Czech language and the traditional culture in the multiethnic environment (results of the field research of 2019 in Serbia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Abstract

The article provides an overview of a field study conducted among Czechs in Serbia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019. The first results are presented, samples of transcribed texts are given. The purpose of the expedition was to collect narratives for the proper linguistic study of contact elements, conversations were conducted, among other things, about the history of the resettlement of Czechs to the Balkans, about folk culture, and interaction with other Slavic and non-Slavic ethnic groups. In the three regions studied, the Czech language remains unevenly due to a number of linguistic and extralinguistic factors. There are very few Czechs left in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Czech is the mother tongue only for elder people living in rural areas. In Serbia, there are several schools where Czech language and culture are taught, and in Romania there are schools where in the primary grades all subjects are taught in Czech. The collected language data is a valuable source for studying local Czech dialects and contact phenomena (borrowings, code-switching). The metalinguistic comments used by informants when they have difficulties in their Czech language during a conversation with a researcher are of particular interest to sociolinguistics.