Abstract
This article examines aspects of linguistic behaviour, attitudes and professional practices amongst a group of 47 “expert users” who are translators or interpreters for one, two or three of the following languages: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. The official terms for these languages in the respective successor states of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and elsewhere reflect not only historic but also popular designations. Incumbent on translators and interpreters are the professional regulatory norms that require practitioners to follow these designations. An overview of the re-codification of the three languages is provided, followed by a discussion of models that account for how speakers and text-producers negotiate verbal and written interactions with speakers or text of different language varieties. Data are elicited on the following: informants’ reported behaviour in professional and non-professional situations; unanticipated differences in the language for which an assignment was accepted and its actual form; attitudes on assignments with unofficial or unclear language designations; others’ assumptions of informants’ native speaker competency and ethnicity; and attitudes towards the distinctness of the three languages. Accommodation to clients’ language varieties is reported by half of all informants, and those with multiple accreditations report converging to others’ language varieties more so than those with accreditation in one language only. Metalinguistic talk, with or without accommodation, is also a common practice in the initial stages of interpreted interactions or the negotiation of translation assignments. The reported behaviour and practices of translators and interpreters are likely to be indicative of “lay speakers’” and marketplace requirements, and therefore reflective of actual language use amongst users of these three languages when interacting with one another.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 2012. Reflecting the nation: Stories from the 2011 census. Retrieved 2014-06-24, from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013Search in Google Scholar
ATA (American Translators Association). 2010. Code of ethics and professional practice. Retrieved 2014-06-24, from https://www.atanet.org/governance/code_of_ethics_commentary.pdfSearch in Google Scholar
ATA (American Translators Association). 2012. Online directories. Retrieved 2014-06-01, from http://www.atanet.org/onlinedirectories/individuals.php#translatorsSearch in Google Scholar
Auburger, Leopold. 1999. Die Kroatische Sprache und der Serbokroatismus. Ulm: Gerhard Hess Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
AUSIT (Australian Institute of Interpreters & Translators). 2012. AUSIT code of ethics and code of conduct. Retrieved 2014-06-19, from http://ausit.org/AUSIT/Documents/Code_Of_Ethics_Full.pdfSearch in Google Scholar
Babić, Slavna. 1978. Serbo-Croat for foreigners. Belgrade: Kolarčev Narodni Univerzitet.Search in Google Scholar
Babić, Slavna. 1990. Hrvatski Jezik u političkom vrtlogu [The Croatian language in a political maelstrom]. Zagreb: dr Ante Pelivan.Search in Google Scholar
Badurina, Lada, IvoPranjković & JosipSilić (eds.). 2009. Jezični varijeteti i nacionalni identiteti [Linguistic variants and national identities]. Zagreb: Disput.Search in Google Scholar
Bell, Alan. 1984. Language style as audience design. Language in Society13. 145–204.Search in Google Scholar
Brborić, Branislav. 1999. Das Serbische. In UweHinrichs (ed.), Handbuch der Südosteuropa-Linguistik, 339–382. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
Brozović, Dalibor. 2008. Jesu li Beči i Novosadski “dogovori” samo beznačajne epizode i činovi unitarističkog nasilja – ili jedine osnovne točke u hrvatskoj novoštokavskoj standardizaciji? [Are the Vienna and Novi Sad “agreements” just meaningless episodes and acts of unitarist force – or the only fundamental events in the standardisation of the Croatian language based on Neoštokavian?]. In AnitaPeti-Stantić (ed.), Identitet Jezika Jezikom Izrečen [The identity of language expressed through language], 33–42. Zagreb: Srednja Europa.Search in Google Scholar
Bugarski, Ranko. 2002.]Nova Lica Jezika [The new faces of language]. Belgrade: Slovograf.Search in Google Scholar
Bugarski, Ranko & CeliaHawkesworth (eds.). 2004. Language in the former Yugoslav lands. Bloomington, IN: Slavica.Search in Google Scholar
Chesterman, Andrew. 1993. From “is” to “ought”: Translation laws, norms and strategies. Target5(1). 1–20.Search in Google Scholar
Čirgić, Adnan. 2011. Crnogorski jezik u prošlosti i sadašnjosti [The Montenegrin language in the past and today]. Podgorica: Isik/Matica crnogorska.Search in Google Scholar
Dragičević, Milan. 1986. Govor ličkih jekavaca [The vernacular of speakers of Jekavian in the region of Lika]. Srpski Dijalektološki Zbornik32. 178–189.Search in Google Scholar
Dragosavljević, Andjelija. 2000. Language policies and academic responses: The Ekavian debate in Republika Srpska. Australian Slavonic and East European Studies14(1–2). 1–27.Search in Google Scholar
Dragovic-Drouet, Mila. 2007. The practice of translation and interpreting during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia (1991–1999). In M.Salama-Carr (ed.), Translating and interpreting conflict, 29–40. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Search in Google Scholar
Draženović-Carrieri, Maja. 2002. BCS – A practical approach. In RadovanLučić (ed.), Lexical norm and national language. Lexicography and language policy in South Slavic languages after 1989, 49–52. Munich: Otto Sagner.Search in Google Scholar
Finka, Božidar & MilanMoguš. 1981. Karta čakavskog narječja [A map of the Čakavian dialect]. Hrvatski dijalektološki zbornik5. 49–58.Search in Google Scholar
Franolić, Branko. 1980a. A short history of literary Croatian. Paris: Nouvelles Éditions Latines.Search in Google Scholar
Franolić, Branko. 1980b. Language policy and language planning in Yugoslavia with special reference to Croatian and Macedonian. Lingua51. 55–72.Search in Google Scholar
Friedman, Victor. 1993. Dialect variation and questions of standardization in Macedonia: Macedonian, Albanian and Romani. Zbornik za filologiju i lingvistiku36(2). 7–35.Search in Google Scholar
Giles, Howard, NikolasCoupland & JustineCoupland. 1991. Accommodation theory: Communication, context and consequence. In HowardGiles, NikolasCoupland & JustineCoupland (eds.), Contexts of accommodation: Developments in applied sociolinguistics, 1–68. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Goldstein, Ivo. 2003. Hrvatska povijest [Croatian history]. Zagreb: Inter Liber.Search in Google Scholar
Greenberg, Robert. 2004. Language and identity in the Balkans. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Halilović, Senahid. 1998. Bosanski jezik [The Bosnian language]. Sarajevo: Baština.Search in Google Scholar
Hlavac, Jim. 2010a. Shifts in the language of interpretation with bi- or multi-lingual clients: Circumstances and implications for interpreters. Interpreting10(2). 186–213.Search in Google Scholar
Hlavac, Jim. 2010b. Ethical implications in situations where the language of interpretation shifts: The AUSIT code of ethics re-visited. Translation and Interpreting2(2). 29–43.Search in Google Scholar
Ivić, Pavle. 1971. Srpski narod i njegov jezik [The Serbian people and their language]. Belgrade: SKZ.Search in Google Scholar
Javarek, Vera. 1974. Serbo-Croatian reader. London: St Paul’s House.Search in Google Scholar
Jurić-Kappel, Jagoda. 2003. Bosanski ili bošnjački? [Bosnian or Bosniak?]. In GerhardNeweklowsky (ed.), Bosanski – Hrvatski – Srpski. Aktuelna pitanja jezika Bošnjaka, Hrvata, Srba i Crnogoraca [Bosnian – Croatian – Serbian. Current questions on the languages of the Bosniaks, Croats, Serbs and Montenegrins]. Wiener Slawistischer Almanach57. 95–102.Search in Google Scholar
Kačić, Miro. 1995. Hrvatski i srpski. Zablude i krivotvorine [Croatian and Serbian. Delusions and distortions]. Zagreb: Institute for Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, University of Zagreb.Search in Google Scholar
Kalogjera, Damir. 1989. Serbo-Croatian dialects and school in Yugoslavia. Sociolinguistica3. 152–158.Search in Google Scholar
Kapović, Mate. 2011. Čiji je jezik? [Whose language is it?]. Zagreb: Algoritam.Search in Google Scholar
Kovačević, Marko. 1998. Hrvatski jezik između norme i stila [The Croatian language between norm and style]. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Globus.Search in Google Scholar
Kovačević, Miloš. 1999. U odbranu jezika srpskoga – i dalje [In defence of the Serbian language – and further to that]. Belgrade: Trebnik.Search in Google Scholar
Kulish, Nicholas & GrahamBowley. 2008. The double life of an infamous Serbian fugitive. New York Times, 23 July. Retrieved 2013-12-21, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/world/europe/23karadzic.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0Search in Google Scholar
Lave, Jean & EtienneWenger. 1991. Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
LePage, R. B. & AndrèeTabouret-Keller. 1985. Acts of identity: Creole-based approaches to ethnicity and language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Love, Nigel & AnsaldoUmberto. 2010. The native speaker and the mother tongue. Language Sciences32. 589–593.Search in Google Scholar
Magner, Thomas. 1966. A Zagreb Kajkavian dialect. Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania State University.Search in Google Scholar
Myers-Scotton, Carol. 1993. Social motivations for codeswitching. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Search in Google Scholar
Myers-Scotton, Carol. 2006. Multiple voices. An introduction to bilingualism. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar
NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters). 2011. Methods of NAATI accreditation. Retrieved 2012-06-17, from http://www.naati.com.au/accreditation.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters). 2012. Accreditation by testing. Retrieved 2012-12-01, from www.naati.com.au/PDF/Booklets/Accreditation_by_Testing_booklet.pdfSearch in Google Scholar
Neweklowsky, Gerhard (ed.). 2003. Bosanski – Hrvatski – Srpski. Aktuelna pitanja jezika Bošnjaka, Hrvata, Srba i Crnogoraca [Bosnian – Croatian – Serbian. Current questions on the languages of the Bosniaks, Croats, Serbs and Montenegrins]. Wiener Slawistischer Almanach57.Search in Google Scholar
Nikčević, Vojislav. 2009. Crnogorski interdijalektni/naddijalektni (koine) standardni jezik [The Montenegrin interdialectal/supradialectal (koine) standard language]. In LadaBadurina, IvoPranjković & JosipSilić (eds.), Jezični varijeteti i nacionalni identiteti [Linguistic variants and national identities], 147–168. Zagreb: Disput.Search in Google Scholar
Okuka, Miloš. 1998. Eine Sprache. Viele Erben. Sprachpolitik als Nationalisierungsinstrument in Ex-Jugoslawien. Klagenfurt: Wieser Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
Piller, Ingrid. 2002. Passing for a native speaker: Identity and success in second language learning. Journal of Sociolinguistics6(2). 179–208.Search in Google Scholar
Radanović-Kocić, Vesna. 1986. Synonym split in the dialect of Bosnia and Hercegovina: a study of a change in progress. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences16(1). 123–131.Search in Google Scholar
Radovanović, Milorad. 1996. Srpski jezik [The Serbian language]. Opole: Uniwersytet Opolski – Instytut Filologii Polskiej.Search in Google Scholar
Radovanović, Milorad. 2000. From Serbo-Croatian to Serbian. Multilingua19(1–2). 21–35.Search in Google Scholar
Rehbein, Jochen, Janten Thije & AnnaVerschik. 2012. Lingua receptiva (LaRa) – Remarks on the quintessence of receptive multilingualism. International Journal of Bilingualism16(3). 265–286.Search in Google Scholar
Samardžija, Marko. 1999. Norme i normiranje hrvatskoga standardnoga jezika [Norms and the setting of norms for the Croatian standard language]. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska.Search in Google Scholar
Sebba, Mark. 1993. London Jamaican: Language systems in interaction. London: Longman.Search in Google Scholar
Šipka, Milan, MevlidaKaradža-Garić & JosipBaotić (eds.). 1973. Mostarsko savjetovanje o književnom jeziku: referati, diskusija, zaključci [The Mostar roundtable on literary language: Papers, discussion, resolutions]. Sarajevo: Institut za jezik i književnost u Sarajevu.Search in Google Scholar
Sve Vesti. 2008. Karadžić pričao ekavski u sudnici [Karadžić spoke Ekavian in the courtroom]. Retrieved 2013-12-21, from http://www.svevesti.com/a96554-karad%C5%BEi%C4%87-pri%C4%8Dao-ekavski-u-sudniciSearch in Google Scholar
Tabeau, Ewa & JakubBijak. 2005. War-related deaths in the 1992–1995 armed conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A critique of previous estimates and recent results. European Journal of Population21(2–3). 187–215.Search in Google Scholar
Tolimir-Hölzl, Nataša. 2009. Bosnien und Herzegowina. Sprachliche Divergenz auf dem Prüfstand. Munich: Otto Sagner.Search in Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon. 1980. In search of a theory of translation. Tel Aviv: Porter Institute.Search in Google Scholar
Universitas. (n.d.). Verzeichnis-Suche. Retrieved 2012-10-19, from http://www.universitas.org/de/service/uebersetzerinnen-und-dolmetscherinnen/einfache-suche/Search in Google Scholar
©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- “Sorry Can You Speak It in English with Me?” Managing Routines in Lingua Franca Doctor–Patient Consultations in a Diabetes Clinic
- Individual Variation in L2 Study-Abroad Outcomes: A Case Study from Indonesian Pragmatics
- Re-codified Standards from the Perspective of Language Experts: Credentials, Practice and Attitudes amongst Translators and Interpreters of the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian Languages
- “Lunch Keeps People Apart”: The Role of English for Social Interaction in a Multilingual Academic Workplace
- Research Note
- Does a Foreign Accent Sell? The Effect of Foreign Accents in Radio Commercials for Congruent and Non-Congruent Products
- Book Review
- Miguel Pérez-Milans: Urban schools and English language education in late modern China: A critical sociolinguistic ethnography
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- “Sorry Can You Speak It in English with Me?” Managing Routines in Lingua Franca Doctor–Patient Consultations in a Diabetes Clinic
- Individual Variation in L2 Study-Abroad Outcomes: A Case Study from Indonesian Pragmatics
- Re-codified Standards from the Perspective of Language Experts: Credentials, Practice and Attitudes amongst Translators and Interpreters of the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian Languages
- “Lunch Keeps People Apart”: The Role of English for Social Interaction in a Multilingual Academic Workplace
- Research Note
- Does a Foreign Accent Sell? The Effect of Foreign Accents in Radio Commercials for Congruent and Non-Congruent Products
- Book Review
- Miguel Pérez-Milans: Urban schools and English language education in late modern China: A critical sociolinguistic ethnography