Language and Identity in the Balkans

Language rifts in the Balkans are endemic and have long been both a symptom of ethnic animosity and a cause for inflaming it. But the break-up of the Serbo-Croatian language into four languages on the path towards mutual unintelligibility within a decade is, by any previous standard oflinguistic behaviour, extraordinary. Robert Greenberg describes how it happened. Basing his account on first-hand observations in the region before and since the communist demise, he evokes the drama and emotional discord as different factions sought to exploit, prevent, exacerbate, accelerate orjust make sense of the chaotic and unpredictable language situation. His fascinating account offers insights into the nature of language change and the relation between language and identity. It also provides a uniquely vivid perspective on nationalism and identity politics in the formerYugoslavia.

Robert Greenberg is Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of New Haven and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale University. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1991 where he taught 1991-1992. He then taught at Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before taking up his current position in 2003.

Acknowledgements

ix

1 Introduction

1

(15)

1.0 Overview

1

(3)

1.1 Goals and methodology

4

(2)

1.2 Language as a marker of ethnic identity

6

(3)

1.3 Language in the context of Balkan nationalism

9

(4)

1.4 Serbo-Croatian: A dying tongue?

13

(3)

2 Serbo-Croatian: United or not we fall

16

(42)

2.0 Introduction: The precarious language union

16

(2)

2.1 Models for unified languages

18

(6)

2.1.1 Centrally monitored unity

20

(1)

2.1.2 Government-imposed unity

21

(2)

2.1.3 Pluricentric unity

23

(1)

2.2 Controversies connected with Serb/Croat Language accords

24

(8)

2.2.1 The Literary Agreement (1850)

24

(5)

2.2.2 The Novi Sad Agreement (1954)

29

(3)

2.3 The power of competing dialects

32

(9)

2.3.1 The Stokavian dialects and ethnicity: An overview

34

(1)

2.3.2 Dilemmas of dialects: Ownership and citizenship?

35

(4)

2.3.3 Standard pronunciations, variants, or idioms

39

(2)

2.4 The writing on the wall: Alphabets and writing systems

41

(6)

2.4.1 A multiplicity of alphabets

41

(3)

2.4.2 Spell-bound: Clashes over spelling rules

44

(3)

2.5 Vocabulary: A reflection of divergent approaches to identity

47

(7)

2.5.1 Croatian purism

48

(2)

2.5.2 The supremacy of the vernacular for the Serbs

50

(1)

2.5.3 Divergent attitudes towards foreign borrowings

51

(3)

2.6 The turbulent history of the language union: A chronology

54

(4)

3 Serbian: Isn't my language your language?

58

(30)

3.0 Introduction

58

(1)

3.1 One language, two variants

59

(6)

3.1.1 The two alphabets 6o

3.1.2 The two pronunciations

63

(2)

3.2 The factions in Serbian linguistic circles

65

(4)

3.3 Orthographic chaos: 1993-1994

69

(8)

3.4 The battle between the ekavian and ijekavian dialects

77

(6)

3.5 The triumph of the academies

83

(2)

3.6 Conclusions

85

(3)

4 Montenegrin: A mountain out of a mole hill?

88

(21)

4.0 Introduction

88

(3)

4.1 Montenegro's dialects and its literary traditions

91

(6)

4.1.1 The sociolinguistics of dialect geography

92

(2)

4.1.2 The literary traditions in Montenegro

94

(3)

4.2 Montenegro's two factions

97

(5)

4.2.1 The Neo-Vukovites

98

(1)

4.2.2 Nikcevic and his supporters

99

(3)

4.3 The proposed standard

102

(3)

4.3.1 New letters and new pronunciations

103

(1)

4.3.2 The expansion of ijekavian features

104

(1)

4.4 Conclusions

105

(4)

5 Croatian: We are separate but equal twins

109

(26)

5.0 Introduction

109

(2)

5.1 Croatian from Broz to Brozovic

111

(7)

5.1.1 Contributions of the "Croat Vukovites": Traitors or Croat patriots?

111

(4)

5.1.2 Tito's Yugoslavia: Croatian and not Croato-Serbian

115

(3)

5.2 The new Croatian

118

(7)

5.2.1 The Cakavian and Kajkavian lexical stock

120

(2)

5.2.2 Infusing the new standard with native Croatian forms

122

(3)

5.3 Recent orthographic controversies

125

(7)

5.3.1 The prescriptivist Pravopis

125

(3)

5.3.2 The descriptivist Pravopis

128

(4)

5.4 Conclusions

132

(3)

6 Bosnian: A three-humped camel?

135

(24)

6.0 Introduction

135

(2)

6.1 History is on our side: The origins of the Bosnian language

137

(2)

6.2 It's all in the name: Bosnian or Bosniac

139

(3)

6.3 The peculiarities of the new Bosnian standard

142

(8)

6.3.1 The dialectal base

143

(3)

6.3.2 Bosnian is no mixture of Serbian and Croatian

146

(4)

6.4 The first Symposium on the Bosnian language

150

(5)

6.5 Closing ranks: A new charter for a new century

155

(1)

6.6 Conclusions

156

(3)

7 Conclusion

159

(9)

7.0 The Serbo-Croatian successor languages: Shared obstacles and divergent solutions

159

(5)

7.1 My language, my land

164

(4)

Appendix A: Text of the 1850 Literary Agreement

168

(4)

Appendix B: Text of the 1954 Novi Sad Agreement

172

(3)

Works cited

175

(8)

Index

183

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Language and Identity in the Balkans Serbo-Croatian and Its Disintegration

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials