著者

齋藤 厚

出版者

北海道大学スラブ研究センター

雑誌

スラヴ研究 (ISSN:05626579)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.48, pp.113-137, 2001

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During the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1994, Muslims there decided to give a new name to the language which they spoke. This decision was taken together with the change of their ethnic name. "Bosnian" (Bosanski) replaced Serbo-Croatian as the official name of their language, while "Bosniacs" (Bošnjaci) was adopted as their new national name. Bosniacs continued to use the linguistic elements of Serbo-Croatian even after its nominal change. At that time, it was uncertain whether they would seek to create purely Bosnian linguistic elements. The first orthographical textbook of Bosnian was published in the autumn of 1996. Some minor changes were added to the linguistic elements of Serbo-Croatian in this textbook. Despite its publication, some questions about Bosnian remain unclear. One is whether Bosnian is to be considered a distinct language or it is no more than a new name of Serbo-Croatian. Another is why the new language name does not correspond to the new national name. In this paper I have tried to answer these questions by examining the linguistic, historical, and political background of Bosnian. The paper also reconsiders the role of language in ethnic identity because the case of Bosnian is a rare one: a nation based on religion has tried to create its own language later. The first chapter indicates the linguistic features of Serbo-Croatian in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is the base of Bosnian. Serbo-Croatian was established as the common language of the region's Serbs, Croats, Muslims, and Montenegrins in the late 19th century. It is a single, standard language with two major variants (the western or Croatian and eastern or Serbian variants) and two varieties (that spoken in Bosnia-Herzegovina and that in Montenegro). Standard Serbo-Croatian is based on the dialect spoken extensively in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina and western Serbia. The variants contain many words exclusive to themselves, while the varieties blend elements of both variants. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbs, Croats, and Muslims speak the same Bosnian language variety. It is almost impossible to distinguish a Serb from a Croat from a Muslim by their speech alone, because the ethnic distribution was very mixed and their dialects vary geographically, not ethnically. In the Bosnian language variety it is acceptable/common to use and mix elements of both variants. The second chapter reviews the recent history of arguments and policies about Bosnian language. Despite the above language situation, certain Muslim linguists argued that Bosnian should be recognized as a distinct language in the 1970's. The authorities in the late 19th century, too, once attempted to create a Bosnian language. Bosnian was chosen for the name of the official language in Bosnia-Herzegovina soon after the start of the Habsburgs' rule there. Benjamin Kallay, who served as governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1882 to 1903, believed the necessity of a separate Bosnian national identity among the population and therefore decided to create a Bosniac people and a Bosnian language. At that time, Serbs called their mother tongue Serbian and used a Cyrillic-phonetic alphabet, Croats called it Croatian and used a Latin-etymological alphabet, and Muslims called it Bosnian or Serbian or Croatian and used an Arabic or a Cyrillic-phonetic alphabet. In order to standardize their common spoken language as Bosnian, Kallay and his government decided to adopt a Latin-phonetic alphabet and established the Committee for the Bosnian Language. The work of this committee resulted in the publication of a Grammar of Bosnian Language for High Schools in 1890. Though this textbook was widely used, many problems related to the name of the language arose. Serbs and Croats were strongly against the name Bosnian, and they refused to call their language as such not only in high schools but also in public life. Some Muslim intellectuals positively accepted this name, but most of the Muslim population were not like them. Thus, Kallay's attempt proved unsuccessful in its early stage, and no more important measures were taken after that. In 1907, 4 years since Kallay's death, the official language in Bosnia-Herzegovina was renamed from Bosnian to Serbo-Croatian. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia founded in 1918 did not recognize neither nationality nor particularity of Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In spite of such situation, they never relied on the former unsuccessful names of "Bosniacs" and "Bosnian". They continued to keep a distance from these names after World War II in Socialist Yugoslavia for decades. The name "Bosnian language" was revived in the early 1970's, this being catalyzed by the proclamation of a Muslim nationality and by various national movements in other federal units. At this time, Bosnian was perceived particulary as the language of Muslims. Though some Muslim linguists insisted that it needed to put back the voiced h wherever it was suspected one might have existed, they could not present any good examples. Others even admitted that it would be difficult for Bosnian to have its own elements. They did not insist on the use of the name Bosniac nation along with Bosnian, because they regarded it as a negation of the Muslim national conciousness. The third chapter surveys the change of national and linguistic identity of Muslims in the process of disintegration in ex-Yugoslavia, and examines how Bosnian has been created and used. Influenced by the increasingly fluid politics in the late 1980's, the national and linguistic identitiey of Muslims started to be shaken. Many questions related to their nationality and language were raised, especially after the collapse of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in the beginning of 1990. Muslims themseives once decided to keep the existing names of "Muslim nation" and "Serbo-Croatian language" after several controversies. But the outbreak of war in Bosnia-Herzegovina brought about another situation. During the war in 1993, two events occured which later made Muslims change their national and language names. One was the start of the conflict with Croats, their former ally against Serbs. This new coflict made Muslims seek a language name other than Serbo-Croatian. The other was the publication of a paper named "The Clash of Civilizations?" by Huntington. It strengthened the anti-Islam tendency among Westerners, and their strong bias forced Muslims to seek another national name. In the next year, Muslims dared to adopt the new names of Bosniacs and Bosnian, which they had long avoided using. These names were adopted without any strong opposition despite their negative past and implications. Some pretexts were formed for the use of these names by Muslim intellectuals. They explained that the Bosniac national name, which implied a supranational concept, could be used by Muslims exclusively because Serbs and Croats would not identify themselves as such any more. They also insisted that the language had to be Bosnian, not Bosniac, because it would be regarded as a mother tongue not only by Bosniacs but also by members of other nations in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Until the publication of its first orthographical textbook in 1996, Bosnian was de facto a new name added to Serbo-Croatian. But it became clear that Muslims, now Bosniacs, wanted Bosnian to be exclusively their language in this textbook. New elements were invented in it, through changing some orthographic rules, or putting back the voiced h wherever it was suspected one might have existed in the distant past. Though Bosnian was created in such way, its new elements are not always used. Interventions in the language were too late and subtle. In addition, the authorities have not formed a concrete language policy, and the Bosniac population is not eager to use them. Considering these conditions, it is impossible to regard Bosnian as a distinct language. It is also hard to foresee that Bosnian will become more distinct in the near future, because there are no signs of change in these conditions for the time being. It was not easy for Bosnian to be created from the beginning. Since standard Serbo-Croatian is based on the dialect in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnian could not pick up enough peculiar elements from this dialect. Furthermore, Bosnian had great difficulty in finding elements exclusive to Muslims/Bosniacs in this dialect which is shared by the three nations.