WITH EKAVIAN DIALECT AGAINST REASON

Language and Politics in Republika Srpska

As recently decided by the Government and adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, only the ekavian dialect will officially be used. "Aunties" in kindergartens will have to talk in ekavian (although it would be better if they could teach children English), teachers in elementary school, and announcers on television and radio, regardless whether these media are state or privately owned. Whoever fails to abide by this law will have to pay adequate, quite high, fines.

AIM Banja Luka, September 8, 1996

After the first multi-party elections in Banja Luka, in spring 1992, education workers, writers and a few intellectuals of other professions met in the townhall of the Community Centre in Banja Luka to decide about the official use of language and script in the just proclaimed "Serb Bosnia & Herzegovina". It was decided unanimously: Serbian language of jekavian dialect should be officially used; jekavian and ekavian variants would be equal in all respects; textbooks from Serbia and Montenegro could be used in schools, except in the first four classes of elementary school which had to be written in the jekavian variant; Cyrillic script was compulsory, but Latin alphabet also had to be sufficiently represented.

Two or three years ago, silently, on the sly, without a single written trace of it, ekavian as the compulsory dialect for announcers and journalists was introduced in state-controlled media of Republika Srpska. At the same time, state documents are also most frequently published in the ekavian variant. After some time, thanks to the editor Miro Mladjenovic, only Glas srpski deviated from this practice. To all the protests of the people from the teaching profession, writers and numerous other citozens, the authorities remained unyielding and silent. There was no dialogue, no round table, no consultations, no discussions about it. In Belgrade literary magazines, writers and linguists were mostly against introduction of the ekavian variant of the Serbian language in Republika Srpska.

Arguments in favour of the ekavian dialect presented by the best known and most vehement supporters Dr Branislav Brboric and Dr Milorad Ekmecic, could be brought down to stressing of the need for final standardization of language, which so far could not be achieved even by the greatest authorities in the sphere of linguistics such as Jovan Skerlic, nor unitarians from the time of the rule of King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic.

Supporters of the opposite stance pointed out that forcible abolishment of centuries-long linguistic practice of the Serbs in B&H and Croatia was unacceptable and that it was necessary to look upon standardization as a long and unforcible process. The existence of significant jekavian literary heritage was also underlined. Those in favour of political and nationalistic arguments, used to say that the Serbs "must not withdraw in front of the aggressive Croats and Muslims who first accepted the Serbian language and now look upon it solely as their own".

Unfortunately, as recently decided by the Government and adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, in the future, solely the ekavian dialect will be compulsory in official use. "Aunties" in kindergartens will have to speak in ekavian to the children (although it would be better if they could teach them English), teachers in elementary school, and announcers on television and radio regardless whether these media are state or privately-owned. All those who are not so-called authors must write in ekavian dialect. Who refuses to abide by this law will have to pay adequate, quite high fines. This decision was accompanied by neither public discussions, debates, nor TV duels. Simply nothing has remained of the democratic cover.

Does the "legislator" think that with this decision he will enter eternity, national remembrance, history of "the just Serb struggle for the state"? Since the need to adopt this law was not publicly explained anywhere, we can do nothing but assume what the intentions were and regret that this is happening to us, along with other things. Is the minister of foreign affairs obliged to use ekavian dialect in his public speech? If a jekavian word happens to slip his tongue will he be punished for it?

But, as member of the Academy, Milorad Ekmecic declared, when children as refugees come one day to Serbia, at least they will not be ashamed of their jekavian tongue. Does this mean that Academy member Ekmecic has written his brilliant works in jekavian variant by mistake, and is he now ashamed of it?

Once again a wish came before learning, and engineering of human souls, so well-known from the Stalinist period, was culminated by a catastrophic decision. Has anyone involved in this dubious business consulted psychologists who could give an answer to the question how forcible teaching of a language which is and at the same time is not the mother tongue affects the psyche of a child in kindergarten and in the first class of elementary school? Maybe it is not important for the legislator that signatories of this decision on introduction of the ekavian dialect mostly use jekavian when addressing the public, or mix the two variants terribly, committing the gravest sin to language.

The case of ekavian dialect is a triumph of voluntarism, not only in politics but in science too. When the new party came to power, people who had not been especially prominent in spheres which were strange to them or in disciplines which exceeded their intellectuial capabilities, have begun striving to distinguish themselves and find confirmation, whatever the cost, believing that they were allowed to do anything. Therefore, we have seen once again what deeds are like of those who think that it is enough to wish something in order to succeed, that it is desirable to dream in politics. That this is all against Vuk Karadzic or the Serbian language, but also against common sense they neither can nor wish to see.

(AIM) Ranko Risojevic

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