Kinship Relations in the Stivor Dialect: A Semantic Analysis in the Context of Italian and Serbian

Abstract

Introduction: Languages differ significantly in their encoding of kinship lexicon (Khalilia, Bella, Freihat, Darma & Giunchiglia, 2023). Languages that come into contact with others using different encoding systems are of particular interest to linguistics (Honkola & Jordan, 2023). A relevant example is Stivoroto, an Italian dialect spoken in the village of Stivor near Prnjavor. An important research question concerns how Stivorians lexicalize kinship, specifically which domains have changed compared to the original system, considering that this community has resided in Prnjavor for nearly 150 years, during which it has interacted intensively with the local population.

 Aim: The primary aim of this study is to describe the semantic field of kinship in Stivoroto through the lens of Serbian language contact. The secondary aim is to collect lexicon from this domain, contributing to the documentation and preservation of the Stivor dialect, which is now nearly extinct

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 Materials and Methods: Kinship lexemes were collected from oral narratives of native speakers as part of the Stivorling project (Montibeler, Runić & Falaleev, 2025). Specifically designed interviews were also conducted to elicit kinship vocabulary. These terms were analyzed through comparison with equivalents in Italian, Serbian, and the original Trentino-Venetian dialect, focusing on meaning, usage, and variation.

 Results: The study of kinship in the Stivor dialect showed that most original forms have been preserved, reflecting strong ties to Italian roots and traditional family conceptions. Serbian influence is primarily evident in possessive and affinal kinship terms, and in expressions of playful or emotive relations, particularly where certain kinship roles were rare or culturally unexposed, leaving the community without stable terminology.

 Conclusion: This study represents an important step toward understanding Italian–Serbian lexical contact and contributes to preserving the Stivor linguistic heritage, for which written documentation is nearly nonexistent.