Changes

The early Zuvelas were no time wasters. A Mr Antonio Xuvella in the 1640s was an owner of no less than 211 sheep. The Xuvellas moved to the near by village of Blato (then called Blatta) and bought houses and properties there.  

The early Zuvelas were no time wasters. A Mr Antonio Xuvella in the 1640s was an owner of no less than 211 sheep. The Xuvellas moved to the near by village of Blato (then called Blatta) and bought houses and properties there.  

For many centuries Romance Latin language called Dalmatian and the old Croatian Chakavian language were the norm on the island. With time these languages started to overlap. By the time the Zuvelas arrived on the island the majority of the population of the island of Korčula (in particularly the west end) spoke ''old Croatian'' <ref>Closely related to Chakavian of the 15th century. " ''..... Chakavian dialects of western Croatia, Istria, the coast of Dalmatia (where a literature in that dialect developed in the 15th century), and some islands in the Adriatic. In those areas...'' " '''taken''' from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/104539/Chakavian</ref> with a heavy mix of the Romance Dalmatian language,<ref>''"Dalmatian language,  extinct Romance language formerly spoken along the Dalmatian coast from the island of Veglia (modern Krk) to Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik). Ragusan Dalmatian probably disappeared in the 17th century; the Vegliot Dalmatian dialect became extinct in the 19th century"'' '''taken''' from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/150247/Dalmatian-language.</ref> and with influences of Venetian. This is in essence is the old Korčula dialect.

For many centuries Romance Latin language called Dalmatian and the old Croatian Chakavian language were the norm on the island. With time these languages started to overlap. By the time the Zuvelas arrived on the island the majority of the population of the island of Korčula (in particularly the west end) spoke ''old Croatian'' <ref>Closely related to Chakavian of the 15th century. " ''..... Chakavian dialects of western Croatia, Istria, the coast of Dalmatia (where a literature in that dialect developed in the 15th century), and some islands in the Adriatic. In those areas...'' " '''taken''' from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/104539/Chakavian</ref> with a heavy mix of the Romance Dalmatian language <ref>''"Dalmatian language,  extinct Romance language formerly spoken along the Dalmatian coast from the island of Veglia (modern Krk) to Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik). Ragusan Dalmatian probably disappeared in the 17th century; the Vegliot Dalmatian dialect became extinct in the 19th century"'' '''taken''' from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/150247/Dalmatian-language.</ref> and with heavy influences of Venetian (Lingua Franca of that era). This is in essence is the old Korčula dialect.

So with time verbally Antonio would become '''Antun''' or Ante. It is quite possible that both verbally Antonio and Ante were used at first with Antonio slowly disappearing from local language. Written language was a different story, Latin and Venetian Italian were the standard written language back then so Antonio still existed in written form.  In 1797 the island of Korčula was no longer part of the Republic of Venice. The last Italian language government school was abolished in the town of Korčula on the 13th of September 1876.

So with time verbally Antonio would become '''Antun''' or Ante. It is quite possible that both verbally Antonio and Ante were used at first with Antonio slowly disappearing from local language. Written language was a different story, Latin and Venetian Italian were the standard written language back then so Antonio still existed in written form.  In 1797 the island of Korčula was no longer part of the Republic of Venice. The last Italian language government school was abolished in the town of Korčula on the 13th of September 1876.