Local name: Slovenščina
Language family: Indo-European > Balto-Slavic > Slavic > South Slavic > Western South Slavic
Native speakers: ~2 millions (Ethnologue.com, 1991)
Script: A modified version of the Latin alphabet
Official in: Slovenia
Spoken mostly in: Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Italy

Slovene is closely related to the northern dialects of Croatian, and could be said to be the northernmost variety of the South Slavic dialectcontinuum. Slovene is one of few Indo-European languages that has retained the dual numerus. Not only do you have special endings for nouns when you refer to pairs, but verbs are also conjugated in dual.

Slovenia Standard: “Sonce in veter”
Speaker: Ivan Age at recording: 25 (2008) Geographical reference: Tržič, SI (Google Map)


Sonce in veter sta se prepirala med seboj, kdo bo močnejši.
Veter je rekel: »Dokazal ti bom, da sem jaz močnejši.
Poglej tistega starčka, ki si oblaci suknjo.
Stavim, da mu jo bom hitreje slekel kot ti.«
Sonce se je skrilo za oblake in veter je zapihal z vso močjo, a bolj ko je pihal, bolj se je starček zavijal v plašč.
Končno je veter obupal, omagal in odnehal.
Nato je posijalo sonce izza oblakov in se ljubeznivo nasmehnilo starčku.
Kmalu si je starček otrl potno celo in slekel plašč, sonce pa se je obrnilo k vetru in mu tako prijazno pokazalo, da se s toplino doseže več kakor s silo in besnenjem.