136. The decay of cases in Molisean Croatian

This paper discusses the use of cases in Molise Slavonic, a high contact South Slavonic variety spoken in Southern Italy by about 1,000 speakers. Based on available texts and on data from informants, we show that cases are still realized by older, fluent speakers, even though the extent to which they actually contribute to distinguishing meanings is limited. As a consequence, case morphology is no longer mastered by younger semi-speakers. The absence of fluent speakers among young generations is thus leading to the decay of the case system. Patterns of reduction of case meanings in Molise Slavonic are similar to those found in other high contact Slavonic varieties.