Is Serbo-Croatian a language?
Or is it actually four distinct tongues?
Or is it actually four distinct tongues?
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 Pure Croatians are the perfect example. They hadn't been nationally defined till mid XIX Century. At that time, Ljudevit Gaj, a "Croatian" reformer, put an effort to define them. For that reason he took Serb's language as a Croatian language standard for all the Croatians. They had to learn this new language as a foreign language putting some resistance, even. Some of them have not learnt the Serb's language to this day and are unable to correctly pronounce some sounds (Dž, Č, Ć). Croatians haven't stolen the language only, but also some national customs and human resources, because Serbs converted to Catholicism became Croatians! The similar "language problem" faced new "nations" created out of Serb's national corpus by Tito's commies - "Macedonians", "Montenegrians", and islamized Serbs in Bosnia, called Muslims, mixing the religion and a "nation" during the Tito's Era, and renamed as "Bosniaks" during post-Tito's NATO era. Logically, they all speak the dialect of Serb's language, and generally use the grammar of Serb's language written by Serb language reformer Vuk Karadzic born in Serbia in the Trsic village. Tito has found a Solomonic solution naming Serb's language - Serbo-Croatian in Serbia, and Croato-Serbian language in Croatia in the name of "national harmony and unity" in former Yugoslavia. NATO post-Tito's Era "invented" a new name - BCS (Bosniak-Croatian-Serb's language) used in Hague Tribunal. What had started idiotically, continues idiotically. Finally a piece of advice - there are no "Bosnian Serbs", "Kosovo Serbs", "Croatian Serbs". This is an insidiously attempt to divide Serb's national corpus. There are Serbs, only. |
SOME 17m people in Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro speak variations of what used to be called Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Serbian. Officially though, the language that once united Yugoslavia has, like the country, ceased to exist. Instead, it now has four names: Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian and Montenegrin. But are these all the same language?
The answer, according to a group of linguists and NGOs from the four countries, is a resounding “yes”. Working under the banner of a project called “Language and Nationalism”, the group issued a “declaration on the common language” on March 30th. It stated that the four tongues together form a “polycentric” language, similar to English, German or Arabic. They argue that while different dialects exist, these are variations of the same language since everyone who speaks it can understand one another. Indeed, this makes the four tongues more similar than the dialects of many other polycentric languages. The authors consider the insistence by educational and public institutions on the usage of only one of the four name variants to be “repressive, unnecessary and harmful”. The aim of the declaration is to stimulate discussion on language “without the nationalistic baggage and to contribute to the reconciliation process”, says Daliborka Uljarevic, the Montenegrin partner behind the declaration.
Croatian football fans celebrate victory over Turkey dancing Serb's Uzicko Kolo - Genetic background is calling!
The insistence on calling Serbo-Croatian four different languages leads to endless absurdities. Children who live in the same town in Bosnia go to school in the same building but to classes in different languages. The Bosnian government portal is published in four languages: English, Bosnian and Croatian, which are written in the Latin script, and Serbian, in Cyrillic. Yet the region’s politicians do not need translations when meeting. When war criminals are on trial before the UN tribunal in The Hague, they receive interpretation in the dialect spoken by the translator who happens to be on duty. A well-circulated meme from Bosnia highlights the absurdity: it features cigarette packets that repeat “smoking kills” twice in the Latin script and once in Cyrillic, all spelled identically.
As in so many parts of the world, the tussle over language is political. Nationalist Serbs see the new declaration as one which attempts to undermine the link between Serbs in Serbia, Bosnian Serbs and Montenegrins. Defusing the language issue would take away a tool the nationalists have used to stir trouble; it emphasises differences. They fear for example that if everyone thought they spoke the same language in Bosnia then that would undermine their political ambition of eventually destroying the country. Nationalist Croats trace the struggle for independence, in part, back to the struggle of academics in the 1960s who claimed that Croatian was a separate language. If it were, then Croats must be a separate people, and hence not Yugoslavs, they argued. Yet most ordinary people do not care much about the issue. When they ask if you speak their language, more often than not, they call it simply naški, “ours”.
The answer, according to a group of linguists and NGOs from the four countries, is a resounding “yes”. Working under the banner of a project called “Language and Nationalism”, the group issued a “declaration on the common language” on March 30th. It stated that the four tongues together form a “polycentric” language, similar to English, German or Arabic. They argue that while different dialects exist, these are variations of the same language since everyone who speaks it can understand one another. Indeed, this makes the four tongues more similar than the dialects of many other polycentric languages. The authors consider the insistence by educational and public institutions on the usage of only one of the four name variants to be “repressive, unnecessary and harmful”. The aim of the declaration is to stimulate discussion on language “without the nationalistic baggage and to contribute to the reconciliation process”, says Daliborka Uljarevic, the Montenegrin partner behind the declaration.
Croatian football fans celebrate victory over Turkey dancing Serb's Uzicko Kolo - Genetic background is calling!
The insistence on calling Serbo-Croatian four different languages leads to endless absurdities. Children who live in the same town in Bosnia go to school in the same building but to classes in different languages. The Bosnian government portal is published in four languages: English, Bosnian and Croatian, which are written in the Latin script, and Serbian, in Cyrillic. Yet the region’s politicians do not need translations when meeting. When war criminals are on trial before the UN tribunal in The Hague, they receive interpretation in the dialect spoken by the translator who happens to be on duty. A well-circulated meme from Bosnia highlights the absurdity: it features cigarette packets that repeat “smoking kills” twice in the Latin script and once in Cyrillic, all spelled identically.
As in so many parts of the world, the tussle over language is political. Nationalist Serbs see the new declaration as one which attempts to undermine the link between Serbs in Serbia, Bosnian Serbs and Montenegrins. Defusing the language issue would take away a tool the nationalists have used to stir trouble; it emphasises differences. They fear for example that if everyone thought they spoke the same language in Bosnia then that would undermine their political ambition of eventually destroying the country. Nationalist Croats trace the struggle for independence, in part, back to the struggle of academics in the 1960s who claimed that Croatian was a separate language. If it were, then Croats must be a separate people, and hence not Yugoslavs, they argued. Yet most ordinary people do not care much about the issue. When they ask if you speak their language, more often than not, they call it simply naški, “ours”.
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