Bunjevac dialect

The Bunjevac dialect (bunjevački dijalekt),[2] also known as Bunjevac speech (bunjevački govor),[3] is a Shtokavian–Younger Ikavian dialect of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language, used by members of the Bunjevac community. Their accent is purely Ikavian, with /i/ for the Common Slavic vowels yat.[4] Its speakers largely use the Latin alphabet and are living in parts of the autonomous province of Vojvodina in Serbia as well as in southern parts of Hungary.

South Slavic languages and dialects
Western South Slavic
Eastern South Slavic
Transitional dialects
Alphabets
a Includes Banat Bulgarian alphabet.
Bunjevac
bunjevački
Native toSerbia (Vojvodina), Hungary
Native speakers
6,800 (2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
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Map of Shtokavian dialects. Shtokavian or Štokavian (/ʃtɒˈkɑːviən, -ˈkæv-/; Serbo-Croatian Latin: štokavski / Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: штокавски, pronounced [ʃtǒːkaʋskiː]) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards, as well for Bunjevac sub-dialect. It is a part of the South Slavic dialect continuum.
Ethnic map of the Municipality of Subotica showing e.g. villages with Bunjevac majority, including both, Bunjevci who declared themselves as Croats and Bunjevci who declared themselves as Bunjevci.

Dictionary

There have been three meritorious people who preserved the Bunjevac dialect in two separate dictionaries: Grgo Bačlija[5] and Marko Peić[6] with "Ričnik bački Bunjevaca"[7] (editions 1990, 2018), and Ante Sekulić[8] with "Rječnik govora bačkih Hrvata" (2005).

Number of speakers

In the 2002 census results published by the Statistical Office of Serbia, Bunjevac speech was not listed among main languages spoken in Serbia, but those that declared that their language is Bunjevac were listed in category "other languages". For example, in the municipality of Subotica, the number of those listed as speaking "other languages" (presumably Bunjevac) was 8,914.[9]

According 2011 census in Serbia, 6,835 people declared Bunjevac dialect as their mother tongue (bunjevački maternji jezik) and it was listed independently.[1]

Status

Opinions on the status of the Bunjevac speech remain divided.[10][11][12] Bunjevac speech is considered a dialect or vernacular of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language, by linguists. Popularly, the Bunjevac dialect is often referred to as "Bunjevac language" or Bunjevac mother tongue. At the political level, depending on goal and content of the political lobby, the general confusion concerning the definition of the terms language, dialect, speech, mother tongue, is cleverly exploited, resulting in an inconsistent use of the terms.[13][14][15]

In the old Austro-Hungarian censuses (for example one from 1910), Bunjevac was declared as a native language of numerous citizens (for example in the city of Subotica 33,247 people declared Bunjevac as their native language in 1910). During the existence of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, members of the Bunjevac ethnic community mostly declared themselves as speaking Serbo-Croatian.

According to the 2002 census in Serbia, some members of the Bunjevac ethnic community declared that their native language to be Serbian or Croatian. This does not mean that they do not use this specific dialect, but merely that they do not consider it sufficiently distinct from the aforementioned standard languages to register as speakers of a separate language. However, those Bunjevci who declared Bunjevac to be their native language consider it a separate language.[16]

The speech of the Bunjevci was officially standardized in Serbia in 2018[17] and approved as standard dialect by the Ministry of Education for learning in schools.[18][19] Speakers use in general the standardized dialect variety for writing and conversation in formal situations.[20] Theodora Vuković has provided, in 2009, the scientific methodology for the finalization of the standardization proces of the Bunjevac dialect corpus in Serbia.[21][22]

There is ungoing wish among the members of the Bunjevac community for affirmation of their dialect (mother tongue) in Croatia, Hungary, and in Serbia. The Bunjevac National Council has the following projects in Bunjevac dialect in Serbia: Montley newspaper: "Bunjevačke novine", TV programme "Spektar", broadcaststed by Radio Television of Vojvodina, Language school program for Bunjevac speech and culture: "bunjevački govor s elementima nacionalne kulture".[23] And the Croat National Council in Subotica, is organizing the yearly Bunjevac Song Contest "Festival bunjevački pisama"[24]

On March 4, 2021, the municipal council in Subotica has voted in favor of amending the city statute adding Bunjevac speech to the list of official languages in the municipality, in addition to Serbian, Hungarian, and Croatian.[25] This has created a special situation that contradicts the official position, of both the Serbian government and Matica Srpska, that classified Bunjevac speech as a dialect.[26] Also other scholars from Serbia and Croatia confirm the linguistic dialect status of the Bunjevac speech.[27][28]

The Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics launched a proposal, in March 2021, to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, to add Bunjevac dialect to the List of Protected Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia.[29]

The status of the Bunjevac speech and the identity and nationality dispute of people calling themselves Bunjevci or Bunjevac-Croats, has been on the political agenda of stakeholders involved for decades, influencing bilateral cooperation between Croatia and Serbia,[30][31] domestic political developments in Serbia[32][33] and Croatia, and the implementation of political decisions of the EU.[34][35]

Organisations

Sources for further reading

Newspaper (digital)

Notes
  1. Republički zavod za statistiku / Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (2013). Veroispovest, maternji jezik i nacionalna pripadnost: Podaci po opštinama i gradovima / Religion, Mother Tongue and Ethnicity: Data by Municipalities and Cities Вероисповест, матерњи језик и национална припадност: Подаци по општинама и градовима (PDF) (in Serbian and English). Beograd. ISBN 978-86-6161-038-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-15.
  2. Aleksandar Raič and Suzana Kujundžić Ostojić (2014). Bunjevci izmed asimilacije i nacionalne zajednice. p. 144. Bunjevački jezik u javnoj upotribi. Dakle, za onaj jezik za koji mi kažemo jezik, a zvanično je priznat ko dijalekat.
  3. "Grgo Bačlija: Bunjevački je govor, a ne jezik". Hrvatska Riječ (in Croatian). 2021-03-08. Archived from the original on 2021-07-31.
  4. "Masumi Kameda. Language Ideologies of the Bunjevac Minority in Vojvodina: Historical Backgrounds and the Post-1991 Situation" (PDF). 2014. p. 95-119.
  5. "In memoriam: Grgo Bačlija (1939. – 2021.)". Hrvatska Riječ. 02-12-2021. p. Hitovi:74.
  6. "Masumi Kameda. Language Ideologies of the Bunjevac Minority in Vojvodina: Historical Backgrounds and the Post-1991 Situation" (PDF). 2014. p. 113 (95-119).
  7. "REČNIK BAČKIH BUNJEVACA".
  8. "Sombor: Predstavljen "Rječnik govora bačkih Hrvata" akademika dr. Ante Sekulića/".
  9. Republički zavod za statistiku Srbije (2003). Stanovništvo: popis stanovništva, domaćinstava i stanova u 2002 Становништво: попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова у 2002 (PDF) (in Serbian). Beograd. ISBN 86-84433-00-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  10. Monique Kostadinović Randwijk. Bunjevac European Center. "EDUCATION. Bunjevac Cultural Heritage - Speech & Tradition". www.bunjevac.org. Retrieved 2022-01-15. A few Bunjevac leaders and political activists, who are influential in the Bunjevac National Council, are strongly involved in developing a "national" identity of Bunjevci: stimulating folklore activities, and searching for political and linguistic support to transform Bunjevac dialect in to a distinct language.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. Bojan Belić (2014). "Bunyev(s): linguistic frontier to be?". изворни научни чланак УДК 81'27(497.113): 613. It appears that the concept of standardization, whatever it may mean to the various parties involved, occupies a central position, or – actually – the central position in the Bunyev language debate, for it looks as though it is only thanks to standardization that a speech variety may gain the label of language.
  12. Hrvatska katolička mreža (20 March 2021). "Ne postoji bunjevački jezik, nego bunjevački govor". From the scientific and linguistic point of view, we can say that it is a traditional Croatian language. Numerous records speak of this, all Croatian linguists, all world Slavic linguists, and even leading Serbian linguists have never questioned the Croatian origin of the Bunjevac dialect. Željko Jozić
  13. "предлагач: градско веће - SUBOTICA.com. 21 April 2021" (PDF). p. 26. Retrieved 2022-03-13. Od 2007. godine u škole se uvodi izborni predmet Bunjevački govor sa elementima nacionalne kulture, a predmet nakon standardizacije jezika menja svoj naziv u Bunjevački jezik sa elementima nacionalne kulture.
  14. Provincial Secretariat for Education, Regulations, Administration and National Minorities – National Communities. "Osnovne škole u AP Vojvodini". Retrieved 2022-03-13. U osnovnim školama na teritoriji AP Vojvodine, pored nastave na srpskom jeziku, nastava se ostvaruje i na još pet jezika (mađarski, slovački, rumunski, rusinski i hrvatski). Pored redovne nastave na navedenim jezicima, učenicima je omogućeno i izučavanje mađarskog, slovačkog, rumunskog, rusinskog i hrvatskog jezika, kao i još šest jezika (ukrajinski, bunjevački, romski, bugarski, makedonski i češki), što je ukupno jedanaest jezika u okviru izborne nastave – Maternji jezik / govor sa elementima nacionalne kulture. 11.05.2021{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. "Одлука о утврђивању стандарда буњевачког језика: 18/2018-192". 2018. DECISION."Official Gazette of RS", No. 18 of March 9, 2018. The standard of the Bunjevac language is determined:- the established standard must be applied in textbooks and teaching of the Bunjevac language / speech;- the established standard must be applied in the media registered in order to achieve the public interest of information in the Bunjevac language;- The National Council of the Bunjevac National Minority may support in co-financing only those publications in the Bunjevac language that are in accordance with the established standard of the Bunjevac language;
  16. Vuković, Petar (2020). "The Bunjevci of Bačka: Identities and Language Practices". Linguistic Minorities in Europe Online. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. doi:10.1515/lme.11420227.
  17. "Odluka o utvrđivanju standarda bunjevačkog jezika: 18/2018-192" Одлука о утврђивању стандарда буњевачког језика: 18/2018-192 [Decision of the National Council of Bunjevci no. 18/2018-192] (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2020-07-30 – via Pravno-informacioni sistem RS.
  18. (in Serbian) https://web.archive.org/web/20200609204421/http://www.pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/SlGlasnikPortal/viewdoc?regactid=430473&doctype=reg&findpdfurl=true. Archived from the original on 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2020-07-30 – via Pravno-informacioni sistem RS. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. Šolaja, Dragan (2007-10-25). "Bunjevački jezik u školskom programu". Blic (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
  20. Mark E. Karan and Kerry M. Corbett (2014). Dialogue on Dialect Standardization. Dialogue on Dialect Standardization (PDF). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 55-61. ISBN 1-4438-6661-X. Retrieved 2022-01-16. In every region there is a linguistic variation. This linguistic variation has to be respected, because it is the identity of people. That is where differentiation between the culture is. Dialect standardization only happens when the people involved have enough or modify their identity to that or affiliation associated with a larger group, standardization is possible and often occurs. Before a standardization process, speaker use their dialects for all of their speech functions. After a standardization process, speaker use the standardized variety for at least some of their speech functions. For example, reading and writing and conversation in formality situations often call for use of standardized dialect variety. Thus, the standardization process is fundamentally a shift in language use patterns.
  21. "Vuković,Theodora. Izrada modela dijalekatskog korpusa bunjevačkog govora".
  22. "ONLINE REČNIK BUNJEVAČKOG GOVORA". Bunjevački rečnik je audio-rečnik koji za cilj ima da predstavi realnu, svakodnevnu i spontanu upotrebu bunjevačkog govora. Zamišljen je kao baza koja će moći da se dopunjuje i proširuje. Kao osnova rečnika korišćeni su audio snimci prikupljani tokom istraživanja bunjevačkih običaja i govora od strane Balkanoločkog instituta Srpske akademije nauka i umetnosti tokom 2009. godine. Rezultati tog istraživanja objavljeni su monografiji ,,Bunjevci - Etnodijalektološka istraživanja 2009”1. Iz tog korpusa uzete su reči i primeri njihove upotrebe, a značenja reči su preuzete iz ,,Rečnika bačkih Bunjevaca”2. Za svaku reč, kao i za primere postoji zvučni zapis, kako bi bilo moguće čuti njihov autentičan izgovor. Bunjevački govor pripada mlađim štokavskim dijalektima ikavskog narečja. Bunjevci naseljavaju oblast Bačke, i to pretežno mesta u okolini Subotice i Sombora. Pomenuta istraživanja Balkanološkog instituta, obuhvataju govore iz okoline Subotice, tačnije ruralne zajednice Bikovo, Klisa, Đurđin, Mala Bosna, Stari Žednik i Tavankut. Izostavljene su zajednice iz Sombora i Bunjevci iz Mađarske. Bunjevački rečnik je 2013. godine započela Teodora Vuković, studentkinja master studija na Filološkom fakultetu u Beogradu, uz podršku prof. dr Biljane Sikimić sa Balkanološkog instituta Srpske akademije nauka i umetnosti. Projekat podržavaju Balkanološki institut i Nacionalni savet bunjevačke nacionalne manjine. SANU, 2012
  23. "Predstavljeni udžbenici za bunjevački govor. RTV City". subotica.com (in Serbian). 11 September 2014. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  24. Vojislav Temunović. "Glazbene manifestacije Festival bunjevački pisama".
  25. Tumbas, Nikola (2021-03-04). "Podržan predlog gradonačelnika Bakića da i bunjevački postane službeni jezik u Subotici". Subotica.info (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  26. Bošnjaković, Žarko; Sikimić, Biljana (2013). Bunjevci: Etnodijalektološka istraživanja 2009 (in Serbian). Subotica and Novi Sad: Nacionalni savet bunjevačke nacionalne manjine and Matica srpska. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  27. "Bački Hrvati Bunjevci i monopolizacija novoštokavskoga ikavskoga dijalekta – činjenice i posljedice. HRVATSKA MATICA ISELJENIKA". Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  28. Vidović, Domagoj (2021). "Pivaju li se pisme bunjevačke ili бyњeвaчкe. Rasprave i studije".
  29. Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje. "Prijedlog za proglašenje bunjevačkoga govora nematerijalnom kulturnom baštinom". Retrieved 3 March 2022. Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje uputio je Ministarstvu kulture RH prijedlog da se bunjevački govor proglasi hrvatskom nematerijalnom kulturnom baštinom, kao važan čin pomoći bunjevačkomu govoru i svim Bunjevcima u Hrvatskoj i inozemstvu.
  30. "Ne postoji bunjevački jezik, nego bunjevački govor. Hrvatska katolička mreža". 20 March 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  31. Dragan Banjac (9 May 2021). "Bunjevački jezik – burna reagovanja vojvođanskih Hrvata i Zagreba. ALJAZEERA". Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  32. Mirko Bajić (21 June 2016). "Mirko Bajić vs Tomislav Žigmanov". Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  33. D. B. P. (1 April 2021). "Žigmanov: I dalje ćemo ukazivati na slabosti ove inicijative. Hrvatska riječ". Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  34. Ina Vukić (18 May 2016). "Continued Mistreatment of Croats in Serbia Stalls Serbia's EU Membership Negotiations". Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  35. "Undermining of minority rights in Serbia". www.europarl.europa.eu. 12 March 2021.
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