Lower Carniolan dialect

Lower Carniolan dialect
dolenjsko narečje
Pronunciation	[dɔˈlɛ̀ːi̯jnsku naˈɾɛ́ːi̯t͡ʃjɛ]
Native to	Slovenia
Region	Northern Lower Carniola
Ethnicity	Slovenes
Language family	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic South Slavic Western South Slavic Slovene Lower Carniolan dialect group Lower Carniolan dialect
Dialects	Eastern Lower Carniolan subdialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Lower Carniolan dialect with       Eastern Lower Carniolan subdialect

The Lower Carniolan dialect (Slovene: dolenjsko narečje [dɔˈlèːnskɔ naˈɾéːt͡ʃjɛ],^[1] dolenjščina^[2]) is a major Slovene dialect in the Lower Carniolan dialect group. It is one of the two central Slovene dialects and was the original foundation for standard Slovene along with the Ljubljana urban dialect.^[3] It is spoken in most of Lower Carniola, but not in the southern part (it is not spoken in towns such as Babno Polje, Kočevje, and Semič), and it also includes settlements in eastern Inner Carniola.^[4] The dialect borders the Upper Carniolan dialect to the north, the Lower Sava Valley dialect to the east, Eastern Herzegovian Shtokavian and the North White Carniolan dialect to the southeast, the Mixed Kočevje subdialects to the south, the Čabranka dialect to the southwest, the Inner Carniolan dialect to the west, and the Horjul dialect to the northwest. The eastern part of the dialect is the Eastern Lower Carniolan subdialect. The dialect belongs to the Lower Carniolan dialect group, and it evolved from the Lower Carniolan dialect base.^[4][5]