Decree: On the Croatian Language, Its Purity and Spelling
One of the most manic decrees to emerge in the early days of the Independent State of Croatia, this one, initialed by Ante Pavelic and the Minister of Education (and mediocre novelist) Mile Budak elects to inform all Croats how to write and spell, promising in the future to "determine penalties for the protection of the purity of the language and its spelling." The reason for this decree's issuance is alluded to in the first article, as translator Sinisa Djuric points out: that Croatian had long been considered at least a close sister to the Serbian language, and, except for a handful of words and phrases, for all purposes identical to outsiders. In fact, both Pavelic and Budak had long obsessed over the singularity of the Croatian language. After returning from more than a decade in exile, they found their fellow Croats speaking an "impure" language and, with typical logic, made it illegal to speak incorrectly.

 

LEGAL DECREE
on the Croatian language, its purity
and spelling

 

Article 1.

The language spoken by Croats, by its pronunciation, by its historical development, by its prevalence in the Croatian national area, by the style of pronunciation, by spelling rules and by the meaning of certain words, is the primary and peculiar language of the Croatian people, and therefore not identical with any other language, nor it is a dialect of any other language, nor related to any other nation's common language. That is why it is called the "Croatian language".

Article 2.

The Croatian language is the public welfare of the Croatian people, and therefore nobody should distort or deform it. That is why it is forbidden in pronunciation and in spelling to use words which do not conform with the spirit of the Croatian language, usually foreign words, borrowed from other, even similar languages. Exceptionally, words with special meanings can be used when it is difficult or impossible to find domestic equivalents.

Article 3.

It is forbidden to give non-Croatian names and identifiers to shops, companies, associations or any kind of institutions, and it is also forbidden to hang or lay out any kind of signs contrary to articles of this legal decree.

Article 4.

The Croatian official and literary language is stokavian dialect with jekavian and iekavian pronunciation. In ikavian pronunciation, the short "i" should be written and pronounced as "je", and also in ikavian pronunciation the long "i" should be written and pronounced as "ie".

Article 5.

On literary works written in any dialect or pronunciation there should be a visible sign in a prominent place, marking that it is written in that dialect.

Article 6.

The indefinite verb form shouldn't be used in the future tense "to" with present tense.

Article 7.

In the Croatian language people should write by word root spelling, not by phonetic spelling.

Article 8.

The Ministry of Education will set up an agency by an order which will determine everything necessary to execute the articles of this decree, and which will take care that the Croatian language is cleansed, and spelling affixed in the spirit of this legal decree, and it will at the same time determine penalties for the protection of the purity of the language and its spelling.

Article 9.

While the agency, mentioned in Article 8, determines final rules of Croatian spelling in the spirit of this legal decree, schools will temporarily use books coordinated on basis of the order of this ministry about spelling dated June the 23rd 1941.

Article 10.

This legal decree gains legal power on the day of its declaration, and its implementation is entrusted to the Minister of Education.

 

Declared in Zagreb, the 14th of August 1941.

Number CCXLIX-1083-Z-p.-1941
Minister of Education:
Dr. Mile Budak, v.r. [by his own hand]

Poglavnik of the
Independent State of Croatia
Dr. Ante Pavelic, v.r. [by his own hand]

 

:: filing information ::
Title: Decree: On the Croatian Language, Its Purity and Spelling
Source: Zlocini: Na Jugoslovenskim Prostorima u Prvom i Drugom sve Tskom Ratu, Zbornik Documenata, Vol. 1, pp. 512-513. Translated by Sinisa Djuric.
Date: August 14, 1941 Added: January, 2003