engleski

The standard and its re-standardization: a case study of Croatia

This article outlines the sociolinguistic and sociopolitical conditions that shaped and transformed the contemporary Croatian standard language, presuming that this analysis will support better understanding and underlie typological sociolinguistic comparability with other recently re-shaped languages. The author analyzes the notions of firm and universal norms and elastic stability of a standard language by comparing them to the achieved level of standardization. This analysis aims to show that the dialectal tension between these notions, alongside the historical reasons, most notably the idea that (standard) language is endangered by its neighboring and other languages, shaped and influenced changes in the Croatian standard language in 1990s. Changes imposed on the language, derived from the new hierarchy of values under new political circumstances, are treated as a quit radical attempt of re-standardization. The process of re-standardization is analyzed and its achievement regarding both standardization and re- standardization as cyclic processes that begin gradually and last until a language starts to fulfill most of the language needs in the community. The author argues that controlled re- standardization, which started in the years immediately following the disintegration of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, is not yet finished.

standardization ; re-standardization ; elastic stability

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