Cakavizam je specifična realizacija palatalnih suglasnika geografski ograničena na lokalne varijetete duž istočne obale Jadrana. Unatoč prijeporima i različitim hipotezama vezanim uz porijeklo cakavizma, od onih koji ga tumače kao posljedicu egzogenog (mletačkog) (Małecki 2007 [1929]; Hraste 1962), endogenog (slavenskog, odnosno čakavskog) (Hamm 1957; 1960; Moguš 1977), odnosno kombiniranog podrijetla (Muljačić 1966), autori se mahom slažu da se radi o isključivo čakavskom obilježju. Kao izrazito istaknuto obilježje cakavica je već dugo izložena postepenom napuštanju i to ponajviše u ranije cakavskim obalnim govorima, a zatim i u izoliranijim otočnim govorima. Govor Komiže smatra se najjužnijim cakavskim govorom (Małecki 2007 [1929]), a danas su viški govori među rijetkima koji cakavizam još uvijek čuvaju. Na temelju sociolingvističkog istraživanja na otoku Visu, koje se većinom temelji na uzorcima govorenog jezika prikupljenim intervjuiranjem govornika različite dobi, u radu se analizira jezična varijabilnost i promjena u pojavi cakavizma kako u stvarnom vremenu u odnosu na podatke prikupljene Upitnikom za Hrvatski jezični atlas tako i u prividnom vremenu među govornicima različite dobi. Iako je još uvijek prisutan, cakavizam je u svom punom obliku potvrđen još jedino kod najstarijih govornika. Prikupljeni uzorci govora pokazuju, naime, da se većina cakavskih realizacija svodi na depalatalizirani izgovor /č/, dok se tzv. srednji glasovi /ś/ i /ź/ čuvaju tek iznimno. Cakavizam je među mlađima i govornicima srednje dobi također posvjedočen, no u reduciranom i petrificiranom obliku. Osim toga, cakavizam je u viškim govorima danas često leksikalizirano i ne više produktivno obilježje., Cakavism is a specific realization of originally palatal con¬sonants geographically confined to local idioms along the eastern Adriatic coast. Although its origins have been much disputed and various hypotheses concerning its genesis proposed, ranging from those that postulate its exogenous (Romance Venetian) (Małecki 1929; Hraste 1962), endogenous (autochtonous Slavic Čakavian) (Hamm 1957;1960; Moguš 1977) or mixed origins (Muljačić 1966), no one ever questioned its status as an exclusively Čakavian feature. As an extremely salient feature, cakavism has been exposed to gradual abandoning, which affected first coastal varieties and subsequently other more isolated insular cakavian varieties. The speech of Komiža is considered the southernmost cakavian point (Małecki 2007 [1929]), and the varieties of the Island of Vis are among rare that still maintain this Čakavian feature. On the basis of sociolinguistic research on the Island of Vis, based largely on samples of spoken language collected by interviewing speakers of different ages, the paper analyzes linguistic variability and change in the form and frequency of cakavian realizations. Language change is analyzed in real time by means of comparing field data with the data collected by the Questionnaire for the Croatian Language Atlas in 1960s, and in apparent time by comparing the patterns in language use among speakers of various ages. Although still present, cakavism in its full-fledged form is confirmed only in the oldest age-group. The collected speech samples indicate that the majority of cakavian realizations have been reduced to depalatalized realization of /č/, while the so-called ‘middle sounds’ /ś/ and /ź/ are maintained only exceptionally. Younger and middle-age speakers, therefore, conserve the feature, but in a reduced and petrified form. Also, cakavism is nowadays often lexicalized and no longer a productive feature on the Island of Vis.