Chakavian or
Cakavian or ( , proper name:
cakavica or
cakavština , own name:
cokovski, cakavski, cekavski) is a dialect of the
Croatian language spoken by a minority of
Croats. It has low
mutual intelligibility with the
Shtokavian dialect. There is much internal diversity, to the point where intelligibility between the northern and southern varieties of Chakavian is low. All three main Croatian dialects are named after their word for "what?", which in Cakavian is
ca or
ca. Chakavian is spoken mainly in the northeastern
Adriatic: in
Istria,
Kvarner Gulf, in most Adriatic islands, and in the interior valley of
Gacka, more sporadically in the
Dalmatian littoral and central
Croatia.