Exploring the changing status of six Slavic languages: a historical and contemporary overview

The current study provides an exploratory historical and contemporary overview of the status and development of six major Slavic languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Slovenian. In terms of scope, it is noteworthy that all six of these languages are now official languages of the European Union, as well as of their specific nation-states. However, the status of these languages has not been constant over time, and on occasion these languages have been repressed and pushed underground. Accordingly, by presenting the relevant individual linguistic case studies, this literature-based contribution outlines the historical and socio-political trajectory of each of these six languages, with a particular focus on events from the nineteenth century onwards. As a consequence, the preliminary analysis undertaken in this study indicates a number of common features between the six case studies. In addition, this is apparent even regarding those languages which were spoken in areas that were part of different kingdoms, empires, and republics and where drastically different language policies were pursued. Hence, points for further expansion of this research study are posited, including the incorporation of a wider range of case studies to include those Slavic languages spoken as national languages outside of the EU context, as well as possible comparative work with those Slavic languages which are minority languages or are minoritized at present.