Coding and recoding of linguistic heritage : the Golden Formula "Ča-kaj-što"

Although the Golden Formula of the Croatian Language "ča-kaj-što" is a literary concept coined by the poet Drago Štambuk, this paper departs from the assumption that this idea refers to the extremely important and groundbreaking concepts related to the Croatian standard language. This is so as the formula is not only an idea that seeks to enrich the language of literature (notably poetry), which should be derived from all the Croatian dialects, but also aims to stimulate a discussion about the standard language and its relationship to dialectisms (as evidenced by the 2019 Ministry of Culture and the public appearances of Drago Štambuk). This, in turn, opens up a problem of linguistic amalgams in general. Therefore, the paper connects the golden formula not only with the elaborated conceptions of hybrid languages in Croatian history (Istrian Protestants, the Ozalj circle), but especially with the polemics led by the representatives of the Zagreb Philological School with the Croatian ‘vukovites’ (emphasizing different approaches). The article analyzes the ambivalent attitudes of some key Croatian linguists with regard to the dialectisms in the standard language – from the 19th century to the present day and the possible consequences of the hybridization process.

Iako je Zlatna formula hrvatskoga jezika ča-kaj-što literarni koncept pjesnika Drage Štambuka, u radu se polazi od pretpostavke da se ta ideja nadovezuje na izuzetno važne i prijelomne koncepcije vezane uz hrvatski standardni jezik. Jer, formula nije samo ideja koja teži obogaćivanju jezika književnosti, koji bi u namjeri trebao crpiti iz svih hrvatskih narječja, nego također ima cilj potaknuti diskusiju o standardnom jeziku i njegovu odnosu prema dijalektizmima (o tome svjedoči i zakonsko rješenje Ministarstva kulture iz 2019. godine i javni nastupi Drage Štambuka). Time se otvara problematika jezičnih amalgama uopće. Stoga se u radu zlatnu formulu dovodi u vezu ne samo s elaboriranim koncepcijama hibridnog jezika u hrvatskoj povijesti (istarski protestanti, ozaljski krug), nego napose s polemikama koje su vodili predstavnici Zagrebačke filološke škole s hrvatskim vukovcima (naglašavaju se drukčija polazišta koja su stajala iza njihovih stavova). U članku se analiziraju ambivalentni stavovi ključnih hrvatskih jezikoslovaca o položaju dijalektizama u standardnom jeziku – od 19. stoljeća do dana današnjeg – te moguće posljedice procesa hibridizacije.