Burgenland Croatian

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Burgenland Croatian is a regional form of the Croatian language spoken mainly in Burgenland, Austria, with smaller communities in western Hungary, southwestern Slovakia, and southern Czech Republic. It is part of the Chakavian group of Croatian dialects and uses a Latin alphabet with Croatian-style diacritics. In Austria it is recognized as a minority language. About 19,000 people in Burgenland spoke it in 2001, and overall there are an estimated 50,000–60,000 speakers, with the total including emigrants around 70,000.

Historically, Burgenland Croats came as refugees from Croatia after the Croatian–Ottoman wars and settled in western Hungary. After World War I, borders changed and most of their lands became part of Austria, where Burgenland was created as a new province. Education and public-life rights for Burgenland Croats have varied over time; since 1987 Croatian has been officially recognized in most districts of Burgenland.

Burgenland Croatian has its own written standard based mainly on the Chakavian speech. It uses the Croatian alphabet in a Latin script with some unique vocabulary. Some scholars debate whether it should be counted as its own micro-language, but it is usually treated as a Croatian dialect. The language has its own literature and newspapers, and it even includes translations like The Little Prince (1998) in Burgenland Croatian.

Today, Burgenland Croats remain a minority group, with many living in cities such as Vienna and Graz for economic reasons. UNESCO lists Burgenland Croatian as Definitely Endangered.