(in English)
Slovene,
Slovenian, slovenski jezik, slovenščina.
Spoken natively in Slovenia,
Italy (in Friuli Venezia Giulia), Austria (in Carinthia and Styria), Hungary
(in Vas); emigrant communities in various countries.
Native speakers - 2.5 million.
Language family - Indo-European, Balto-Slavic,
Slavic, South Slavic, Western South Slavic, Slovene.
Dialects - Prekmurje dialect
Resian approx. 32 unstandardised dialects.
Writing system - Latin (Slovene
alphabet).
Slovene or Slovenian
(slovenski jezik or slovenščina, not to be confused with slovenčina,
the native name of Slovak) belongs to the group of South Slavic languages. It
is spoken by approximately 2.5 million speakers worldwide, the majority of whom
live in Slovenia. It is the first language of about 1.85 million people and is
one of the 23 official and working languages of the European Union.