Multilingualism in Venetian Dalmatia: studying languages and orality in written administrative documents from Split (fifteenth/sixteenth centuries)

This article addresses the linguistic situation in late medieval Venetian Dalmatia, where a predominantly Slavic-speaking population met an administration working Latin and variant of Italian. On basis archival records, mostly notarial acts case files, by examining city Split from micro-historical perspective, two questions are addressed: first concerns methodological challenge studying spoken language orality using written administrative documents. The interplay between Latin, Venetian, Slavic makes records highly interesting illustrates complex notaries had to cope with. second question social consequences Dalmatia’s multilingualism, as well ways Venice faced barrier its subjects. To make communication thus trade rule possible, established communal office translator only 1472, several decades later than other Dalmatian towns. examples given this will show that there existed tendency towards correspondence status knowledge language. However, long-standing Romance-Slavic-symbiosis no clear division Romance-speakers on one hand, Slavic-speakers can be affirmed.