Примењена лингвистика у част Ранку Бугарском - Језик у

JEZIK U UPOTREBI / LANGUAGE IN USE
Serbo-Croatian is simply their native language. For these individuals, the term
‘BCS’ no doubt sounds artificial and at best humorous. For everyone else, however,
including those without prior emotional attachment, it is necessary to move
on in as neutral a manner as possible, which is why the term BCS is now the best
(and perhaps only) choice for the common communicative code.
5. Concluding remarks
Two decades have now passed since the breakup of Yugoslavia. The excessive
zeal with which Croatian and Bosniak language planners have attempted to make
their languages as different as possible from Serbian and from each other seems to
have abated. Recent studies have demonstrated that although some of the changes
have taken root in actual usage, many of them have not (see Langston and Peti-
Stantić 2003 for Croatian and Marić-Vogel 2010 for Bosnian). Yet emotions still
run very high among many Serbs and Croats, especially with respect to the theoretical
question of whether Serbo-Croatian is still (or ever was) a single language.
It is ironic (and indicative) that Bosnians, who must deal with the ‘trilingual’ situation
on the ground and on a daily basis, are so worn out by the constant balancing
act that they have little energy left for theoretical arguments. It is a good sign
at least, and fortunate for everyone, that they are still able to tell jokes about it.
REFERENCES
Alexander, Ronelle (2002-03). Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian: One language or
three? International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics 44-45 (published
in 2006): 1-35.
Alexander, Ronelle (2006a). Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian: A Grammar with Sociolinguistic
Commentary. Madison : University of Wisconsin Press.
Alexander, Ronelle (2006b). Review of Robert Greenberg, Language and Identity
in the Balkans. Journal of Slavic Linguistics 14: 79-90.
Alexander, Ronelle and Ellen Elias-Bursać (2010). Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian:
A Textbook with exercises and basic grammar. Second edition. Madison :
University of Wisconsin Press.
Bugarski, Ranko (2004). Language and boundaries in the Yugoslav context. In:
Language, Discourse and Borders in the Yugoslav Successor States (B.
Busch, H. Kelly-Holmes, eds.). Clevedon : Multilingual Matters, 21-37.
Bugarski, Ranko (2005). One, two, three, four: It’s Serbo-Croatian that counts. In:
A Companion in Linguistics: A Festschrift for Anders Alhqvist (B. Smelik
et al., eds.). Nijmegen : Stichting Uitgeverij de Keltische Draak, 310-323.
103