Yugoslav federation, which included Montenegro as one of its constituent members. In addition to the classification of Montenegrin dialects and a summary overview of features of individual dialects and speech groups, this book also brings a comprehensive overview of the history of studying of those dialects since the 19th century, along with an exhaustive dialectological bibliography of Montenegro.