Hungarian Slovenes

Hungarian Slovenes

Hungarian Slovenes also known as Rába Slovenes ( _sl. Porabski Slovenci) are an autochthonous ethnic and linguistic Slovene minority living in western Hungary between the town of Szentgotthard and the borders with Slovenia and Austria.

History

The ancestors of modern Slovenes have lived in the western part of the Carpathian basin since at least the 6th century AD; their presence thus dates back to before the Magyars came into the region. They formed the Slavic Balaton Principality and were later incorporated in Arnulf's Kingdom of Carantania which extended to most of modern south-eastern Austria, southern Hungary and northern Croatia. After the Hungarian invasion in the late 10th century, most of the local Slavs were magyarized. Between the 11th and 12th century, the current linguistic and ethnic border between the Hungarian and Slovene people was established.

In the 10th century, the western border of the Kingdom of Hungary was fixed on the river Mura, so the region between the Mura and the Rába rivers, known in Slovene as _sl. "Slovenska krajina" and in Hungarian as "Vendvidék", inhabited by Slovenes, remained in Hungary. In 1919, the majority of the region was annexed to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia), and became known under the name of Prekmurje. Only a small portion in the Vas County, in the triangle between the northern border of Slovenia, the Raba river and Austria, remained in Hungary. In 1920, the number of Hungarian Slovenes was estimated at around 7,000, but in the next decades many of them immigrated to other Hungarian cities, mostly to Budapest. In 2001, there were around 5,000 Slovenes in Hungary, of which only around 3,000 in their original settlement zone in the western Vas county, with others living mostly in larger urban areas.

Language and terminology

The Hungarian Slovenes speak a specific dialect of Slovene (the Wends or Prekmurian dialect) which is almost identical with the dialect spoken in the Prekmurje region of Slovenia. The traditional Magyar name for the Slovenes used to be "Vendek" or Vends; as a result, many Slovenes in Hungary accepted this name as a common denomination, although in their dialect, they always referred to themselves as "Slovenes". In the last decades of the 19th century, and especially during the Horthy regime, the denomination "Wends" was used in order to emphasize the difference between the Hungarian Slovenes and other Slovenes, including attempts in creating a separate identity.

Religion

Differently from their counterparts in Prekmurje, where there is a significant Lutheran minority, almost all Rába Slovenes are Roman Catholic, with religion playing an important role in their local traditions and communal life.

Frequent Slovene names in Hungary

* Doncsecz "(Dončec)"
* Bajzek "(Bajzek)"
* Szvétecz "(Svetec)"
* Gyécsek "(Geček)"
* Sulics "(Šulič)"

Famous Slovenes in Hungary

* József Kossics (1788-1867)
* Ágoston Pável (1886-1946)
* Károly Doncsecz (1918-2002)
* Antal Rogán (1972-)
* Tibor Gécsek (1964-)

References

* Mária Mukics: "Changing World - The Hungarian Slovenes" ("Változó Világ" - "A magyarországi szlovének") Press Publica
* Francek Mukič - Marija Kozar: "Poznavanje Slovenstva," Croatica, Budapest 2002. ISBN 963 9314 31 1
* Mária Kozár - Ferenc Gyurácz: "Felsőszölnök," Book House of Hundred Hungarian Village KHT. ISBN 963 9287 20 2
* Marija Kozar: Ethnical dictionary of the Hungarian Slovenes "(Etnološki slovar Slovencev na Madžarskem)," Monošter-Szombathely 1996. ISBN 963 7206 620

External links

* [http://www.hhrf.org/kisebbsegkutatas/kk_2005_02/cikk.php?id=1257 Mária Kozár: Assimilation of the Hungarian Slovenes "(A Magyarországi szlovének asszimilációja)] hu icon
* [http://www.vasiszemle.t-online.hu/1999/04/mkozar.htm Mária Kozár: The Slovenes in Hungary "(A Magyarországi szlovének)"] hu icon

ee also

* Demographics of Hungary
* List of Slovene writers and poets in Hungary
* Republic of Prekmurje
* Slovene Lands
* Slovenes in Somogy
* Wendish question


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