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Vojvodina is a multiethnic society with a lot of
different nationalities speaking very different languages. Therefore,
linguistic issues are crucial when talking about
intercultural dialogue. In the following article you will get to know about the
general situation in terms of mother tongues, official languages and finally
you will get an overview about bilingualism in Subotica.
Mother tongues
Find out more below on how the languages are divided up among the population of Vojvodina and of Subotica specifically.
In Vojvodina
Vojvodina, census 2002. |
We notice a high level of linguistic diversity with more than 10 mother languages listed plus the non-listed ones. However, minority languages are only spoken as mother tongue by 22.18% of the population, whereas Serbian is the language of 72.82% of the inhabitants.
Among the minority languages, Hungarian is the first one. It is spoken by 14% of the population.
Among the minority languages, Hungarian is the first one. It is spoken by 14% of the population.
In Subotica
In Subotica the language distribution is quite different. Indeed, 52% of
the population speak a minority language whereas Serbian is spoken only by 48%
of the people as mother tong. Among the minority languages, two of them are
much more spoken : Hungarian (38.82%) and Croatian (5.93%).
These statistics are about mother languages, and therefore give no clue about the level of multilingualism of the inhabitants. Moreover, these data have to be read with caution. Indeed, the census was made few months after the democratic transition. The memory of the persecution towards minorities in the 90s was then still alive. Therefore we may expect an underreporting of the minority languages.
Moreover, some languages have not been taken into account during the census like the Ruthenian language, a historical minority language in Vojvodina, and the Bunjevac language, claimed as different from Serbian and Croatian by the leaders of its community. The percentage of people who replied a non-proposed language is 15.54% in the province but goes up to 6% for Subotica which is not negligible.
These statistics are about mother languages, and therefore give no clue about the level of multilingualism of the inhabitants. Moreover, these data have to be read with caution. Indeed, the census was made few months after the democratic transition. The memory of the persecution towards minorities in the 90s was then still alive. Therefore we may expect an underreporting of the minority languages.
Moreover, some languages have not been taken into account during the census like the Ruthenian language, a historical minority language in Vojvodina, and the Bunjevac language, claimed as different from Serbian and Croatian by the leaders of its community. The percentage of people who replied a non-proposed language is 15.54% in the province but goes up to 6% for Subotica which is not negligible.
Official languages
At the national level, the unique official language is
Serbian written in Cyrillic. Nevertheless, the 2006 Constitution of the
Republic of Serbia protects the use of minority languages and prohibits
linguistic discriminations. Moreover, Serbia ratified the European Charter for
Regional or Minority Languages, recognizing the following languages: Albanian, Bosnian,
Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, Romany (or Romani) , Rumanian, Ruthenian, Slovak, and Ukrainian.
Vojvodina recognizes 6 official languages: Serbian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Rumanian, Ruthenian and since 2009 Croatian.
At the local level, each town recognizes a variable number of official languages according to the composition of its population. In that way, Subotica has 3 official languages: Serbian, Hungarian and Croatian. On the one hand, some local authorities recognize until 4 official languages such as Novi Sad, Zrenjanin or Kovačica. On the other hand, some authorities only recognize Serbian like Apatin or Sremski Karlovci, or even only Serbian written in cyrillic like Inđija or in Ruma. Some languages are also recognized by few authorities without being recognized at the province level : Czech (Bela Crkva), Macedonian (Jabuka) or Montenegrian (Mali Iđos). Roma language (or Romani) is specific because it is nowhere recognized as an official language, although in some places the number of Roma people would be enough for it.
In practice, this official multilingualism allows citizens to interact with an authority or to be judged in the official language they choose. At the provincial level, each citizen can also ask for official documents (like birth certificate) in one of the 6 official languages.
Vojvodina recognizes 6 official languages: Serbian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Rumanian, Ruthenian and since 2009 Croatian.
At the local level, each town recognizes a variable number of official languages according to the composition of its population. In that way, Subotica has 3 official languages: Serbian, Hungarian and Croatian. On the one hand, some local authorities recognize until 4 official languages such as Novi Sad, Zrenjanin or Kovačica. On the other hand, some authorities only recognize Serbian like Apatin or Sremski Karlovci, or even only Serbian written in cyrillic like Inđija or in Ruma. Some languages are also recognized by few authorities without being recognized at the province level : Czech (Bela Crkva), Macedonian (Jabuka) or Montenegrian (Mali Iđos). Roma language (or Romani) is specific because it is nowhere recognized as an official language, although in some places the number of Roma people would be enough for it.
In practice, this official multilingualism allows citizens to interact with an authority or to be judged in the official language they choose. At the provincial level, each citizen can also ask for official documents (like birth certificate) in one of the 6 official languages.
Bilingualism in Subotica
Subotica’s most spoken languages are Hungarian,
Serbian and Croatian. On the one hand, Serbian and Croatian are very similar
and almost totally mutually understandable. On the other hand, Hungarian’s
syntax, grammar and vocabulary are very different from Serbian and Croatian and
needs a high level of motivation to be learned by non-native adults Hungarians.
It leads to the fact that speaking about the languages we can see two main groups: Serbian and Croatian speakers and Hungarian speakers.
There is no official statistic on the level of bilingualism in Subotica. But when we talk about interculturalism, this is a crucial issue. We can find some good practices in that field. Here are few good examples:
In the same time, the school system has some difficulties to teach the other language. Hungarian pupils have two hours compulsory of Serbian language per week and Serbian pupils have also two hours but it’s optional for them. Moreover the learning programs are very formal and not practical at all to speak in the everyday life.
It leads to the fact that speaking about the languages we can see two main groups: Serbian and Croatian speakers and Hungarian speakers.
There is no official statistic on the level of bilingualism in Subotica. But when we talk about interculturalism, this is a crucial issue. We can find some good practices in that field. Here are few good examples:
- Shop
assistants are very often able to speak both Serbian and Hungarian
- The
Hungarian theater Dezső Kosztolányi subtitles in
Serbian all its plays
- The
youth magazine 5+, whose target group is high
school pupils, is mixing articles in Serbian and in Hungarian
In the same time, the school system has some difficulties to teach the other language. Hungarian pupils have two hours compulsory of Serbian language per week and Serbian pupils have also two hours but it’s optional for them. Moreover the learning programs are very formal and not practical at all to speak in the everyday life.