The Language Reform of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić and the National Question Among the Serbs

Abstract

From the very beginning, the philological activity of Vuk Karadžić was focused on issues associated with the national affirmation of the Serbs. Karadžićʼs main task was related to the sphere of linguistics and it had to do with the reform of the literary (standard) language. In this context, he had to address two key issues: the designing of a writing system that would be adjusted to the phonetic system of the folk language and the selection of the dialect basis for the literary language. Conforming to the spirit of the times in which he lived, in his pursuit of the Serbs national identity, Vuk Karadžić primarily relied on linguistic criteria, considering other criteria, such as religion, less important. Karadžićʼs approach to the issue of Serb language distribution did not remain without followers in contemporary studies.