Kajkavian dialect

Kajkavian /kaɪˈkɑːviən, -ˈkæ-/ (Kajkavian noun: kajkavščina; Shtokavian adjective: kajkavski [kǎjkaʋskiː], noun: kajkavica or kajkavština [kajkǎːʋʃtina]) is a dialect of the Serbo-Croatian language spoken by Croats in Central Croatia,Gorski Kotar and northern Istria. It has low mutual intelligibility with the Shtokavian dialect upon which Croatia's standard language is based. Some notable linguists consider Kajkavian to be a language of its own. As of 2015, Literary Kajkavian has a separate language ISO 639-3 code – kjv. Active attempts are being made by some organizations to widen its recognition and status, which has thus far included introduction of school subjects in Kajkavian in some parts of Croatia as well as the creation of the aforementioned ISO code.

The term Kajkavian stems from the interrogative pronoun kaj (what). The other main dialects of Serbo-Croatian also derive their name from their reflex of the interrogative pronoun. However, the pronouns are only general pointers and do not serve as actual identifiers of the respective dialects. Certain Kajkavian dialects use the interrogative pronoun ča, the one that is usually used in the Chakavian dialect. The pronouns these dialects are named after are merely the most common one in that dialect.