Determination of dialect affiliation of the local dialect of Stari Laz in Gorski Kotar

Gorski kotar prepoznat je u hrvatskoj dijalektološkoj literaturi već pri prvim istraživanjima kao tronarječno područje, a kao eklatantan primjer jezične raznolikosti nerijetko je istican mjesni govor Staroga Laza. Upravo nas je uvriježeno mišljenje o Starome Lazu kao punktu svih triju narječja nagnalo na ovo istraživanje. Govor Staroga Laza spominjan je dosad samo u kontekstu skupine čakavskih govora u Gorskome kotaru, a rezultati su tih pojedinih istraživanja pokazali da se u sredini sela govori najviše čakavskim ikavsko-ekavskim govorom „slavičkoga tipa”, tj. primorskim poddijalektom navedena dijalekta. Taj se čakavski idiom nadovezuje na primorski krak ikavsko-ekavskih čakavskih govora od Zlobina preko Benkovca Fužinskog, Slemena, Slavice i Brestove Drage spajajući se s kontinentalnim poddijalektom ikavsko-ekavskoga dijalekta u Jablanu, Presiki i Vrbovskom. Na istočnoj strani sela, prema Ravnoj Gori, starolaški je govor kajkavski, bliži ravnogorskomu, koji pripada zapadnomu poddijalektu kajkavskoga goranskog dijalekta, a na zapadnoj je strani sela u susjedstvu štokavskih mjesta Općine Mrkopalj bliži novoštokavskomu ikavskom govoru, kakav je u Mrkoplju. O tome je dosad malo pisano, kao i o većini goranskih čakavaca, što nas je dodatno potaknulo na ispitivanje izvornih starolaških govornika. Ovim se istraživanjem nastoji potvrditi ili opovrgnuti teza o starolaškoj tronarječnosti, tj. analizom prikupljene građe u radu se podastire suvremenija dijalektna slika toga područja.Already in the earliest published dialect research Gorski Kotar was recognized as a tri-dialectal area and the local dialect of Stari Laz was frequently showcased as an outstanding example of linguistic diversity. It is precisely this established view of Stari Laz as a meeting point of all three dialect groups that has motivated this paper. In the studies published so far, the local dialect of Stari Laz has only been mentioned in the context of local Čakavian dialects in Gorski Kotar, and the same studies have shown that in the central part of the village the dialect that is predominantly spoken is the Čakavian Ikavian-Ekavian dialect of the “the Slavica dialect type”, i.e., this dialect’s littoral subdialect. This local Čakavian dialect continues the littoral branch of the Čakavian Ikavian-Ekavian local dialects from Zlobin via Benkovac Fužinski, Sleme, Slavica, and Brestova Draga, merging with the continental subdialect of the Ikavian-Ekavian dialect in Jablan, Presika, and Vrbovsko. On the eastern side of the village, toward Ravna Gora, the local dialect of Stari Laz is Kajkavian, closer to the local dialect of Ravna Gora, which belongs to the western subdialect of the Kajkavian dialect of Gorski Kotar, whereas on the western side of the village, neighboring the Štokavian settlements within the Mrkopalj municipality, it is closer to the Neo-Štokavian Ikavian dialect type as found in Mrkopalj. As very little has been written on this topic, and on local Čakavian dialects in Gorski Kotar more generally, we have felt additionally motivated to study the speech of native speakers of the local dialect of Stari Laz. This paper aims to either confirm or disprove the claim about the tri-dialectal nature of Stari Laz, and to present a more modern dialectal representation of this area through an analysis of the collected material