ROMANCE LOANWORDS IN THE DIALECT OF BAŠKE OŠTARIJE

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to define the contribution of the Romance loanwords to the dialect of Baške Oštarije, a village placed where three geographic borderlines meet: first, between Mid-dle and South Velebit; secondly, between the Adriatic coast and the continental region of Li-ka, and thirdly, between Gospić and Karlobag. The Romance loanwords entered into the local dialect by means of intense trading activities in the past three centuries. Most of these loan-words belong to the semantic field of cuisine and home supplies. They have been gathered in contact with the local people and their descendants living in a number of Croatian cities. The author finds it necessary to preserve this linguistic treasure before it is replaced with Croatian standard.