Day of the Zheyanski language 2014
02.08.2014.
The Day of the Zheyanski language (Zija de žejånska limba) was held on August 2. 2014 in Žejane, in the premises of the former regional school. This event, which was organised as part of the project Očuvanje vlaškog i žejanskog jezika (Preservation of the Vlashki and Zheyanski Language), was held for the sixth time.
At the beginning of the gathering, Petra Ćulibruk, a representative of the Municipality of Matulji, and the Deputy of the Istrian prefect, Viviana Benussi, greeted those present. This year’s programme included three lectures. Zvjezdana Vrzić gave a lecture entitled Hoće li uvijek biti govornika žejanskog? Stvarnost i stavovi (Will there always be speakers of the Zheyanski language? Reality and attitudes), in which she presented the results of socio-linguistic study of language use and attitudes of those who speak the Zheyanski language. In his lecture Ne ponovilo se … Žejane, 5.5.1944 (Never again … Žejane, 5.5.1944), Robert Doričić talked about suffering in the village of Žejane during WWII. This was followed by the presentation on the topic Speleološki objekti na području katastarske općine Žejane (Speleological caves in the area of the cadastral municipality of Žejane), in which Elvis Kuharić presented research he conducted together with Ivan Glavaš and Nenad Kuzmanović, presenting part of the natural heritage of the Žejane surrounding area.
After the presentations, a trilingual excursion map of Žejane in the Zheyanski, Croatian and English language was presented. Valter Stojšić is the author of the illustrations, while the text was prepared by Robert Doričić and Zvjezdana Vrzić. After it was presented, the children attending the Language playgroup for children “Žejančići”, together with their teacher Adrijana Gabriš, took the guests to points of interest in the village (old school, monuments, church, Ploče, Šija, rainwater cisterns), represented on the map and important for the village’s present-day life or its past, and provided the guests with basic information about them in the Zheyanski language. Adrijana Gabriš also added a few interesting pieces of information about sections of the village that were once important for socialising, such as Ulica, Ravnica, and Kubina. After this, the “Žejančići” sang the song Pipa for the first time, in front of the former Žejane school.
After strolling through the village, everyone continued socialising in front of the school at a reception organised for the occasion.
