The Montenegrin ‘Pravopis’ in the Context of the Serbo-Croatian Language Dispute

Abstract

On the 9th of July 2009 the Montenegrin Ministry of Education published the commissioned binding “spelling of the Montenegrin language” (Pravopis). Thus, the last former member of the Serbo-Croatian-speaking countries started its way into linguistic independence. The sense and nonsense of language separation in the Serbo-Croatian-speaking countries was already discussed long before the codification of the Montenegrin language. For more than 20 years a partly scientific, partly emotional discussion for or against the autonomy of language and their national glottonymes (Bosnian, Montenegrin, Croatian and Serbian) occurred with varying intensity and success. The title of this paper “The Montenegrin ‘Pravopis’ in the context of the Serbo-Croatian language dispute” shows clearly that it is not intended to confirm one of the wings. Rather, it wants to examine the basis of the legislative history and the text of the “Pravopis”, in view of the context of the Serbo-Croatian language dispute. Did it come out of a scientific necessity or is it purely politically motivated?
The author concludes that an unambiguous assessment of the “Pravopis” cannot be made. The present work shows that it is not the result of a scientific necessity. The political environment took a decisive role. The comments made by participating and leading scientists, politicians and clergy show traits of a radical language policy. Standardization of the Montenegrin language was not justified linguistically, but presented as an inevitable necessity for the protection of Montenegrin culture against the hegemonic aspiration of Serbia. All other government bodies and newspapers tend to alternate spelling and deviate from the “Pravopis”. This suggests a low level of acceptance of the measures and seems to indicate a moderate language policy in everyday life.