Stivorling: Preserving the Romance Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina

On May 15, 2025, the Institute for Balkan Studies SASA hosted the lecture titled “Stivorling: Preserving the Romance Heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, delivered by Marija Runić and Rossella Montibeler (University of Banja Luka). The lecture introduced Stivorling – a digital archive of the Stivor dialect, which was brought to the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Austria-Hungary) nearly 150 years ago by the ancestors of today’s Italian national minority.

During the lecture, the audience had the opportunity to hear authentic recordings of the Stivor dialect preserved within the Stivorling project. Today, the Stivor dialect is on the verge of extinction. All active speakers are elderly, belonging to the third or fourth generation. The Stivorling archive represents a joint effort of the local community and researchers to preserve the linguistic heritage of Stivor and make it accessible both to the local and academic community. More information about this archive and the Stivor dialect can be found at: https://stivorling.com/.