Theoretical -Methodological Basis of M. Kušar ’s Work in Linguistics

Abstract

Marćel (Marcel) Kušar, a linguist, is famous in Croatian philology for his notable research into dialectology, but also for his work in the domain of the standard language: he is most frequently associated with the beginnings of the contemporary Croatian orthographic norm. The theoreticalmethodological basis of Kušar’s work in linguistics can be analysed with respect to two thematic frameworks that appear as constants in the 19th century Croatian linguistics, and which serve as the basis for the contemporary Croatian standard language norm, and more specifically, for the
methodology for establishing orthographic norms: (1) relationship between dialects and standard language, (2) relationship between orthoepy and orthography. Kušar’s connection to the tradition of Croatian literary-linguistic thought (foremostly to the teachings of the Zagreb school of philology) on the one hand, and his openness to linguistic views that took shape at the end of the 19th century, on the other hand, is revealed.