Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.17234/Croatica.69.5
HUNGARIAN-CROATIAN LANGUAGE DISPUTE (WHY DID CROATIAN NOT BECOME AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN 1790?)
Ladislav (László) Heka
; Sveučilište u Szegedu, Pravni fakultet, Institut za poredbeno pravo i pravnu teoriju
Sažetak
Although it would ultimately lead to a serious disruption of Croatian-Hungarian relations, the language movement that emerged in Hungary in the 1780s and 1790s was not essentially political in nature. Prominent writers of the time praised the Hungarian language, lamenting that it had been neglected and that the aristocracy hardly spoke it anymore. Namely, the official language was Latin, communication with the court was in German, and the language of diplomacy was French. The aristocracy spoke these three languages, but they barely knew Hungarian. Since the language was part of Croatian self-government rights, Croats opposed the laws introducing the Hungarian language. In addition, they considered it less valuable, some even unworthy in comparison with Latin or French, or German. Therefore, the movement for the preservation and elevation of the Hungarian language was largely directed against this opinion, but generally against the position of the Hungarian aristocracy that Latin was the only constitutional language. The leaders of the movement were socially lower-ranking writers and high school teachers without any functions or political ambitions. Their initiative was not directed against other nationalities and was not intended to impose the Hungarian language on them, although it would later become assimilating.
Thus, the originally cultural movement acquired political connotations. Something similar happened a few decades later in Croatia when the Croatian National Revival grew into an anti-Hungarian Illyrian movement.
Ključne riječi
Hungarian; Latin; Croatian municipal rights; Articles of the Hungarian Language Act; Croatian resistance to the introduction of the Hungarian language
Hrčak ID:
341282
URI
Datum izdavanja:
16.12.2025.
Posjeta: 708 *