Nedokonèana kroatizacija delov vzhodne Slovenije med 16. in 19. stoletjem: po sledeh hrvaškega lingvonima in etnonima v Beli krajini, Kostelu, Prekmurju in Prlekiji

The reasons for the establishment of the term `Croatian' in place of the original `Slovene' were similar in all four border areas under discussion but also specific to each one. The areas differed with respect to the time frame in which the term `Croatian' was documented and also with respect to its rootedness. The designation first appeared in Kostel, as early as the end of the sixteenth century (1598), last in Prlekija, being no earlier than the beginning of the eighteenth century, and was documented for the longest period in the southernmost part of Prekmurje (1811). The ethnonym `Croats' and linguonym `Croatian' gained the most ground in White Carniola and Kostel; in Prekmurje, they reached various degrees of acceptance, depending on the ecclesiastical as well as religious division of the area, whereas in Prlekija, there were only records of the linguonym. The dwindling and disappearance of the term `Croatian' until circa 1800 related to a number of factors. A very important role was played by political-administrative and ecclesiastical reforms that pulled the border areas under discussion from Croatian cultural and educational centers.