Ildikó VANČO
(Constantine the Philosopher University
in Nitra)
(ivanco@ukf.sk)
Keywords: Hungarian language, identity, minority, Slovakia Hungarians
The pluricentricity of the Hungarian language became a common subject of scholarly discourse in the first half of the 1990s. The linguistic studies that have been conducted since then have documented the fact that the Hungarian language has several varieties in the Carpathian Basin. In my presentation, I am going to investigate the role of the Slovakia Hungarian variety in identity formation of university students in Slovakia.
For Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin, the Hungarian language is a central factor of identity formation. Those Slovakia Hungarians who give up their language cease to be Hungarians. The aim of my research is to explore the role of the Slovakia Hungarian variety in Slovakia Hungarian identity-formation among teacher trainees majoring in Hungarian grammar and literature – a group that can be expected to shape public opinion in the future. The method used for carrying out these investigations was a questionnaire completed by 255 participants. The survey was anonymous and voluntary. Among other things, participants had to take a stand in connection with identity-related statements about the Hungary Hungarian standard and the Slovakia Hungarian variety, as well as their cultural and local identity. After the primary analysis of the data, a kind of duality can be observed, with the high prestige of the Hungary Hungarian standard on the one hand, and the emotional attachment to Slovakia Hungarian on the other.