Language, identity and disparity: perception of Croatian language varieties among high school students in Split

Jezik se neprestano mijenja, a jezične promjene dovode do jezične raznolikosti koja pokatkad može rezultirati društvenim nejednakostima. U većini je jezika takvo što vidljivo na primjeru standardnoga varijeteta koji se nerijetko smatra ispravnijim i boljim od nestandardnih varijeteta. Ipak, taj se fenomen ne mora nužno vezati uz standard, već uz svaki govor koji ne predstavlja simbol identifikacije s određenom grupom, što je univerzalna karakteristika mnogih društava, prisutna još od pamtivijeka i vezana uz percepciju koju automatski imamo o drugim ljudima i društvenim odnosima. U kontekstu hrvatskog jezika koji obiluje iznimnim dijalekatskim bogatstvom, zanimljivo je promatrati percepciju govornika različitim varijetetima, uključujući i standardni s ciljem utvrđivanja načina na koji percepcija o jeziku utječe na ponašanje prema govornicima. Stoga sam provela istraživanje opisano u ovome radu, ograničavajući se na područje grada Splita kao najvećeg urbanog središta Dalmacije od Zadra do juga Hrvatske, gdje se ovakav tip istraživanja do sada nije provodio, bez obzira na to što je riječ o drugome najvećem hrvatskome gradu čiji je urbanolekt ima priličan društveni prestiž. Ciljevi istraživanja su indirektnom metodom ispitati stavove splitskih srednjoškolaca o splitskom lokalnom govoru, govoru Dalmatinske zagore, zagrebačkom govoru i standardnom varijetetu hrvatskog jezika te utvrditi utječu li spol, podrijetlo i obrazovanje na stavove ispitanika. Odabir jezičnih varijeteta prema kojima sam ispitivala stavove temeljila sam na zapažanjima o jezičnom prestižu varijeteta velikih gradova. Rezultati istraživanja su potvrdili, odnosno odbacili određeni broj hipoteza koje sam predviđala oslanjajući se na dosadašnje spoznaje u ispitivanom području. Naime, ispitanici su iskazivali pozitivnije stavove u vidu statusa i kompetentnosti prema standardnom varijetetu hrvatskog jezika nego prema govoru Zagreba i Dalmatinske zagore, no nije bilo statistički značajne razlike u iskazanim stavovima prema standardu i splitskom govoru. Nadalje, ispitanici su iskazivali pozitivnije stavove o splitskom lokalnom govoru nego o zagrebačkom govoru i govoru Dalmatinske zagore bez obzira na porijeklo i na kategoriju osobina. Osim toga, ispitanice imale pozitivniji stav o standardnom varijetetu u kategoriji solidarnosti nego što su to imali ispitanici, a statistički značajna razlika u iskazanim stavovima s obzirom na srednjoškolski smjer i obrazovanje roditelja nije pronađena. Najispravnije percipirani varijetet je standardni, dok je splitski govor percipiran kao društveno najprivlačniji.Languages are constantly evolving and, consequently, language changes lead to linguistic diversity, which can sometimes result in social inequalities. In most languages, this can be seen through the example of the standard variety, which is often considered to be more correct and better than nonstandard varieties. However, this phenomenon is not necessarily linked to a standard, but to any variety that does not represent a symbol of identification with a certain group. This is a universal characteristic of many societies, present since time immemorial and linked to our social relationships and automatic perception of others. In the context of the Croatian language, which abounds in dialects, it is interesting to observe the way speakers perceive different varieties, including Standard, to determine how the perception of languages affects behaviour towards speakers. I have therefore carried out the research presented in this paper, focusing on the area of the city of Split as the largest urban centre in Dalmatian Zadar in southern Croatia, where this type of research has not been carried out to date, even though the latter is the second largest Croatian city with an urbanolect of considerable social prestige. The research aims are to use an indirect method to examine the attitudes of high school students in Split towards the variety spoken in Split, the variety spoken in Dalmatian Hinterland, the variety spoken in Zagreb and the standard variety of Croatian language, as well as to determine whether gender, origin and education influence respondents' attitudes. The selection of the language varieties towards which I examined attitudes was based on observations concerning the linguistic prestige of the varieties of the major Croatian cities. The results of the research confirmed or refuted the hypotheses that I had predicted based on previous research in the field. Namely, respondents expressed more positive attitudes in terms of status and proficiency towards the standard variety of Croatian language than towards the variety spoken in Zagreb and in Dalmatian Hinterland, but there was no statistically significant difference in the attitudes expressed towards the standard variety of language and the one spoken in Split. In addition, respondents expressed more positive attitudes towards the variety spoken in Split than towards the one spoken in Zagreb and in Dalmatian Hinterland, regardless of the origin of the respondents and the category of characteristics. Furthermore, female respondents have a more positive attitude towards the standard variety of language in the solidarity category than male respondents, and no statistically significant differences in the expressed attitudes were found with regard to respondents' high school education and the education of their parents. The most correctly perceived variety is the standard variety of language, while the variety spoken in Split is perceived as the most socially attractive one