Andre near Buda. The southern sky, and the beauties of natural
scenery existing throughout nearly all these regions, so favourable in
general to the development of poetical genius, appear also to have
exerted a happy influence on the language. While it yields to none
of the other Slavic dialects in richness, clearness, and precision,
it far surpasses all of them in euphony. The Servian has often been
called the _Italian_ among the other Slavic idioms. Comparisons of
this sort are always superficial, and tend to give a false view of the
character of an object. Be this as it may, the Servian is decidedly
the most melodious of the Slavic languages, rich in vowels, and
abounding alike in soft and powerful accents. The accumulation of
consonants, with which the other dialects are so often reproached, is
rarely, if ever, to be met with in Servian. The reader may compare the
Servian _wetar_ with _wjtr_, _krilo_ with _krzydlo_ or _skrzydlo, pao_
with _padl_, etc. Those who ascribe this mildness of the Servian
language to the Italian neighbourhood of Dalmatia, forget that the
eastern Servians are remote from Italy. It is true that the dialects
of these latter are at the same time full of Turcisms; but these are
mere excrescences, which may easily be removed without touching the
essential structure of the language.
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