DOCSLIB.ORG

The Phoneme /O/ in Opoja Albanian: Albanian-Slavic Contact and the Slavic Jers

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Phoneme /O/ in Opoja Albanian: Albanian-Slavic Contact and the Slavic Jers Journal of Language Contact 5 (2012) 247–261 brill.com/jlc The Phoneme /o/ in Opoja Albanian: Albanian-Slavic Contact and the Slavic Jers Andrew Dombrowski University of Chicago [email protected] Abstract The phoneme /o/ is often present in the Albanian dialect of Opoja in environments where it is absent elsewhere in Albanian. This paper explains /o/ in Opoja by reference to the Slavic sub- strate present in that area of Kosovo. Language shift from Slavic to Albanian took place in the late 16th and 17th centuries in Opoja, and I argue that during this process, Slavic /o/ was identi- fied with Albanian /ə/. This identification was facilitated by the fact that the Slavic dialect of Opoja lay directly on a major isogloss of a crucial sound change in Slavic: the loss of hyper-short high vowels, also known as the jer shift. To the south of Opoja, the Slavic dialect of Gora has /o/ and /e/ from these hyper-short high vowels (known as jers in the Slavic literature), but to the north, the dialect of Prizren shifted both vowels to /ə/. This allowed Albanian /ə/ to be identified with the Slavic jer reflexes, which were then imposed on Albanian during the process of language shift. Keywords Albanian; Slavic; historical linguistics; contact linguistics; language shift 1. Introduction The Albanian dialect of Opoja, spoken in far southwestern Kosovo between Gora and Sretečka Župa, is unique among Albanian dialects due to the wide- spread presence of /o/ in certain environments where it is absent in other dialects of Albanian, as described in Pajaziti (2005). After presenting sociohis- torical background information about Opoja, I review all of the environments where /o/ occurs uniquely in the Opoja dialect, and argue that the presence of /o/ in Opoja is due to a sound change from /ə/ to /o/. I furthermore argue that this sound change was influenced by the Slavic jer shift, in which hyper-short front and back high vowels, known as jers in the Slavic linguistics literature, were either lost or shifted to full vowels. In particular, I argue that the sound change from /ə/ to /o/ was caused by the imposition of Slavic jer reflexes dur- ing the process of language shift from Slavic to Albanian, which likely took © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI 10.1163/187740912X639229 Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:21:05AM via free access 248 A. Dombrowski / Journal of Language Contact 5 (2012) 247–261 place in the late 16th and 17th centuries. Finally, I consider the question of what information can be reconstructed about the now-extinct Slavic dialect of Opoja, and hypothesize that the Slavic dialect of Opoja may have been a one- jer dialect of a hitherto unattested type in Slavic, in which both jers shifted to /o/ - i.e., a unique transition zone between Serbian (in which both jers shifted to /ə/) and Macedonian (in which the back jer shifted to /o/ and the front jer shifted to /e/). Figure 1. The eographicalG Location of Opoja and Gora (with elevation contours) Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:21:05AM via free access A. Dombrowski / Journal of Language Contact 5 (2012) 247–261 249 1.1. Sociohistorical background Opoja (Serbian Opolje) is located in the mountainous, historically somewhat isolated southwesternmost corner of Kosovo known as the Dragash district, which is divided between the region of Gora in the south and the region of Opoja in the north (see figure 1). Due to the cultural and historical develop- ments that have affected the Dragash region as a whole, the sociohistorical background of Opoja must be examined in the light of developments that also affected Gora. Both communities are Muslim, although widespread conver- sion to Islam in Gora took place significantly more recently than in Opoja. Currently, Slavic and Albanian are spoken in Gora, while only Albanian is spoken in Opoja.1 Aromanian toponyms give some indication of the pre- Slavic linguistic situation in these regions, but in the early Middle Ages, it appears that Slavic was spoken in both regions (Mladenović 2001: 51). Gora and Opoja are both located in high, rugged terrain, somewhat isolated from nearby areas, separated only by the river Plava (Lutovac 1956: 234, Mladenović 2001: 40). Furthermore, cultural ties bind the two regions. Lutovac states that relations between the Albanians of Opoja and the Slavic speakers of Gora have traditionally been good, even to the point of sporadic marriage ties, which is not the case for the relationship between Gorans and other neighboring Albanian groups (Lutovac 1956: 278-280). Given the commonalities between these communities, two major discrepancies between Gora and Opoja must be explained. First, why did Islam spread in Opoja centuries before the full Islamization of Gora? Second, why is Albanian spoken in Opoja while Slavic is spoken in Gora? Lutovac (1956) argues that the key difference was the presence of a wealthy Turkish landowner named Kukli-Beg in Opoja in the early 16th century. According to sources, Kukli-Beg owned 117 houses in Prizren and property elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire, but, crucially, had only meager possessions in Gora (Lutovac 1956: 259). Lutovac then hypothesizes that the presence of Kukli-Beg resulted in the largely Slavic population partially converting to Islam and partially migrating elsewhere, leaving unoccupied areas into which Albanians emigrated, eventually resulting in language shift. Evidence from toponyms supports this hypothesis (Lutovac 1956: 262-263). Since the Islamization of the Albanian population was not necessarily complete by this 1 The Albanian-speaking population in oraG is likely of recent provenance, and should therefore be distinguished from the Albanian-speaking population of Opoja (Mladenović 2001: 36-38, Friedman p.c.) Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:21:05AM via free access 250 A. Dombrowski / Journal of Language Contact 5 (2012) 247–261 time, this account is consistent with Pulaha’s data from the registration of 1591. According to this document, “in the nahija of Opoja there were 369 Muslim heads of households and bachelors [i.e., with names that bear no indica- tion of language - AD] and 78 Christian heads of households and bachelors, the majority of whom have Albanian anthroponyms” (Pulaha 1984: 21-22). This account is also supported by Lutovac’s (1956: 273) findings that “of 72 lineages and 1032 households, 37 lineages and 578 houses are ‘immigrants’ (doseljenici) and 36 lineages and 455 households are of unknown background.” Of the immigrant lineages, 14 claim decent from the nearby Albanian border regions of Hasi / Podrimlje and Luma, while 18 claim descent from elsewhere in Albania. Notably, the lineages of ‘unknown’ background interviewed in Lutovac (1956) were not aware of belonging to a fis, the Albanian concept of clan organization known in northern Albania and Kosovo. Fis organization does not generally occur in modern-day Opoja, and late 19th-century accounts describe the inhabitants of Opoja as preserving many Serbian customs (Lutovac 1956: 277). This contrasts sharply with contemporary Gora, where newer lineages are comparatively less frequent, comprising only 358 of the 2200 households (Mladenović 2001: 42-43). The population of Gora converted to Islam much later than that of Opoja. The earliest Goran mosque dates from 1751; other mosques were built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Islamization in Gora took place gradually; the last Christian inhabitant of Gora died in 1856, according to some sources, while a 1865 source asserts that “today there are still four brothers in Brod and their sister Mara, and two brothers are of the Turkish faith while the two other brothers and Mara are of the Serbian faith” (Mladenović 2001: 55). The most plausible direct trigger for Islamization seems to have been the neglect of the area by the Greek Orthodox religious hierarchy after the abolition of the Peć Patriarchate (Mladenović 2001: 55, Lutovac 1956: 270-271). Intercommunal relations significantly worsened in the mid-19th century, due to the emergence of language-based ideologies of nationalism and the ero- sion of centralized Ottoman power. This seems to have had direct repercus- sions for the Gora and Opoja regions. Regarding tensions between Gorans and neighboring Albanians, Mladenović states: “In the second half of the 19th century animal husbandry began to decline because the Ottoman Empire was then descending into anarchy and the Albanians from the neighboring region of Luma raided their [the Gorans'] stocks . In Gora, memory of that time is still active” (Mladenović 2001: 41). By 1916 – i.e., after the Balkan Wars and dur- ing World War I – a report from the French Ministry of War states: “The [area] of Gora is populated exclusively by Muslims who only speak Serbian and live in Downloaded from Brill.com10/02/2021 02:21:05AM via free access A. Dombrowski / Journal of Language Contact 5 (2012) 247–261 251 constant hostility with the Albanians” (Mladenović 2001: 33). Thus, although Gora and Opoja share significant historical commonalities, they exist today as two sociologically differentiated units. As mentioned above, the Albanian dialect of Opoja is unique in having the phoneme /o/ present in a wide range of morphological environments in which /o/ does not occur elsewhere in Albanian. Interestingly, the Slavic dialect of Gora is also unique in a Slavic context, in some regards occupying a transi- tional position between the Serbian Prizren-Morava dialects to its north and the northern Macedonian dialects spoken to the south and east of Gora (Lutovac 1955: 282, Mladenović 2001; see also Friedman 2002/3: 164-165 on the history of the classification of the dialect of Gora). Taken together, then, Opoja and Gora also form a linguistic unit in the sense that the dialects of each region are unique in their broader linguistic context – i.e., Gora is in some ways a unique transitional zone in South Slavic just as Opoja is a unique dialect of Albanian.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • CLIMATIC REGIONS of KOSOVO and METOHIJA Radomir Ivanović
    UNIVERSITY THOUGHT doi:10.5937/univtho6-10409 Publication in Natural Sciences, Vol. 6, No 1, 2016, pp. 49-54. Original Scientific Paper CLIMATIC REGIONS OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA Radomir Ivanović1, Aleksandar Valjarević1, Danijela Vukoičić1, Dragan Radovanović1 1Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Priština, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia. ABSTRACT The following the average and extreme values mountainous parts of Kosovo. It affects parts of of climatic elements, specific climatic indices and northern Metohija, Drenica and the entire Kosovo field research, we can select three climatic types in valley along with smaller sidelong dells - Malo Kosovo and Metohija - the altered Mediterranean, Kosovo and Kosovsko Pomoravlje. Because of their continental and mountainous type. The altered exquisite heights, the mountains that complete the Mediterranean type is present in southern and Kosovo Metohija Valley have a specific climatic western Metohija, to be specific, it affects the type, at their lower slopes it is sub - mountainous Prizren Field, the Suva Reka and Orahovac Valley and at the higher ones it is typically mountainous. as well as the right bank of the Beli Drim from Within these climatic types, several climatic sub Pećka Bistrica to the Serbia - Albania border. regions are present. Their frontiers are not precise Gradually and practically unnoticeably, it or sharp. Rather, their climatic changes are transforms itself into a moderate continental type gradual and moderate from one sub-region to the which dominates over the remaining valley and other. Key words: Climatic regions, climatic sub-regions, Kosovo and Metohija. 1. INTRODUCTION The climatic regional division of Kosovo and good, but anyway it offers the possibilities of Metohija has been made following the previous observing Kosovo and Metohija climate.
    [Show full text]
  • UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo Order Online
    UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo Order online Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Glossary 1. Executive Summary The 1999 Offensive The Chain of Command The War Crimes Tribunal Abuses by the KLA Role of the International Community 2. Background Introduction Brief History of the Kosovo Conflict Kosovo in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Kosovo in the 1990s The 1998 Armed Conflict Conclusion 3. Forces of the Conflict Forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Army Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs Paramilitaries Chain of Command and Superior Responsibility Stucture and Strategy of the KLA Appendix: Post-War Promotions of Serbian Police and Yugoslav Army Members 4. march–june 1999: An Overview The Geography of Abuses The Killings Death Toll,the Missing and Body Removal Targeted Killings Rape and Sexual Assault Forced Expulsions Arbitrary Arrests and Detentions Destruction of Civilian Property and Mosques Contamination of Water Wells Robbery and Extortion Detentions and Compulsory Labor 1 Human Shields Landmines 5. Drenica Region Izbica Rezala Poklek Staro Cikatovo The April 30 Offensive Vrbovac Stutica Baks The Cirez Mosque The Shavarina Mine Detention and Interrogation in Glogovac Detention and Compusory Labor Glogovac Town Killing of Civilians Detention and Abuse Forced Expulsion 6. Djakovica Municipality Djakovica City Phase One—March 24 to April 2 Phase Two—March 7 to March 13 The Withdrawal Meja Motives: Five Policeman Killed Perpetrators Korenica 7. Istok Municipality Dubrava Prison The Prison The NATO Bombing The Massacre The Exhumations Perpetrators 8. Lipljan Municipality Slovinje Perpetrators 9. Orahovac Municipality Pusto Selo 10. Pec Municipality Pec City The “Cleansing” Looting and Burning A Final Killing Rape Cuska Background The Killings The Attacks in Pavljan and Zahac The Perpetrators Ljubenic 11.
    [Show full text]
  • EVS Call for Short-Term EVS in National Park Frushka Gora, Serbia
    EVS call for short-term EVS in National Park Frushka gora, Serbia Mountain spirit – Strategic EVS for Nature Conservation About the project Mountain spirit is a project involving several EVS short and long-term volunteer exchanges in Croatia, Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria. It aims at combining efforts of international volunteers and local people from mountainious/rural areas for nature conservation activities in protected areas or species. The idea is to uncover invisible links between places and their inhabitant creatures, to take our responsibilities as humans towards all forms of life without forgetting to listen and learn from nature within and around. To discover the spirits of mountains in the Balkans with preserved nature where eagles and red deers roam through the wilderness, where there are still waters running freely, where people are resilient. The spirits of Velebit mountain, Croatia; Sharr mountain, Kosovo; Frushka gora, Serbia and Pirin mountain, Bulgaria. Spirits which are also exposed to threats of destruction, exploitation and loss of the invisible connections that link all of us into one living system. We believe that with small but consistent efforts another way is possible where people are not on the top, but rather live a peaceful co-existence with nature and themselves. About the volunteer exchanges Short-term volunteer exchanges in 2018: Croatia – Kuterevo Bear Refuge, Velebit Mountain (12 volunteers for 59 days) – July-September Kosovo – National Park Sharr Mountain (12 volunteers for 30 days) – July-August Kosovo
    [Show full text]
  • Serbia (Srbija), Montenegro (Crna Gora) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna I Hercegovina)
    Serbia (Srbija), Montenegro (Crna Gora) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina) Recent history Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) were all (along with Croatia and FYR Macedonia) formed as a result of the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. BIH declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, following a referendum. This break-up sparked conflict among the three large ethnic groups within the federation. Bosniaks and Croats generally favoured independence, whereas Bosnian Serbs, supported by the Serbian government, wished for a union with Serbia. Further conflict later erupted between the Croat statelet of Herzog-Bosnia and the Bosniaks. The wars lasted until the intervention of NATO and the signing of the Dayton Accords in 1995, by which time an estimated 100,000 people had been killed, many in acts of ethnic cleansing. Under the Dayton Accords, BIH was administratively decentralised and divided into two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. Central government is consociational, with three rotating Presidents and set numbers of seats in both Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly for Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia,How Serbia does did maintaina General a federation Election with Montenegro. actually However, work? this gradually evolved into a looser relationship, and Montenegrins narrowly voted for independence from Serbia in May 2006. Montenegro The UK is a liberal democracy. This means that we democratically elect politicians, who is now recognised as a separate nation by both Serbia and the EU. represent our interests. It also involves that individual rights are protected. Much more problematic has been Serbia’s relationship with Kosovo, which has a majority (90%) ethnic Albanian population.
    [Show full text]
  • Balkan Wars and the Albanian Issue
    QAFLESHI, MUHARREM, AJHC, 2018; 1:8 Review Article AJHC 2018,1:8 American Journal of History and Culture (ISSN:2637-4919) Balkan Wars and the Albanian issue QAFLESHI, MUHARREM , Mr. Sc. Phd (c) PRISHTINA UNIVERSITY, DEPARTAMENT OF HISTORY Albanian Address: Street “Bil Clinton” nr. n.n. 22060 Bellobrad -Kosovo ABSTRACT This paper will elaborate the collapse of the Turkish rule in the *Correspondence to Author: Balkans and the future fate of Albania, embarking on the new QAFLESHI, MUHARREM plans of the invasive politics of the Balkan Alliance, especially PRISHTINA UNIVERSITY, DEPAR- of Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. Then the dramatic events TAMENT OF HISTORY Albanian during the Balkan Wars 1912-1913, the occupation of Kosovo Address: Street “Bil Clinton” nr. n.n. and other Albanian lands by Serbia, the Albanian resistance with 22060 Bellobrad -Kosovo special focus on Luma, Opoja and Gora. It will also discuss the rapid developments of the Balkan Wars, which accelerated the Declaration of the Independence of Albania on 28 November, How to cite this article: 1912, and organization of the Ambassadors Conference in Lon- QAFLESHI, MUHARREM.Bal- don, which decided to recognize the Autonomy of Albania with kan Wars and the Albanian issue. today’s borders. Then, information about the inhumane crimes of American Journal of History and the Serbian Army against the Albanian freedom-loving people, Culture, 2018,1:8. committing unprecedented crimes against the civilian population, is given. Keywords: Serbia, Montenegro, Ottoman Empire, Gora, Opoja, eSciPub LLC, Houston, TX USA. Luma. For ProofWebsite: Only http://escipub.com/ AJHC: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-history-and-culture/ 0001 QAFLESHI, MUHARREM, AJHC, 2018; 1:8 Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and interested as other Balkan oppressed people to creation of the Balkan Alliance become liberated from the Ottoman yoke.
    [Show full text]
  • Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo
    Peace Agreements Digital Collection Kosovo >> Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo Rambouillet, France - February 23, 1999 Table of Contents Framework Article I: Principles Article II: Confidence-Building Measures Chapter 1: Constitution Article I: Principles of Democratic Self-Government in Kosovo Article II: The Assembly Article III: President of Kosovo Article IV: Government and Administrative Organs Article V: Judiciary Article VI: Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Article VII: National Communities Article VIII: Communes Article IX: Representation Article X: Amendment Article XI: Entry into Force Chapter 2: Police and Civil Public Security Article I: General Principles Article II: Communal Police Article III: Interim Police Academy Article IV: Criminal Justice Commission Article V: Police Operations in Kosovo Article VI: Security on International Borders Article VII: Arrest and Detention Article VIII: Administration of Justice Article IX: Final Authority to Interpret Chapter 3: Conduct and Supervision of Elections Article I: Conditions for Elections Article II: Role of the OSCE Article III: Central Election Commission Chapter 4: Economic Issues Article I Article II Chapter 4a: Humanitarian Assistance, Reconstruction and Economic Development Chapter 5: Implementation I Article I: Institutions Article II: Responsibilities and Powers Article III: Status of Implementation Mission Article IV: Process of Implementation Article V: Authority to Interpret Chapter
    [Show full text]
  • Violence in Kosovo
    VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO: Who's Killing Whom? ICG Balkans Report N°78 Prishtinë/Pristina - London - Washington, 2 November 1999 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 1 II. RADICALISED KOSOVO ALBANIANS................................................................ 3 III. THE KLA TARGETING MINORITIES ................................................................... 5 IV. SERB PARAMILITARIES ..................................................................................... 8 V. CRIMINALS FROM ALBANIA ............................................................................ 10 VI. POLITICAL RIVALS............................................................................................ 12 A. Bujar Bukoshi and the LDK......................................................................................12 B. The KLA and its Political Adherents......................................................................... 13 VII. THE SECURITY SHORTFALL............................................................................ 14 VIII. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 16 IX. RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................... 18 A. Internal Security.......................................................................................................18 B. Deradicalising the Albanian Majority .......................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Kosovo Serbs
    REPORT Small arms and security in South Eastern Europe Bonn International Center for Conversion, Friedrich Naumann Foundation and Saferworld The Kosovo Serbs: An ethnic minority between collaboration and defiance Anna Matveeva and Wolf-Christian Paes June 2003 The Kosovo Serbs: An ethnic minority between collaboration and defiance Anna Matveeva and Wolf-Christian Paes BONN INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR CONVERSION, FRIEDRICH NAUMANN FOUNDATION AND SAFERWORLD JUNE 2003 Acknowledgements This report was produced as part of Saferworld’s small arms project in South Eastern Europe. Saferworld is grateful to the UK Government for funding their small armsproject. Further project funding was provided by the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation. The authors would like to thank Duncan Hiscock and Chrissie Hirst for editing the report and Marc v. Boemken, Luitgard Hammerer,Yves del Monaco and Simon Rynn for their advice and individual contributions. All photographs used were taken by Wolf-Christian Paes. Contents Serb communities in Kosovo 4 Acronyms 5 Foreword 6 Preface 8 1 Introduction 10 2 History of the conflict 12 3 On a life-support machine: The situation of the 21 Kosovo Serbs 4 Kosovo Serb politics 27 5 Guns and security 38 6 International policies towards Kosovo 43 7 Options for the future of Kosovo 47 Bibliography 50 Appendix 1: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 52 (1999) Serb communities in Kosovo Nis River Ibar Novi Pazar Kursumlija Leposavic SERBIA River Ibar Potok Zveçan Podujevo MONTENEGRO Mitrovica Medveda Rozaj Vucitrn Istok Srbica Obilic
    [Show full text]
  • Community Revitalization Through Democratic Action – Economy Program
    COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION THROUGH DEMOCRATIC ACTION – ECONOMY PROGRAM FINAL REPORT JULY 15, 2001 – JULY 15, 2007 AGREEMENT NUMBER: 169-A-00-01-00124-00 Submitted to USAID/Serbia By America's Development Foundation October 2007 America’s Development Foundation 101 North Union Street, Suite 200 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 Tel. (703) 836-2717 www.adfusa.org List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ADF America’s Development Foundation AoR Area of Responsibility ASB Arbeiter Samariter Bund Deutschland BSRC Business Service Resource Center CBC Cross Border Cooperation CDA Community Development Association CDC Community Development Center CE "Conformité Européene" CHF Cooperative Housing Federation CRDA Community Revitalization through Democratic Action CRDA-E Community Revitalization through Democratic Action – Economy EAR European Agency for Reconstruction EU European Union FI Flag International FPRH Family Planning and Reproductive Health HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points IESC International Executive Service Corps IFC International Finance Corporation IR Intermediate Result LED Local Economic Development MAFWM Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management MEGA Municipal Economic Growth Activity MZ Mesna Zajednica PRS Project Reporting System SIEPA Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency SO Strategic Objective SWG Sectoral Working Group T&TA Training and Technical Assistance TOT Training of Trainers USDA US Department of Agriculture WB World Bank I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 II. PROGRAM OVERVIEW 6 II.1. Background 6 II.2. Methodology 6 II.2.1. The ADF Team 6 II.2.2. Program Design 7 II.2.3. Selection of Municipalities and Communities / Geographical Coverage 7 II.2.4. Community Mobilization 8 Clustering as an approach 12 Program change – CRDA becomes CRDA-E 12 II.2.5.
    [Show full text]
  • Serbia and Montenegro
    Serbia and Montenegro Self-rule INSTITUTIONAL DEPTH AND POLICY SCOPE Serbia and Montenegro, the legal successor of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was a federation between 1992 and 2002, a confederation between 2003 and 2006, and becaMe two independent states in June 2006 (Batt 2002, 2007; Crnohrnja 2002). 1 The federation and confederation consisted of two republics: Serbia (Republika Srbija) and Montenegro (Republika Crna Gora). Serbia contained two autonomous regions, Kosovo (Kosovo i Metohija) and Vojvodina (Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina). Serbia was divided into twentY-nine okruzi (districts), of which five districts are in Kosovo, plus the capital city of Belgrade (Beograd) which also served as a district. Montenegro had no intermediate tier. The 1992 constitution listed federal competences and granted the constituent republics residual powers. AMong federal competences were civil rights, regulation of the single Market (including standard setting on agricultural, health, and pharmaceutical products), the environment, health, regional development, science and technology, transportation, territorial waters, property rights, social security and labor standards, foreign relations, customs, iMMigration, and defense (C 1992, Art. 77). All other Matters fell within the jurisdiction of the republics, including the right to conduct foreign relations and conclude treaties on Matters within their competence. Citizenship was a competence of the republics, with the proviso that citizens of a republic were automatically citizens of Serbia–Montenegro and enjoyed equal rights and duties in the other republic, except for the right to vote and be elected (C 1992, Art. 17). The constitutional revision of 2003 restricted confederal competences to defense, iMMigration, international law, standardization, intellectual property, and free MoveMent of people (C 2003, Art.
    [Show full text]
  • Kosovo Country Handbook This Handbook Provides Basic Reference
    Kosovo Country Handbook This handbook provides basic reference information on Kosovo, including its geography, history, government, military forces, and communications and trans- portation networks. This information is intended to familiarize military per sonnel with local customs and area knowledge to assist them during their assignment to Kosovo. The Marine Corps Intel ligence Activity is the community coordinator for the Country Hand book Program. This product reflects the coordinated U.S. Defense Intelligence Community position on Kosovo. Dissemination and use of this publication is restricted to official military and government personnel from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other countries as required and designated for support of coalition operations. The photos and text reproduced herein have been extracted solely for research, comment, and information reporting, and are intended for fair use by designated personnel in their official duties, including local reproduction for training. Further dissemination of copyrighted material contained in this docu ment, to include excerpts and graphics, is strictly prohibited under Title 17, U.S. Code. CONTENTS KEY FACTS .................................................................... 1 U.S. Embassy .............................................................. 2 U.S. Liaison ............................................................... 2 Travel Advisories ........................................................ 3 Entry Requirements ..................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Distribution and Conservation Status of Some Rare and Threatened Orchid
    Wulfenia 24 (2017): 143 –162 Mitteilungen des Kärntner Botanikzentrums Klagenfurt Distribution and conservation status of some rare and threatened orchid taxa in the central Balkans and the southern part of the Pannonian Plain Vladan Djordjević, Dmitar Lakušić, Slobodan Jovanović & Vladimir Stevanović Summary: Along with being a centre of plant species diversity and endemism, the Balkan Peninsula is one of the parts of Europe with the highest number of orchid taxa. However, the orchid flora in the central Balkans has not been sufficiently studied. The paper presents the distribution of ten rare and threatened taxa of Orchidaceae in the central Balkans and the southern part of the Pannonian Plain: Anacamptis papilionacea, Epipactis palustris, E. purpurata, Epipogium aphyllum, Goodyera repens, Gymnadenia frivaldii, Ophrys apifera, O. insectifera, Orchis militaris and O. spitzelii subsp. spitzelii. In addition to field investigation, checking and revision of herbarium material, literature sources were also used for supplementing distribution data. The distribution maps of these taxa in the central Balkans (Serbia and Kosovo region) and the southern part of the Pannonian Plain (Vojvodina) are created on a 10 km × 10 km UTM grid system. Data concerning their habitat preferences, population size and the estimated IUCN conservation status in the study area are provided. Keywords: Orchidaceae, phytogeography, IUCN conservation status, Balkan Peninsula The orchid family is one of the largest and most diverse families in the plant kingdom with estimates of about 28 000 species distributed in about 763 genera (Chase et al. 2015; Christenhusz & Byng 2016). According to Hágsater & Dumont (1996), over 300 orchid species occur in Europe, North Africa and Near East.
    [Show full text]