User:Pozoi

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Babel user information
kjv-N This user has a native understanding of Kaikavian Literary Language.
en-3 This user has advanced knowledge of English.
de-3 Dieser Benutzer beherrscht Deutsch auf hohem Niveau.
fr-2 Cet utilisateur dispose de connaissances intermédiaires en français.
hr-N Ovaj suradnik govori hrvatski kao materinski jezik.
Users by language

I am using English, German, Kaikavian and Croatian in my daily communication, which includes high business-level communication too. My mother tongue is Kaikavian.

Professionally I am working on Open Source initiative for Austrian government and scientific institutions.

During my Computer Science studies in Vienna I did a lot of generative grammar and some semiotics. Beside BSc in CS I have a Master in Socio-Economic sciences (with distinction).

I also got the certificate for completion of MOOC Language Revival: Securing the Future of Endangered Languages held by professor Ghilad Zuckermann.


Kaikavian literary language is according to Stjepan Ivšič expression of Croatian Kaikavians in literature, and was in active use from 16th to the mid of 19th century. In the 1st half of 20th ct. there was also some great modern literature created in it. Kaikavian literary language was standardised by numerous descriptive grammars, orthographies and dictionaries.

Last work in Kaikavian literary language was written in 1936 by Miroslav Krleža - Balade Petrice Kerempuha. So still today, despite of heavy discrimination of Kaikavian language in former Yugoslavia and todays Croatia, Kaikavians understand Kaikavian literary language. In their informal communication they do not use it, but use one of Kaikavian dialects (as described by Ivšič), which of course keeps the characteristics of Kaikavian language system. So Kaikavian literary langauge is their only native literary and standard mother-language.

Works like theatre plays and holy mass in Kaikavian literary language are performed in public, but Kaikavian is not taught at schools, and at university it is studied only on dialectal level, so that language-graduates come out of university mostly with non-understanding of Kaikavian language. But this is the Croatian language policy which aims at removing the Kaikavian language from being used, and forgetting about its unique linguistic and cultural value.

Formal language policy in Croatia made by linguists who are not objective towards Kaikavian language is that Kaikavian is dialect of official Croatian language. But these not objective or not well informed linguists fail to explain when and how Kaikavian has ceased to be a language, when it is scientific fact (historical and linguistic) that Kaikavian has been a language until 1936, and still widely used afterwards and today.

  • Until the 2nd half of 19th century Kaikavian has been official language of Horvatska-what is today North Croatia. Then it was removed in favour of Neostokavian language (hrv, part of macro-language hbs). This removal of Kaikavian language from official domains has contributed to the word-loss of Kaikavian laguage, but of course it did not make it a dialect of another, Neostokavian language group, although this is the proclaimed goal of Croatian language policy institutions, since Kaikavian dialects have kept phonological, morphological and accentual characteristics which make them part of Kaikavian language.
  • in 20th ct., 1936. the aforementioned, most important Croatian linguist Stjepan Ivšič described the unity of Kaikavian dialects within Kaikavian language based on fundamental Kaikavian accentuation. Thus he proved also that Kaikavian language still existed in 1936.

Today, other prominent Croatian linguists, who are true to the scientific method, acknowledge Kaikavian as language (prof. emer dr. sc. Josip Silić, dr. sc. Inoslav Bešker, ..). Historically Kaikavian has always been a language, and since 16th century Kaikavians have printed books - rich literature that is kept across national libraries of Central Europe (Vienna, Budapest, Laibach, Germany, Italia, ..). This is a fact expressed also in ISO 639-3 'code kjv'.

Kaikavians are ethnically Croats today, but with a distinct culture and language different from standard Croatian language. Standard Croatian language is part of Neostokavian group of languages (ISO code hbs), whereas Kaikavian is not part of that group - a linguistic fact that all linguists agree about. However, some linguists from IHJJ (Croatian Institute of linguistics) and HAZU (todays Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, former Yugoslavian Academy of Sc. & Arts) still today claim that Kaikavian dialects are dialects of Neostokavian standard Croatian language, although Stjepan Ivšič proved already in 1936 that Kaikavian dialects are part of Kaikavian language, and until today nobody proved the opposite, and work of Stjepan Ivšič is still commonly acknowledged basis about Kaikavian dialects. So the claim of HAZU and IHJJ is a scientific nonsense, since it goes against the very basics of logic, does not reflect the historical development of Kaikavian dialects and language, and ignores relevant established scientific research. Thus the claim of HAZU and IHJJ says more about some scientific standards in Croatia which they stand for, than about the content of their claim - the Kaikavian language.

Self-name of Kaikavian language has made two transitions:

  • Today is Kajkavski
  • For some 150 years (1700-1850) it has been called Horvatski-a name that did not include todays official Croatian language, but included only todays Kaikavian speaking area -where there was no Neostoakavian language. It was only in 1850 that it was decided to import a new language into Kaikavian speaking Horvatska at Vienna Literary Agreement.
  • Until the 18th century Kaikavian language has been called Slovenski, according to the name of the Kaikavian kingdom - Slovenski orsag / Slovenje or Slavonia in Latin, which was different from Croatia then. This is a fact attested and distinguished in books in Kaikavian literary language, as well as in external sources like Habsburg documents in Latin. The writers of Kaikavian literary language until the 18th ct. distinguished very well between their own language Slovenski and the language spoken in todays Slovenia which they called Kranjski.

Used literature :

  • Jezik Hrvata kajkavaca (Language of Croatian Kaikavians) (Stjepan Ivšič, 1936. prepared by J. Lisac, Zaprešić, 1996.)
  • Na izvorima hrvatske kajkavske riječi (Alojz Jembrih, Zrinski: Čakovec, Zagreb, 1997.)
  • Kronika vezda znovič spravljena kratka slovenskim jezikom po D. Antolu Pope Vramce kanoniku zagrebečkom (Anton Vramec, 1578.) Frontpage