How planning a national language cured the Croatian nationalists of xenolingohassen
-
Kristian Novak
ResearcherID: S-3039-2018
Abstract
The Illyrian Movement, a 19th-century Croatian nationalist initiative, aimed to establish the Štokavian dialect as the foundation of the Croatian literary language, promoting cultural unity while resisting German and Hungarian influences. This study explores multilingual writing practices in Ilirske narodne novine [Illyrian National Newspaper], focusing on the use of German and Latin to clarify newly introduced Croatian terms. These elements, termed translational explanatory equivalents (TEEs), reveal the Movement’s pragmatic engagement with foreign languages despite its ideological commitment to linguistic purity. While members viewed foreign language use as unpatriotic, TEEs demonstrate a nuanced strategy: foreign languages were employed to bridge comprehension gaps and promote the national language. The study highlights the paradox of animosity toward foreign languages alongside their practical use, illustrating the complex interplay between cultural nationalism, functional multilingualism, and language planning in 19th-century Croatia. By analyzing these practices, the article contributes to broader discussions on the politics of scripts and writing in multilingual and multilectal contexts, as well as power struggles surrounding language standardization processes. Ultimately, it illuminates an underexplored dimension of multilingual writing, revealing a contradiction between the Illyrian Movement’s purist ideology and its actual language practices.
About the author
ResearcherID: S-3039-2018
References
Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined communities. Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Revised edition. London: Verso.Search in Google Scholar
Auty, Robert. 1973. The role of purism in the development of the Slavonic literary languages. The Slavonic and East European Review 51(124). 335–343.Search in Google Scholar
Baker, Mona. 1992. In other words. A coursebook in translation. London & New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203327579Search in Google Scholar
Barić, Daniel. 2015. Proziran i prezren – Njemački jezik u hrvatskom društvu u prvoj polovici 19. stoljeća [Transparent and disregarded – The German language in Croatian society in the first half of the 19th century]. Zagreb: Leykam.Search in Google Scholar
Brozović, Dalibor. 2008. Povijest hrvatskoga književnog i standardnog jezika [History of the Croatian literary and standard language]. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.Search in Google Scholar
Buntak, Franjo. 1996. Povijest Zagreba [History of Zagreb]. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Matice hrvatske.Search in Google Scholar
Demeter, Dimitrije. 1997 [1843]. Misli o ilirskom književnom jeziku [Thoughts on the Illyrian literary language]. In Miroslav Šicel (ed.), Programski spisi hrvatskog narodnog preporoda [Programatic texts of the Croatian national revival], 173–186. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska.Search in Google Scholar
Deželić, Velimir. 1901. Iz njemačkoga Zagreba. Prinos kulturnoj povijesti Hrvata [From the German Zagreb. A contribution to the cultural history of Croats]. Zagreb: Tisak Antuna Scholza.Search in Google Scholar
Feichtinger, Johannes & Peter Stachel (eds.). 2001. Das Gewebe der Kultur. Kulturwissenschaftliche Analysen zur Geschichte und Identität Österreichs in der Moderne. Innsbruck: Studienverlag.Search in Google Scholar
Haugen, Einar. 1966a. Dialect, language, nation. American Anthropologist 68(4). 922–935.10.1525/aa.1966.68.4.02a00040Search in Google Scholar
Haugen, Einar. 1966b. Language conflict and language planning: the case of modern Norwegian. Harvard: Harvard University Press.10.4159/harvard.9780674498709Search in Google Scholar
Herceg, Jakša. 1930. Ilirizam – preteča jugoslavenstva [Illyrism – the percussor to Yugoslavism]. Split: Tisak Leonove tiskare.Search in Google Scholar
Horvat, Josip. 2003. Povijest novinstva Hrvatske 1771–1939 [The history of journalism in Croatia 1771–1939]. Zagreb: Golden marketing, Tehnička knjiga.Search in Google Scholar
Jarnević, Dragojla. 2000. Dnevnik [Journal]. Karlovac: Matica hrvatska.Search in Google Scholar
Joseph, John E. 1987. Eloquence and power. The rise of language standards and standard languages. London: Frances Pinter Publishers.Search in Google Scholar
Joseph, John E., Gijsbert Rutten & Rik Vosters. 2020. Dialect, language, nation: 50 years on. Language Policy 19. 161–182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-020-09549-x10.1007/s10993-020-09549-xSearch in Google Scholar
Kann, Robert A. 1964. Das Nationalitätenproblem der Habsburgermonarchie. Geschichte und Ideengehalt der nationalen Bestrebungen vom Vormärz bis zur Auflösung des Reiches im Jahre 1918. Erster Band: Das Reich und die Völker. Graz & Köln: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachf.10.7767/boehlau.9783205109693Search in Google Scholar
Korunić, Petar. 2006. Rasprava o izgradnji moderne hrvatske nacije. Nacija i nacionalni identitet [Discussion on building the modern Croatian nation. Nation and national identity]. Slavonski Brod: Hrvatski institut za povijest, Podružnica za povijest Slavonije, Srijema i Baranje.Search in Google Scholar
Lindgren-Ciampi, Pontus. 2024. Purism and national identity. The construction of language and national identity in Serbian and Bulgarian nineteenth-century purist discourse. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis.Search in Google Scholar
Maracz, Laszlo. 2012. Multilingualism in the Transleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918): policy and practice. Jezikoslovlje 13(2). 269–298.Search in Google Scholar
Markus, Tomislav. 2008. Bogoslav Šulek (1816.–1895.) i njegovo doba [Bogoslav Šulek (1816–1895) and his era]. Zagreb: Hrvatski institut za povijest.Search in Google Scholar
Mažuranić, Ivan. 1848. Hervati Magjarom. Odgovor na proglase njihove [The Croats to the Magyars. A reply to their proclamations]. Zagreb: Tiskara Ivana Nepomuka Prettnera.Search in Google Scholar
Nemčić, Antun Gostovinski. 1845. Putositnice [Travel trivialities]. Zagreb: Tiskara Lj. Gaja.Search in Google Scholar
Novak, Kristian. 2008. Po rodu, po karvi i po jeziku: Nacionalni identitet u politič-kim i publicističkim tekstovima Ivana Kukuljevića Sakcinskog [By blood, by kin and by language: The national identity in political and journalistic texts of Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski]. Povijesni prilozi 34. 147–174.Search in Google Scholar
Novak, Kristian. 2012. Višejezičnost i kolektivni identiteti iliraca. Jezične biografije Dragojle Jarnević, Ljudevita Gaja i Ivana Kukuljevića Sakcinskog [Multilingualism and collective identities of the Illyrians. Language biographies of Dragojla Jarnević, Ljudevit Gaj and Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski]. Zagreb: Srednja Europa.Search in Google Scholar
Novak, Kristian & Barbara Štebih Golub. 2022. Prijevodne objasnidbenice u Danici zagrebečkoj [Equivalent explanatory phrases in Danica zagrebečka]. Filologija 79. 115–155.10.21857/yvjrdcv4rySearch in Google Scholar
Poplack, Shana. 1987. Contrasting patterns of code-switching in two communities. In Erling Wande, Jan Anward, Bengt Norberg, Lars Steensland & Mats Thelander (eds.), Aspects of multilingualism, 51–77. Uppsala: Borgströms.Search in Google Scholar
Rakovac, Dragutin. 1842. Mali katekizam za velike ljude / Kleiner Katechismus fuer grosse Leute [A small catechism for grown-up people]. Zagreb: Kr. Pr. ilirske narodne tiskarne dra Ljudevita Gaja.Search in Google Scholar
Randall, Martin. 2006. ‘The cat’ gets its nine tails. Notes and Queries 53(1). 31–34.10.1093/notesj/gjj118Search in Google Scholar
Rindler-Schjerve, Rosita (ed.). 2003. Diglossia and power: language policies and practice in the 19th century Habsburg Empire. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110197204Search in Google Scholar
Ritchie, William C. & Tej K. Bhatia. 2006. Social and psychological factors in language mixing. In William C. Ritchie & Tej K. Bhatia (eds.), The handbook of bilingualism, 336–352. Malden & Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.10.1002/9780470756997.ch13Search in Google Scholar
Smičiklas, Tade. 1876. Život i djela Vjekoslava Babukića [Life and works of Vjekoslav Babukić]. Zagreb: Narodne novine.Search in Google Scholar
Ščukanec, Aleksandra. 2011. Njemačko-hrvatski jezični dodiri u Gradišću: sistemskolingvistički, sociolingvistički i jezičnobiografski aspekti [German-Croatian language contacts in Gradišće: systemic-linguistic, sociolinguistic and language biographical aspects]. Zagreb: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Šicel, Miroslav. 1982. Hrvatska književnost [Croatian literature]. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.Search in Google Scholar
Šidak, Jaroslav, Vinko Foretić, Julije Grabovac, Igor Karaman, Petar Strčić & Mirko Valentić. 1990. Hrvatski narodni preporod – ilirski pokret [Croatian national revival – Illyrian movement]. Zagreb: Školska knjiga – Stvarnost.Search in Google Scholar
Šrepel, Milivoj. 1904. Molba V. Lisinskoga upravlena banu Jelačiću [The request of V. Lisinski addressed to ban Jelačić]. In Milivoj Šrepel & August Musić (eds.), Građa za povijest kniževnosti hrvatske, Knjiga 4, 216–217. Zagreb: JAZU.Search in Google Scholar
Šulek, Bogoslav. 1997 [1846]. Šta nameravaju Iliri? [What are the Illyrians planning?]. In Miroslav Šicel (ed.), Programski spisi hrvatskog narodnog preporoda [Programatic texts of the Croatian national revival], 219–275. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska.Search in Google Scholar
Tafra, Branka. 2005. Pogled na ilirizam 170 godina poslije [A look at Illyrism, 170 years later]. Gradovrh II(2). 62–78.Search in Google Scholar
Thomas, George. 1988. Towards a typology of lexical purism in the Slavic literary languages. Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes 30(1). 96–111.10.1080/00085006.1988.11091879Search in Google Scholar
Trnski, Ivan. 1901 [1839]. Letter to Dragojla Jarnević, dated Oct. 26th, 1839. In Milivoj Šrepel (ed.), Građa za povjest kniževnosti hrvatske 3, 178–185. Zagreb: JAZU.Search in Google Scholar
Utješenović Ostrožinski, Ognjeslav. 1997 [1845]. Misli o krasnieh umjetnosti [Thoughts on the fine arts]. In Miroslav Šicel (ed.), Programski spisi hrvatskog narodnog preporoda [Programatic texts of the Croatian national revival], 191–193. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska.Search in Google Scholar
Vince, Zlatko. 1978. Putovima hrvatskoga književnoga jezika. Lingvističko-kulturnopovijesni prikaz filoloških škola i njihovih izvora [On the paths of the Croatian literary language. A linguistic-cultural historical overview of philological schools and their origins]. Zagreb: Sveučilišna naklada Liber.Search in Google Scholar
Vukotinović, Ljudevit. 1997 [1843]. Tri stvari knjiženstva: Ukus, slog, kritika. [Three essentials of literature: taste, harmony, criticism]. In Miroslav Šicel (ed.), Programski spisi hrvatskog narodnog preporoda [Programatic texts of Croatian national revival], 147–156. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska.Search in Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, Anna. 2003. Cross-cultural pragmatics. The semantics of human communication. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110220964Search in Google Scholar
Zgusta, Ladislav. 1971. Equivalents and explanations in bilingual dictionaries. In Feasibility study on fully automatic high quality translation, 536–548. Austin: University of Texas.Search in Google Scholar
Žepić, Stanko. 2002. Zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache in Kroatien. Zagreber Germanistische Beiträge 11. 209–227.Search in Google Scholar
© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
