Salvatore DEL GAUDIO
University of Kyiv, Ukraine

How pluricentric is Italian in Croatia and Russian in Crimea going to be?

The cases of Italian in Croatia (and in neighbouring Slovenia), and that of Russian in Crimea, notwithstanding their topical interest, have seldom been addressed to in international conferences devoted to sociolinguistic issues and pluricentricity.

Although we are going to deal with two complete different languages with a specific history of pluricentricity and relative ‘non-dominance’, both represent an evolving status. This particularly concern:
1) the identity of their speakers and language communities;
2) a re-thinking in the treatment of norms;
3) a  ‘new’ relation to their ‘standards’ or dominant variety.  
The two situations will be analysed and discussed separately: first the case of Italian in Croatia and then that of Russian in Crimea. Both cases will have an introductive character owing to the recent approach to this study. Nevertheless the discussion will provide food for thought and for drawing interesting parallels.   

Key words: Italian; Croatia; Russian; Crimea.