Nobody understands this language..find out why! 🇮🇹

Aquaviva Collecroce (or as the locals call it, Kruć), Italy. In the southern Italian region of Molise exist 3 towns which were historically settled by Croats in the 1500's. 500 years later, Croats still inhabit these picturesque Italian towns and apparently speak a variety of the Croatian language to this day.
0:00 Croats in Italy!?
2:33 Italian Train FAILURES
7:40 Europe's SMALLEST Street
11:51 Italy's CROATIAN Town!
20:12 HISTORY of Aquaviva
25:23 Village Life
31:02 Back to Civilization!
It seemed crazy to me that a language could survive for over half a millennium in a foreign country, so I decided to investigate. I met many of the Italian Croats and spoke with them in both Italian and Croatian. However, most people there didn't speak much of the Croatian that I've learned while travelling the Balkans. To my surprise, they had their own proper language! And don't try to call this Croatian-based language in Molise a dialect, it's a proper language and is recognized by the Italian government as such :)
As a final note, it was great to finally see the region of Molise, which many Italians say doesn't exist! Well, in this video we put this myth to rest! Molise is real and so are the Molise Croats! Come join me on this adventure!
Thanks for watching as always! Grazie di aver guardato! Hvala za gledanje!
Special thanks to Carlo and Sedo for translation/subtitle help!
#molise #languages

[@kVjeko]

Amazing video. I live in Istria, Croatia and I understand almost everything they are saying! I do speak čakavski dialect of Croatian which is also spoken in Dalmatia. And also Italian. People that only speak standard Croatian might understand less but still at least 50%. Here we also say that we speak in our langugage - "po našu", whish you do well - "stoj mi dobro" etc. That was awesome. Thanks.

[@BenTheRules]

Interesting, yeah a lot of people have said it’s similar to some of the older dialects in Croatia. Growing up in Croatia do a lot of people speak in dialect, or in standard Croatian in the home? Hvala za gledanje!

[@kVjeko]

@@BenTheRules in rural places people speak dialects all the time(Istria, croatian Islands), in towns and cities people speak standard. But in general most people know how to speak standard.

[@stipe3124]

​​@@kVjeko Ma rijetki su ti koji pričaju čisti standard čak i kad pričaju većinom standard, naprimjer ima ono poznato pretvaranje Gdje u Di i slične pojave, najbliže standardu možda pričaju u Slavoniji ali sa jakim naglaskom dok ostatak miša sve i svašta. In general People mostly mix dialect and standard and not many people use completely dialect or completely standard. Btw BenTheRules just see a clip from this old show called "Naše Malo Misto" and you will hear a perfect example of Chakavian dialect still spoken in Croatia (but less than before)

[@safiralancia5054]

​@@BenTheRulesit very varies 😂

[@lndnsky]

This is amazing. Im from Dalmatia and I can understand them completly. I knew about their language but never heard it. Even in school we learned about it and called on Moliški hrvatski.

[@markopejatovic256]

As an Italo-Croatian, this video is hilarious, hearing a southern Italian accent guy speaking also Croatian fluently.. That's mind blowing

[@12.56AM]

as an istrian I'm not amused like that, just find it interesting that there are more communities something similar to mine out there haha

[@andrijajuvancic5812]

As a Croat i can confirm that only reason train was late is because it was going to Croatian village. Railroads associated with Croatia are always late :P

[@MirjanaMatolic-id6oz]

Ma svuda zakasnjenje...nismo Japan...

[@bvonm9557]

ma daj nismo Svabe cak

[@AleksandarGrozdanoski]

*associated with the Balkans 😅

[@aquss33]

HŽPP moment, these f*ing trains in Croatia (Križevci to Zagreb especially) are often like 45 or more minutes late, like how?

[@BatkoBrat]

I am from Montenegro and I understood these guys a lot, like 60% :) Nice video! expanding my knowledge. Also, when the granddaughter called him "piša" i believe she was calling him a wiener in a "cute" and "childish" way :D

[@ivansostarec2564]

As a Croatian, this video means a lot. Its a beautiful peace of history you recorded there. Veery interesting and beautiful. Thank you for documenting this!!❤

[@BenTheRules]

Nema na čemu! thank you for watching

[@themitri5643]

@@BenTheRules thats Serbian again. you both should learn some croatian, just as this video proves

[@tzvsrbisuhrvati5531]

@@themitri5643 servian language doesn't exist dear orthodox Croat.

[@themitri5643]

@@tzvsrbisuhrvati5531 hahahahhahaaaa

[@tzvsrbisuhrvati5531]

@@themitri5643 šta ti je smiješno? Vi ste Hrvati pravoslavne vjeroispovijesti miješani sa Bugarima na istoku.

[@nikolared]

I'm Croatian but I heard this story about Molise Croats for the first time. Thank you for expanding my knowledge about my nation.

[@BenTheRules]

nema na čemu! thanks for watching

[@LjubicaP]

Nikola ja sam iz Crne Gore i za moliske Hrvate sam saznala sasvim slucajno prije par mjeseci. Pogledala sam sve videe pa cak i iz 1967...Malo je reci da sam oduševljena da i nakon toliko vremena cuvaju jezik koji zovu " na naso" i svoju tradiciju. Tako da pogledam svaki video sto se tice te teme. Mnoge rijeci i sama razumijem.

[@marko.arapovic6033]

​@@LjubicaPCuvajte i vi svoje Ljubo, jer vam kradu identit preko straznjih vrata.

[@mojcamoksa]

Im also from Slovenia and Croatia (dvojno državljanstvo) a mi očitno ogromno ni jasno

[@filipnovak1902]

same

[@kastro99]

When they want to ask "How are you", they say "Kako stojiš", literally meaning "How are you standing?" When Nicola said "Za sada siduć" it means literally "right now I am sitting". It's a fun play on words, because although you asked "how are you", the phrase in Croatian involves the word "standing", so he answered jokingly that he isn't standing, but rather sitting! You can also ask someone "Kako se držiš?" - it also means "How are you", but literally translated its "how are you holding (up)?" These weird phrases are common in Croatian. Amazing video BTW loved it!

[@vukasinristanovic5940]

Mnogo zanimljivi jezici

[@deejagers716]

@@vukasinristanovic5940 svaka cast ljudima da i dalje zele dgovoriti svojim jezikom posle 500 godina. Ovde gde ja zivim u EU ne postoji skola na "nasem" jeziku. Verovatno zato sto svo svi razbacani a neki zele da se to zove Bopsanski, drugi Hrvatski treci Srpski, ... tuzno. Bas sam odusevljen ovim ljudima u Italiji.

[@MCFC-OK1219]

and in bulgarian, that's where most of those originate from

[@sgerianda]

Maybe kako stojiš is the translation from Italian for how are you, which is come stai?/kako stojiš in literal translation.

[@DeadzyW3]

Could translate it as Where do you stand as in Kako stojiš sa kintom!

[@LennonWayne]

BTW: I'm a Burgenland-Croat, we speak also a quite archaic version of Croatian as the ancestors came here in the 17th century. You are welcome to visit us as well! ;)

[@meduzsazsa8490]

Pričaj mi malo na gradišćanskohrvatskom 🙂

[@anaximanderofapollonia9842]

Ako moze, zapocni s nekim uobicajenim psovkama, cisto da cujem kako su "kleli nasi stari."

[@LennonWayne]

​@@meduzsazsa8490 Naš jezik je malo arhaičan, slično moliškom jeziku, je 500 ljet. Umjesto turcizamov imamo čuda madžarizamov. U mojem selu govori se štokovsko-čakavska ikavica. Imali smo pred nekoliko ljet slovenskoga farnika, zato koristimo i neke slovenske riči. Deklinacija je u nekoliko padeži malo drugačija. "Prijevod": Naš jezik je malo arhaičan, sličan moliškom jeziku, je očuvan već 500 godina. Umjesto turcizama, imamo puno mađarizama. U mom selu govori se štokavsko-čakavska ikavica. Prije nekoliko godina imali smo slovenskog župnika, pa stoga koristimo i neke slovenske riječi. Deklinacija je u nekoliko padeža malo drugačija.

[@meduzsazsa8490]

@@LennonWayne zanimljivo, fora su mi ovi padeži. Samo nastavite koristiti svoj standard i narjecja i nemojte se prilagodjavati nama

[@paralambano.]

hahahahaahaha legendo @@anaximanderofapollonia9842

[@marijamociccikanovic4233]

I understood almost every word. Born and raised in Croatia. Moliški Hrvati speak dialect so that's the reason why their language is so diffrent from modern standard croatian language. Very interesting story and I admire their speak croatia after 500 years. It is amazing 😊

[@PROUD_TITOIST]

As a Serb from Mačva i understand it as easily as people here,funnily enough easier than people from lets say Belgrade or Vranje or Subotica

[@Alex10DelPiero29]

I'm italian and believe me, I had never heard of them before. Wow! thanks for everything you did. Awesome documentary.

[@cetriemmmmm7177]

I have a reverse story. My great grandfather came from Italy to Croatia. (To Fiume). As a kid I spoke with my grandad fiumano. It was also an Italo-Croatian combo. Now I feel like we're not alone. I have to go to Molise and explore this.

[@gojko27]

Pozdrav iz Rijeke :)

[@cetriemmmmm7177]

@@gojko27 svaka čast! Pozdrav!

[@AnteGV1950]

još jedan pozdraviz Rijeke

[@marinpope1729]

Saluti da Fiume

[@adrianosverko6601]

If you are interested, you should visit NY and NJ because it is Croatian and Italian immigrants from Trieste to Rijeka that built many hospitality places in the area. Piccolo Trieste, Dario's, Piccolo Venezia, Villa Vozila, Nimo's. Then there's Lidija Bastianich and her legacy. And that's only food.

[@miroslavkusek5916]

Only the accents are a bit confusing, but once the pattern is understood, almost everything can be understood. It is a branch of the Croatian Chakavian dialect.

[@renator8257]

This dialect derives from Stokavian Ikavian dialect

[@valvuksinic5204]

​@@renator8257it can't be stokavian. Check when stokavian spread. Cakavian is older and was spoken in dalmatia and istria, while kajkavski was spoken in rest of nowadays Croatian region

[@dragutintheslav-veliki790]

@@renator8257 Not at all, the sing he was reading, it was clearly influenced a lot by Croatian Chakavian dialect. Even when they speak, it sounds a lot like Chakavian as opposed to Stokavian.

[@Bleilock1]

​@@renator8257štokavski was literally created in 19th century Before that we had kajkavski and ćakavski for 500 years and longer, in various old slavic forms

[@renator8257]

@@Bleilock1 All linguistic studies (M.Resetar) have shown that the language spoken by the three villages are related to the Stokavian dialect (Ikavian is one more difference) except that the word "What?" it is not pronounced "Sto" but "Ca"! Linguists explain that particular point by the fact that this language was influenced by the Cakavian dialect when there was a mixing of peoples

[@krunoslavkovacec1842]

The story of Moliški Hrvati (Molise Croats) is astonishing, but also their destiny is sort of sad...the assimilation led to most people abandoning their Croatian identity and the language. There used to be about 10 towns full of Croats but now it's just a couple thousand Croats in the three towns. Thank you for this so much.

[@jeandellagjianni3548]

similar to the Arbershe of Italy who also arrived in Italy from the 15th century. during the Ottoman invasion and genocide of the balkans.., interestingly there are also 4 arbereshe villages in Molise, Campobasso province. namely. Campomarino: Këmarini, Montecilfone: Munxhufuni, Portocannone: Portkanuni and Ururi: Rùri. with many others having been assimilated into the Italian fabric, which is totally understandable,, considering they have been in Italy longer than the Italian repuplic even existed. Garibldi 1861

[@matteoradin4007]

@krunoslavkovacec1842 this is unfortunately the destiny of the minorities… same is happening in the northern part of istria with the Italian, when I was a little kid i heard a lot of Italian around me. Now that I’m older it’s less and less. I hear even small kids, both from Italian families speak Croatian between them, it’s pretty sad but it is what it is

[@a7HKdAbmET]

@@matteoradin4007 In many places near the Adriatic coast that kind of Italian heritage faded away, true. Mostly due to Italian irredentism and subsequent communist oppression during 20th century. And it's a shame, really. At least it's common for Croatians in Istria and Dalmatia to speak Italian as a second language, so it won't be as easy to root the heritage out.

[@crotomi65]

​@@a7HKdAbmET what heritage? Italians tried to colonise our coastlines and we threw them away. We hate imperialism.

[@josipag2185]

​@@a7HKdAbmET Don't forget that influx of the easterners, who are now buliding those concrete huge buildings without any control. My gandpa made the better of stone almost a century ago.

[@josiprakonca2185]

Very interesting for me as a Croatian, I'm fascinated by Croatian communities around Europe that emigrated from our country during Ottoman times.

[@baz3575]

​@@jimharrington6300If the majority of their ancestors were Croats their DNA markers will reflect that. Culturally the are more Italian but that does not change your DNA.

[@exalfisti]

Jako interesantno, Hvala! Iskreno, Bravo braco da i nakon 500 godina niste zaboravili na naš Pozdrav od jednog Srbina iz njemacke

[@MrYugo68]

😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@djfunkychicken]

Braaah !! Another 500 years more and no one is even Catholic

[@dadanene6820]

DIJE VANGO TABINGO

[@alicesluytermanvanlangewey1748]

I am german but speak croatian since my mum is a socalled Svabica / Donauschwäbin who left former Jugoslavia when she was 15. Only the past 3 years I got to know and love Rovinj and was surprised at first how vivid italian is there, this year learning about their dialect which is like kind of a language mixture. Now this the first time that I learn about Croats in Italy. Very interesting, Thank you!

[@florkgagga]

Funny thing about the italian language spoken in Rovinj. Afaik it is different from the Italian spoken north of the Mirna river, it's less veneziano in Rovinj.

[@ararune3734]

Yes Švaba is a regional name for a German, actual German, not those who speak German, like Austrians. Some people here in Croatia still call Germans Švabe, mostly in Dalmatia, I don't know about other regions

[@danp420]

I'm from central Italy and never heard of this, thank you for showing me a part of my country I was not aware of :)

[@BenTheRules]

di niente! grazie di guardare :)

[@fritula6200]

Please visit them and give them our !ove..l we here are the DIASPORA!

[@zugi]

As a Croatian I understand most of it and would not agree with you saying it's not Croatian. My grandparents spoke using a lot of old words which is same or similar to 'their' language. And their language is and was Croatian even if it is old Croatian.

[@travelerromilly]

Agreed

[@BenTheRules]

@zugi fair enough! I said that in the video since I really understood almost nothing of what they were saying. Ali moji hrvatski nije toliko dobro za znati razlika pa dobar je da ti si pisao tvoj koment. hvala!

[@kocostamatis3080]

​@@BenTheRulestako je Benjamin....Hrvatski standardni jezik jeste jedna stvar a kad odeš u razna sela naći ćeš mnogo starih dijalekata koji liče mnogo na "na našo". Moja baba je rodom iz Karlovca I mnogo slično se pričalo u njenom selu. Bog te blagoslovio I hvala što si posjetio našu dragu braću u Moliseu. Just want to tell you that I get major Croatian vibes from you. As you were speaking towards the end of the video Stipe Miočić came to mind....you have a similar energy and look in the eyes. God bless you and safe travels dragi naš. 🇭🇷❤🇭🇷

[@davorlekenik9563]

​@@BenTheRules Kako stojiš ?? - Kako si ??

[@BenTheRules]

@@kocostamatis3080 hvala ti za fino komentaru :)

[@Sena-uv9sc]

Great clip in just 1h visit. Oduševljena sam da si iskoristio znanje roditelja i naučio još 2 jezika. Nažalost puno djece ne nauči materinji jezik roditelja. I'm impressed.

[@tomislavmatic4458]

In the city of Rijeka (Fiume) there is a completely opposite situation, so there is an authentic Italian community (minorità - Fiumani), that speak also an unique dialect of Italian (that could be considered a language)-that has the opposite influence, so croatian words in italian. Fiuman (la lingua) is a derivation of the veneto dialect.

[@freezing5]

Unfortunately "Slav" has been a collective word used by Italians for anyone east of Italy. They seem to resist distinguishing them.

[@jaba134]

Maybe they are Bosnians also...

[@josipag2185]

​​​​​@@jaba134 They aren't. Bosnians in general liked Turks, so why would they run? Actually as a Dalmatian I will explain. Dalmatia was always Dalmatia, and even in AHE and even before (you can see in Budapest the coat of arms) there were three slavic parts - Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia. They didn't live united and they didn't have any sense for nation state, as this came later after French revolution. So, you see, those languges weren't latino languages but slavic, and that is the reason why. And they if something would have consider themselves Dalmatians, before Croatians for sure. Like people do today. But Dalmatia was fractioned in Croats like pirates Kacics and Uskoks, other Croats that fought for Venice (Croati a cavallo i soldati albanesi were the mlst important fighters for La Serenissima actually Croats were the only one tried to beat Napolen in Venice) , some lived in Ragusa, there was this Dutchy Dubrovnik for poors, Poljica, then net of the ports like Split, Zadar,.. all the way to Pula, Rovinj, Porec and the islands was Venice Stato di Mare. What would those people have in common with modern state Croatia? Not much. And why would they? It is a political entity. Croats had this wild barbaric kingdom under Regnum Francorum, named Regnum Croatorum that they loved so much they didn't want to obey their king and fight some random muslims in Jerusalem so after his death (there is a legend they killed him) they happily lived in peace with Hungarian king they prefered (who was far enough and sane enough not to send them to some crussades). Then the Ottomans came so, yeah and Hungarian nationalism in AHE provoked that panslavci movement, that turned in Yugoslavia after their beloved AHE died. Croats wanted Habsuburgs, while Hungarians elected Ivan Zapolya, who was ethnic Croat. So you see. In medieval times they didn't care for nation state that didn't exist, they cared for their local interes.

[@jaba134]

@@josipag2185 I mean the Bosnian Catholics, if we are talking about the migration from the 15th-16th centuries. The term Croats has existed in Bosnia only since the 19th century. Considering that you have solidly explained some historical medieval topics, I believe that you also know this one. Historically and genetically, Dalmatia is closer to Bosnia and Illyrianism (not only geographically) than it is to Slavic Croatia.

[@josipag2185]

@@jaba134 Ok. But it is confusing, because if they go by that nam, I guess then Croatia wltoday would be full of Bosnian Catholics, as far as I know they call themselves Croats or at tops Bosnian Croats and Herzegovians ( probably wrong, I can't spell this one)

[@tduic]

Huh, amazing video, place and history. Another Istrian from Croatia who understands them very well. Thanks for that, I might visit the place. One thing: invidia means jealousy, not invasion, when the guy in the wheelchair talked about Montemitro and Aquaviva residents. :)

[@BenTheRules]

AH yes you’re so right, idk how I missed that even while I was editing. Thank you for the correction and the comment! Pozdrav :)

[@ivanhus3852]

I would ask the administrator of this video to ban all the people who send hateful messages against Croatia and Croats in the comments. I am referring to the comments of frustrated Serbs who have nothing better to do than look for videos on KZbin about Croats and Croatia. Thank you.

[@jeandellagjianni3548]

Did you know that Croations of Italy have a very similar story to that of the Arbereshe of Italy also known as Albanians of Italy who fled Ottoman persecution. and funny enough there are also four Arbereshe villages in the Molise region in the same province of Campobasso. the four main Arbereshe villages in Molise Province of Campobasso: are. Campomarino: Këmarini, Montecilfone: Munxhufuni, Portocannone: Portkanuni, Ururi: Rùri and of course there is also a community of Molise Croats in Campobasso which are: Acquaviva Collecroce (Kruč), San Felice del Molise (Štifilić) and Montemitro (Mundimitar)

[@user-di7ww6pm3c]

🤦‍♂️

[@AB-vb2mm]

Interesting! Same reasons to flee from osmanian terror!

[@LayllasLocker]

My maternal grandpa was Croatian - Dalmatian. I always felt a deep connection to that region and their dialect. This was precious to watch. ♥ Kudos for speaking Croatian and Italian as American. :D

[@antondavidoff150]

serbo-croatian ..also known as montenegrin, bosnian, croatian and serbian

[@don_peleon]

@@antondavidoff150 dont embarrass yourself they all speak broken Croatian language just like those people in the video

[@antondavidoff150]

@@don_peleon thats true.. it is very broken.. but you know what i was also thinking about at earlier times... that we, all of us today speak very broken language nowdays (language being verbal communication).. what i mean is really that Old Indo Europian languages like sanskrit or old slavic etc. were having so many more words explanining certain variation of certain things.. today we have some mild to heavy verison of New-Speak (orwelian) an impoverished language that limits people ability to comunicate properly esspecially on spiritual / emotional themes..

[@joeychestnut2437]

@@antondavidoff150 serbs spoke bulgarian in earlier times (before karadzic). lets get that straight.

[@antondavidoff150]

@@joeychestnut2437 bulgarian what ? if the bulgarian name is turcik in origin then there is no way we can talk about bulgarian language "authority" as slavic over other slavic languages.. we can talk about thrachian, dacian, macedonian or illyrian language all of them simillar all of them protoslavic !!!

[@trcimalo763]

This is very interesting... I was always curious about the "moliški hrvati", thank you so much for making this video! Love from Split, Croatia!

[@deniszovko8274]

Super tema prvi put cujem za tu pricu respekt care samo tako dalje❤

[@MaTiCeK]

Great video! I’m from Slovenia. And the old Croatian words are very similar to Slovene words. Very interesting indeed.

[@mze1986]

Just like in the Kajkavski dialect in Croatia, many old slavic words, all slavs have the same roots and oure language changed during the migration of the tribes. The similarities of all Slavic languages is a very interesting topic!

[@soulie1971]

Yes, because Slovenian language is most archaic of all Slavic languages and most similar to old church Slavic. Their language did not develop due to small group speaking it.

[@johnmyer4010]

This is why us slovenians understand bits and pieces in every slavic language

[@shiatsufurlan]

I thought the same! :)

[@mze1986]

​@@johnmyer4010Anyone who speaks a Slavic language is capable of this lol

[@marduma8164]

Hvala za ovaj video! ❤

[@zixym]

woooow dude,great video,thanks for it

[@Ivan_-dm5eq]

So glad this video got recomended to me, video is so good. You deserve more subscribers!

[@mariocolic4943]

Odličan video! Hvala Vam!

[@TheRealFilox]

Greetings from Croatia. So you learned to speak Croatian and Italian, that is so cool. Love the video, keep it up.

[@lukagajdek3256]

wholesome video bro, the conversation with the old guy was so pure you made his year for sure.. I am from Zagreb Croatia and also had no idea about this town but the story is cool as fuck, thank you for effort:)

[@MarcusLangbart]

I live 20km from Acquaviva and I respect your adventure and investigation spirit. It's very hard to travel through Molise, especially little villages, given how bad is the public transport from the coastal town of Termoli or even from Campobasso. Even if you have a car the quality of the roads is abysmal sometimes, but I love my rural region off the beaten tracks. thanks for showing an underrated part of italy and salute to all the croats! What I also like from Acquaviva is that they do special spring ritual at the beginning of May (Maja) with a man moving from the inside a big structure made of flowers and trees branches, something my village shares with them.

[@eldar68]

Thank you for this amazing video!

[@alexandargabric]

This is just awesome! Never knew that these people exist! I could understand most of things they were saying, but I was trying really hard. Just an awesome video!

[@gwengardner853]

Amazing video as always Ben! Thanks for letting all of us tag along on your adventures through your videos :)

[@BenTheRules]

Thanks for coming along Gwen!

[@CABaaL1337]

Very interesting, I am from Dubrovnik and I understood most of it. Also we still use some of the same words in our Dubrovnik dialect (for example kučak for dog). Nice video.

[@sgerianda]

Didn't know about this usage kučak in Dubrovnik, thx. Am from Zagreb.

[@nicoladibara1936]

@@sgerianda Ne samo u Dubrovniku nego i na Pelješcu je pas “kučak.”

[@MirjanaMatolic-id6oz]

Pa kuja,kuce je mali pas..kucka je poznato pogrdno, cuko , pas cukeci tj.pasji zivot...ker kazu mnogi kera u Vojvodini...

[@fingolf6272]

@@sgerianda I kucin na otoku Visu

[@bogdanobradovic6710]

Ako vas interesuje odakle potiče reč "kuče" iliti iskrivljeno "kučak" kucajte na guglu Šumadija. Pozdrav 🇷🇸

[@gina5245]

Thanks for this. Found this very interesting. 😊

[@timrevis5155]

Thank you for this. It was very well done

[@panajotov]

Kakva divna priča! Thanks to algorithm, I could see this gem. This video made my week. Ben, thank you for sharing it!

[@rosopasnomotors5300]

Visit the island of Krk in Croatia, there is a small town called Vrbnik, one street is narrower then that one in Termolli and the language is the closest to "naš jezik" in Kruč.. Great video 👍

[@BenTheRules]

If the street is truly narrower then I don't think I'll be able to fit...

[@rosopasnomotors5300]

@@BenTheRules you have to go sideways 😉

[@davorlekenik9563]

​@@BenTheRules...which US state ??

[@BenTheRules]

@@davorlekenik9563 NY!

[@davorlekenik9563]

@@BenTheRules Woooow !!! New York !!!! Twin Towers (former😭😭).... Some of my relatives & my friends was there in 80's & 90's ....and my aunt was there , believe or not ,exactly ome year before attack ....9/11/2000 ....at Windows on the world restaurant !!!

[@Pulsatilla_Tacchinardi]

Very interesting video... hvala ti što si se potrudio... svaka ti čast!

[@dokumentit]

Excellent work! Thanks on video!

[@me-peter2085]

Ben, I am from Croatia and adore non-mainstream travel videos (eg Bald and Bankrupt). Needless to say you have a new subscriber for life 😂 If you are ever in Zagreb, or need a tip about anything in Croatia from Istria to Vukovar, from Varazdin to Dubrovnik-just let me know. Have a great one

[@BenTheRules]

Hey there, I'm glad you enjoyed the video! I've also watched quite a bit of Bald and Bankrupt if you can't tell hahah. I also do enjoy Zagreb quite a bit, so I'm sure I'll be back before long. hvala tebi za geldanje!

[@jasminmas3139]

Croatia is FAKE nation and FAKE country.

[@lukatore123]

And your name is also Benjamin 😀

[@janosszentpeteri1922]

@@BenTheRules Hi! You said the name Felice Lasanga which I assume that's an Italian name. Does that mean you have Italian ancestors too? No offend intended, simply curious. Have a great weekend!

[@Alexander-rr6yn]

@@janosszentpeteri1922 There is only pride in having Italian ancestors. The greatest people in history

[@M4dAf4ka]

Great video Ben. Greeting from Monteegro.

[@zvonimirkljajic4473]

Great video, really made my day!

[@gojvac7422]

Thank you for this video :)

[@pospanipas]

The language written reminds me of a mix of Dalmatian dialect of Croatian + the dialect in Zagorje (sounds like a mix of Slovenian & Croatian). Both are not standard Croatian, but are heavily present in their respective local regions today. I felt real joy watching you interact with these people.of Kruč.

[@bondmood]

Hi. I'm a first time viewer for your videos. 👋 This was interesting. Nice! I enjoyed those gentlemen you talked with and hearing you speak Italian, etc. Keep up the good work! Subscribed!

[@BenTheRules]

I’m happy you enjoyed. Thanks for watching + commenting 😃

[@stjepanloncaric9944]

Apsolutno sve razumijem. Hrvat iz Zagreba. Samo odgajan za razumjet sve hrvatske jezične idiome. To je zanimljiv i složen slučaj. Pogledaj npr. "Ozaljski književni krug". Congratulations on your italian language , and video. And your running. As a kid, I was also in Molise, some 50 years ago. Pozdrav srdačni / cordial regards😊 Stjepan Lončarić

[@mermerac9610]

Great reporting. Keep it up.

[@theazevse4431]

I love the video! Keep it up man! You got a heads up from Croat myself

[@gjurox640]

It's amazing how preserved Croatian language is in Molisse. If you're from Dalmatia, you could very easily understand them. And you're awesome dude, you speak english, italian and croatian!!! In Dalmatia "che ora e" goes like "koja je ura" :)

[@josipag2185]

Che ora is literally italian. You just miss the è? Che ora è? They got this from italian ,and Chakavian got ura it from latin and dalmatian, dead language since the end of 19th century.

[@PROUD_TITOIST]

I can understand them as a Serbian from Mačva but it is a bit hard cuz of dialect and some words that are kind of changed cuz of it,i can normally understand Serbo-Croatian language(also Montenegrian and Bosnian if you include them as languages but for me it is one language as well as it is written in 1850) but dialect can be a bit tought to underand if it is from Istria ,Dalmatia and overall western part,but understandable

[@josipag2185]

@@PROUD_TITOIST I wished that the author filmed them talking not from the distance, so that all of you could answer him what they were talking about at that station. And I am 100% sure that literally none of you, unless you speak italian and neapolitan dialect, and Stokavian of Dubrovnik area or so with a lot of italianisms could actually have a normal conversation with them. Because the author could read, and he is fluent in both italian and Stokavian so y'all are funny and imaginitve, lol.

[@PROUD_TITOIST]

@@josipag2185 not really It would be hard ofc but 80-90% of things i could understand probably The thing is if you have a common language base you could understand it much easier than someone from another language family ehich has no connection to it I wouldnt umderstand Italian parts of their talk but most of Croatian i would that is what im saying

[@Kokolo-ze2cp]

​@@PROUD_TITOISTno such thing as "Serbo-Croatian", we respect you but we don't want you in our business, understand that already it's 2023

[@adrianosverko6601]

I am a Croat-American. I live in Mexico and the USA. This is right up my alley because we have Croat-Italians, Croat -Colombians, and Croat-Borriquas (Puerto Rico) and -Mexicans, running around. I understood everything because I am from Istria. I wish we had more of these videos where we share and talk about business and opportunities. For example, Latitude 22 in Los Cabos was started by a Dalmatinac who served in the Vietnam War. He recently passed away and left Cabos with a beautiful cultural place and "Croatian Eggs Benedict". Thanks bro!

[@AB-vb2mm]

Interesting!

[@The_Last_Tear]

Svaka cast, reportaza ti je prva liga! 👍

[@IvaZinga]

this was such cool video, thanks for this I didn't know about it at all ! Also I am from Croatia, and am impress with you speaking croatian :)

[@marinakos2930]

Excellent!! Interesting! I am Croatian and have never heard of Molise. Thank you very much for this unknown part of Croatian history.

[@Mis15]

Your command of language is impressive. I do have a comment though! When you say "u školu", it would mean "to school". "U" with accusative means direction of movement, and with locative (which is practically same as dative) it means position. Like difference between "in" with accusative and ablative in Latin if that helps. So "Idem u školu" means "I go to school" but "U školi sam/Ja sam u školi" means "I am in school". So when saying how someone learned something "in school", škola should be in locative: u školi. The language is more conservative and archaic compared to modern standard Croatian which is typical with isolated groups. Their speech sounds similar to some of the insular dialects today. I understand a little of it spoken, but seeing it written it's almost 100% intelligible. For example "Za sada siduć" is obviously "At the moment (I'm) sitting". Siduć is their present participle of Croatian sjediti, standard Croatian would be "sjedeći", then ikavian variant "sideći", shortened "sideć". It might sound exotic to someone still learning the standard, but to a native speaker the meaning and the joke behind it would be obvious. Great vid and again great language skills.

[@BenTheRules]

Thanks for the corrections! I'm so bad with the cases and word endings. I never bothered to learn them and now I make mistakes all the time... and yeah, it was tough for me to gauge how different their language is from standard Croatian since my Croatian isn't great anyways. Thanks again for your comment!

[@Mis15]

@@BenTheRules You seem to be able to hold conversation flawlessly in your other vids I've watched so I wouldn't say it isn't great. I wouldn't go pointing out wrong cases if it wasn't so good. Keep up the great work.

[@edimbukvarevic90]

Great video. Didn't know about this.

[@RudeBoysFiume]

I can't believe I did not know about this. As a croatian and čakavski dialect speaker this is fascinating, and such a bonus that you speak croatian to! Liked and subscribed :)

[@nikolinak.3321]

This Video is such a gold!!! Hi, I am from Slavonia, I can also very well understand it, and many old people have such a language ther, naški jezik, cak i ovdje u njemackoj, balkanci, srbi hrvati, bosanci pricamo na naši, tako je lakše. Ali ovaj video što si snimio i što si posjetio ovo malo mjesto to je pravo bogatstvo, vidjeti da se jos ta mala zajednica uspjela zadržati i održati živa. Ja bih voljela vidjeti te knjige na njemačkom ako ih ima negdje. Hvala I'd like to see thos Books on German, thank you very much

[@tindepapp]

It's nice video. I loved it. Respect from a Hungarian lady born in Yugoslavia, living in Bosnia 😎..we are coming from somewhere, and it nice to know your own roots, building up the future. I wish you well and safe journeys.

[@ValleysOfSaturn]

Odličan video! Bravo!! Good job, man! ;)

[@nitrogod]

Man, you showed me a part of my culture I didn't know existed. Thank you. Will try to visit Kruč in my lifetime, while there are still Croats there. Thanks again! Keep doing great videos!

[@jordanleovic2525]

Man I can't believe how well you speak Croatian. How long did you learn it for while travelling the Balkans? Svaka čast brate!

[@singoller3749]

Love Croatia from Bulgaria, brothers throughout modern history!

[@tzvsrbisuhrvati5531]

Thank you so much my Brother 🇭🇷❤️🇧🇬

[@singoller3749]

@@tzvsrbisuhrvati5531 nice profile picture brother🇧🇬❤️🇭🇷

[@tzvsrbisuhrvati5531]

​​@@singoller3749thank you Brother.🇭🇷❤️🇧🇬 Im so mad cause I read around 70 Serbian comments of those fustrated orthodox Croats mixed with Bulgarians on the Southeast so called Serbia and genetically with Turks who speak Croatian disfigured stokavian dialect, who stole Croatian, Hungarian and much Bulgarian land. Whole southeast of so called "Serbia" is Bulgaria. Serbs are nothing more than bunch of confused Croats and Bulgarians without language, land, identity.

[@zachvanwolf2123]

I (Croatian from BosniaHwrcegovina and a Swiss by choice) learned to read Cyrillic at age 35 when actually visiting both, Bulgaria and Serbia. Was a pleasent stay in both countries.

[@MrBiboMun]

what an educational and fun video. hvala ti!

[@mihovililakovac6199]

Cool video :) super fun listening to different languages

[@RicoBanani]

the interaction of the locals at the bus stop .. me watching as a native Croat who has a love for languages.. it was awesome and wholesome.

[@malimate2660]

"Iskle,okle su došli naši didi s one bande mora......" it is still spoken today in small towns by the sea and on the islands. Very good video. It's a shame you didn't hang out with those people a little more..........too short.

[@ddeanb784]

Okle je malo vise bosansko nazalost

[@malimate2660]

@@ddeanb784 Kao da kažeš neretvansko...?'

[@ararune3734]

@@ddeanb784 A šta je to bosansko matere ti nego hrvatsko? To šta je povijest podijelila Hrvatsku i Bosnu je druga priča, ali Bosna je bila Hrvatska. Dakle radi se o razilaženju, tvoj ćaća napravi 2 sina, jedan ostane di je rođen, drugi pođe svojim putem, al' i dalje su oba njegova sina.

[@kreso1976]

Hvala ti za ovaj video, ovo je prekrasno. HVALA TI :) Thank you for this video, this is wonderful :) Grazie per questo video, è meraviglioso :)

[@BenTheRules]

Hvala ti! Grazie, thank you 🙏🏻

[@jelenabartulovic7681]

This was beautiful!!

[@HladniSjeverniVjetar]

I can understand them a bit since i am from Dalmatia and they are speaking very similar as we do in the same area they left from.

[@neandertalac]

Great story! So, as a Croat I think I could probably talk with them almost normally, because I know a lot of synonyms and local Dalmatians names for stuff. To you it is probably a bit harder, because all of us that grew up in Yugoslavia had experienced different Slavic words with the same meaning. The expression 'zasad siduć' is a game of words standing (kako stojiš) and sitting (sjedeći/siduć). Nice story, I learned a lot from this.

[@page0809]

wooow, what a trip bro! Priceless!

[@user-ol2es6oo9x]

This is one of the most interesting videos of our region..croatia/italy...tnx man

[@MrXXUknownXx]

Having been a tourist in Istria many times throughout my life, you can hear the "italianess" in their dialect and see it in their mannerisms too. Also, their pizzas are AMAZING. The amphitheatre in Pula also suggests the Roman-italian influence. I've always said Croats and Italians are historic siblings!

[@Kokolo-ze2cp]

The mannerisms are quite typical in most of Croatia if you are referring to 👏🏻👐🏻🤌🏻🫴🏻👌🏻 and the rest of hand gestures, I wouldn't necessarily call them Italian, we're just both quite temperamental lot 😆

[@stipe3124]

There is narrower street in Split, Croatia and it is sometimes called "Pusti me proći" or translated "Let me pass" Btw Molise Croatian is like Chakavian which is spoken mostly on islands even today.

[@BenTheRules]

The street in Split said "hold my beer..." Trebam da idem u Splitu za vidjeti ako stvarno je manje!

[@stipe3124]

@@BenTheRules Ne znam jeli stvarno manja mi se čini da je manja .

[@petarpetrovic571]

Also im Kotor, Montenegro

[@jasminmas3139]

Croatia is FAKE nation and FAKE country.

[@mynick937]

@@BenTheRules kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3yQgYRpp9GUh7c It is a bit wider,57cm.But in good location.That is an original Egyptian sphinx,3000 years old next to 1700 years old Roman temple.When you pass through the street,you end up on Peristil,the center of the Diocletians palace.There is another comlete sphinx there in front of cathedral.

[@mateo60386]

Really amazing video

[@VinkoMojtic]

Great video man. Thank you

[@BenTheRules]

thank you!

[@spirogabelic9835]

I’m croatian as well but I live in the Netherlands, I have no idea how i stumbled on this video but I’m so happy I did. What a job dude I’m genuinely impressed I never leave comments on youtube but wow man

[@damnedskeptic9022]

As an Bosnian that speaks conversational Italian, this is so wholesome. Very entertaining video, thank you!

[@BenTheRules]

hvala! In bocca al lupo :)

[@FeliceChiapperini]

Great video. Very interesting.

[@daniel72122]

Brate i loved this video. I understood old words that my grandparents speak. Felt good to be able to understand it. Also awesome to find out youre a Croat as well haha! Ti si naš!

[@PERUN021]

Great video. I know about Molise Croats or "Moližani" (as we in Croatia call them), that's how we were taught from childhood, but I didn't know what language they spoke. It was great to see some things I didn't even know about. We in Dalmatia, especially in the coastal areas, have similar, if not the same, words in our speech, since we speak "čakavicom" because we are practically the same people. Vengo, vaja ti arivat u Split, malo oćutit našu ariju sa šentade uz more. ;) Hvala za video! 👍

[@cvaja_2t352]

Moliski govor ne spada u cakavicu nego u zapadnu ikavsku stokavicu

[@malimate2660]

@@cvaja_2t352 Ako pratiš ikavicu,preko Bosne i Vojvodine,dolaziš do rijeke Neretve u Ukrajini.............na ukrajinskom se kaže vira, lito, tilo, bila, svit, nedilja, potribno, cina, likar, dilo, uspih, susid, grih, rika, slipa, stina, svitlo, siditi, viter, zamina, zavisa, želizo, zvir, zmišano… Sičenj je siječanj, travenj je svibanj, lipenj je srpanj, serpenj kolovoz, a listopad je studeni. „Isti obid” znači jesti ručak, stina znači zid, misto je grad, a povist pripovijest. BILA HORVATIYA

[@josipag2185]

They don't speak Chakavian. They speak Stokavian mixed with italian. But you are 100% right, some words are the same (italian and latin origin maybe some slavic too but what you are saying are italianized forms) since we both have them due to italian influence for the centuries integrated them. People in Istria speak Chakavian mixed with italian in this way (west coast, funny how much they mixed tho lingusitic groups) But I do get only italian words, like I have never heard of dimica that is španjulet and omg, kucak, what was that.. that is Shtokavian. People here were commenting Che ora è, that is italian 100%. We have ura from latin.

[@ararune3734]

@@josipag2185 They speak ikavian štokavian. They would be from the southernmost parts of Croatia.

[@josipag2185]

@@ararune3734 The problem is that southernmost part of Croatia was speaking chakavian and than one was jekavska cakavica on the island of Lastovo, in that also was written at least partially the great poets from Dubrovnik like Gjore Drzic, Sisko Mencetic, Gucetic...obviously by Bosnian pressure that part decoded to switch at some poinz, Jakov Miklaja drscribed that well. But I guess this people are from around Neretva river. There is no other explanation, otherwise they would have some chakavian there.

[@user-cj2hi4uf8i]

Im from Zadar and our most famous street is called Calelarga,and many others stuff is on italian language

[@zarkomula2040]

Very interesting ! Bravo!

[@dbartek9222]

Bruh thank you for this enlightement You earned a sub

[@houseabovethebay]

koliko čujem jezik im je sličan kakav se priča na kvarneru i u istri, dalmaciji, čakavština.

[@mariasole535]

Jezik se govori, bajke se pripovijedaju ili pricaju 😊

[@viktorijanovak4271]

American that is Italian and speaks Croatian..how great 😍

[@StarGamer-yp5fu]

This video is amazing, as a croatian also trying to learn a little bit of italian, I found it really interessting to hear about the language and history about my country i didn't know before. Thanks!

[@tonibumbak6669]

Hvala - Thank you! I was educated - not aware of it at all - interesting video

[@abpast5319]

Croats from croatia bearly have and turakih influance in language. Influance of german italian is much more common. Only worda we got from turks are the ones in 19th century because of serbs who changed our languages in someways

[@kocostamatis3080]

Sorry...thats simply not true....the Croatian standard language has yons of Turkish origin words and many of the villages and towns near the entire stretch of the Bosnian border have even more Turkish origin words....no joke.

[@abpast5319]

@@kocostamatis3080 bullshit. Only turkish words are the one we adopted trough direct trade. Slavonia snd some places od border have some but most of it were adopted in 19th century from vuk karadic serbian ligvist.

[@dole7959]

Jastuk Ducan Sat Tulum Deva Bubreg Alat Barut Bedem Bunar buzdovan, deva, duhan, dugme, fenjer, galama, gungula, harač, inat, jarak, jorgan, kapak, kajgana i kajmak, kava, kusur, lakrdija, lepeza, mamurluk, mangup, marama, miraz, odaja, oluk, pamuk, papuča, patlidžan, pekmez, rakija, sat, sarma, taban, tavan, tepsija, top, turpija, zanat, zumbul, badem, jogurt, bakar, čarapa, čelik, džep, kat, krevet, kula, majmun, dadilja...

[@abpast5319]

@@dole7959 those were mouslty implemented in 19th century by vuk karadic.

[@tihomirrasperic]

​@@abpast5319 Vuk Karađić copied the Croatian spelling and grammar into the Serbian language That's why the two languages have become so related even though they have 70% different words

[@startledhamster]

Greetings from Serbia! Amazing video, keep it up bro! Recently I started thinking a lot about what Serbian/Croatian sounded like in the past. I've realized that our language basically changed multiple times until it was officially reformed, and it's simply amazing to see these living time capsules.. I wonder if there is more people like this that we've never heard about. I wonder what they sound like :D

[@meduzsazsa8490]

You don't need to put serbian/croatian together like this because they are not one language. In past croatian sounded in on way, and serbian sounded in the other way. We Croats know very well how did croatian sound like because we have many books and documents 500+ years old and we can analyze them and see how it sounded before. For serbian, I don't think anyone knows how it sounded before, but people think it was closer to torlački dialect, more precisely bulgarian language

[@idizzzful]

​@@meduzsazsa8490i read the comments with interest and i have to say you croats sound like delusional Ukrainians.... keep up this mentality and .... who knows you may end up... "winning" like them

[@josipag2185]

Well it is Stokavian but Croat version (but all the Stokavians the are similar) full of italian words. I doubt that old Shtokavian people (only Chakavian speakers got this from latin and later veneto) spoke with this much italian influence

[@AB-vb2mm]

Nice to read a friendly post from a serbian. Sadly it’s very rare🕊️

[@AB-vb2mm]

@@meduzsazsa8490 I think he means Serbian/croatian in general. We all south Slavic tribes came from the the same origin long time ago, as all Slavs did.

[@mrgodBG]

great video!

[@Fenksta]

Nisam imao pojma, hvala Ben

[@mariocroatia9321]

You look like a Croat... Ive read about Gradišće Croats,Molise Croats and Krašovani Croats long time ago.Thank you for the video

[@aramis.sasinka]

Wow, you got me with this video! I'm born in Croatia, in Rijeka and raised as Italian minority in the city (Fiumano), I speak both the Croatian and the Italian language and several dialects as well (I understand almost everything in the video and yes, some words are not Croatian language but Croatian dialects of a certain particular area). I just love dialects. Somehow dialects define us, our history, the geography and our cultural DNA. I moved to Italy and studied and lived there for more than 10 years (Venice area) before moving to Sweden. Being myself a "cocktail" of different nationalities I just love these stories. I knew about the story of that particular area and their language that is still alive - which is kinda amazing! Great content m8! You got a new subscriber! Great work! ;)

[@elvertrodriguez9385]

Very interesting, awesome video

[@dusanuric8407]

ODlican video, pozdrav iz Beograda.