Three periods of the development of the Serbo-Croatian dialectology

Abstract

The author first defines the place of dialectology among other new branches of the science of language from which it categorically differs by comprising almost all of them and having a new subject of investigation, i. e. a dialect, a speech in its. organic condition. Then the history of the Serbo-Croatian dialectology has been divided into three periods:
I. From the middle of the 19th century, when it began to exist as an auxiliary branch of our language history, the historical grammar and the science of the literary language, which the Croats and the Serbs have created basing it on the folkloric koine oi the so called štokavian dialects. At that period our dialectology was descriptive and thematically considerably onesided.
II. From the first years of the 20th century, when the Serbo-Croatian, dialectology (owing to the works of Rešetar, Belić and Ivšić) becomes indipendent as a linguistic branch, it broadens its interests in themes and territory and gradually accepts some more modern methods. Yet, the dialectology of this period is only an ordinary sum of dialectography and applied linguistics.
III. From the first years of the 2nd half of our century it is characterised by the dialectology being completely independent (own aims, personnel, methods, theory) and on the other hand by important tasks, which it is to accomplish (the reconstruction of the premigration mosaic, the full description of the present condition and its projection on the atlas).
The analysis of the drawbacks and the results achieved in each period has been also made. At the same time, some specific features of the Serbo-Croatian dialectology have been analysed, especially the harm that it: has suffered by the fact that the interest for dialects was in various ways subdued to the requirements of the literary (standard) language, which the Croats and the Serbs have formed very late and in highly specific circumstances. Finally, in connection with the transition from the second to the third period, the list of seven points of the perspective tasks and problems that are to be solved by the Serbo-Croatian dialectology is given.