Language & Identity in the Balkans

1. Language & Identity in the Balkans Ch 4 Montenegrin: A mountain out of a mole hill?

2. 4.0 Introduction • In Montenegro, a Western variant of Serbo-Croatian was spoken that: • Was usually written only in Latin • Included many Croatian elements (phonological) • Lexically similar to (Western) Serbian • Montenegrin was omitted in 1954 Novi Sad Agreement; 1974 Montenegro constitution only provided recognition of a Montenegrin “idiom”, a subvariant of the unified language

3. 4.0 Introduction, cont’d. • 1994 -- idea of a separate Montengrin emerges once Serbo-Croatian no longer exists • 1997 -- Montenegrin language gains steam with new president and secessionist aims • 2003 federation gives Montenegro more authority, and they may assert Montenegrin • In order to declare a new language, it is necessary to show how it is distinct from other languages, and Montenegrin has focused on differences from Serbian -- not yet recognized as much as Bosnian

4. 4.1 Montenegro’s dialects and its literary traditions • Historically an integral part of Serbian Orthodox speech community • Neo-štokavian/ijekavian dialect is identical to that spoken by some Serbs, and is the one chosen by Vuk • Montenegrin identity creation since 1945: • Recognition as “nation” of Yugoslavia and increased local political control, failure to agree on a narrative of a separate historical identity, and Serbs reject such a narrative since it would appropriate culture/literature they consider Serbian

5. 4.1.1 The sociolinguistics of dialect geography • Montenegrin dialects (all are ijekavian) • Northwestern neo-štokavian/ijekavian (this version chosen as basis for a Montenegrin standard, despite overlaps with Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian) • Southeastern Old štokavian/ijekavian (relatively distinct) • But Montenegrin dialects do not correspond to political boundaries, they extend into Serbia & Albania

6. 4.1.2 The literary traditions in Montenegro • 19th c štokavian/ijekavian epic poetry (esp. by Njegoš) are claimed Montenegrin by separatists, but considered Serbian classics, however: • these writings cannot be definitively identified as exclusively Montenegrin or Serbian in form or content

7. 4.2 Montenegro’s two factions • Two opposing trajectories for Montenegrin language planning: • Pro-Serbian, Neo-Vukovite: advocate ijekavian as a standard Serbian variant • Pro-Montenegrin (Nikčevic): allege that Vuk was trying to make all of štokavian Serbian and thus deny rights of Croats, Bosniacs, Montenegrins

8. 4.2.1 The Neo-Vukovites • 1990s Montenegrin & Serbian linguists agree that Montenegrin dialects belong to Serbian speech territory, and have discredited the claims of the Neo-Vukovites • Montenegrin separatists think Neo-Vukovites have sold out to Serbs • But if Neo-Vukovites are excluded from Serbian linguistic discussions, they may join separatists

9. 4.2.2 Nikcevic and his supporters • Separatists supported by writers groups • Montenegrin separatists have made false claims about the origin of Montenegrin (Polabian, Polish) • It is likely that there will be continued emphasis on a separate Montenegrin

10. 4.3 The proposed standard • Nikcevic has made bizarre claims about the origin of Montenegrin, but he has also done a lot to codify a new Montenegrin standard • He focuses mainly on features specific to Montenegrin, ones that motivate modifications of orthography

11. 4.3.1 New letters and new pronunciations • Nikcevic argues that new jotations create three extra consonants in Montenegrin dialects • But these sounds • Are rare and not clearly phonemes • Are shared with contiguous Serbian dialects

12. 4.3.2 The expansion of ijekavian features • Nikcevic incorporated ijekavian endings (in Gsg, Gpl, Lsg -- found in Njegoš’s writings) into his Montenegrin standard, even though they are not a regular feature of most Montenegrin dialects • Ultimately Nikcevic created an artificial language -- it was distinct from Serbian, but too alien for Montenegrins to accept it

13. 4.4 Conclusions • Pressures that motivated distinction of Montenegrin: • Bosnian Serbs decreed use of ekavian, leaving Montenegrins as last with mandated ijekavian • Status-quo linguists’ downgrading of ijekavian and promotion of Matica srpska pravopis • Pro-independence Montenegrin president in 1997 • Predictions: • There will probably be an independent Montenegrin in the future, though not Nikcevic’s version • Overall, trend is to create ethnic successor languages to the non-ethnic unified Serbo-Croatian