Bunjevci

Bunjevci
Total population
	Unknown
Regions with significant populations
Bosnia and Herzegovina	(unknown)
Croatia	(unknown)
Hungary	c. 1,500 (2011 census)
Serbia	11,104 (2022 census)
Languages
	Serbo-Croatian (Bunjevac dialect)
Religion
	Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
	Šokci, Croats and other South Slavs

Bunjevci (Serbo-Croatian: Bunjevci / Буњевци, pronounced [bǔɲeːʋtsi, bǔː-]; singular masculine: Bunjevac / Буњевац, feminine: Bunjevka / Буњевка) are a South Slavic sub-ethnic group of Croats living mostly in the Bačka area of northern Serbia and southern Hungary (Bács-Kiskun County), particularly in Baja and surroundings, in Croatia (e.g. Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Lika-Senj County, Slavonia, Split-Dalmatia County, Vukovar-Srijem County), and in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They presumably originate from western Herzegovina. As a result of the Ottoman conquest, some of them migrated to Dalmatia, from there to Lika and the Croatian Littoral, and in the 17th century to the Bácska area of Hungary.^[1]

Bunjevci who remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as those in modern Croatia today, maintain that designation chiefly as a regional identity, and declare as ethnic Croats.^[2] Those who emigrated to Hungary underwent an extensive process of integration and assimilation.^[3] In the 18th and 19th century they made up a significant part of the population of Bácska.^[4]^[5] The government of Hungary considers the Bunjevac community to be part of the Croatian minority.^[6]

Bunjevci in Serbia and Hungary, are split between those who see themselves as a Croatian sub-ethnic group (bunjevački Hrvati) and those who identify themselves as a distinct ethnic group with their own language.^[7] The latter are represented in Serbia by the Bunjevac National Council,^[8]^[9] and the former by the Croat National Council.^[10]^[11]

Bunjevci are mainly Catholic and the majority still speaks Neo-Shtokavian Younger Ikavian dialect of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language with certain archaic characteristics. Within the Bunjevac community and between Serbia and Croatia, there is an unresolved political identity conflict regarding ethnicity and nationality of Bunjevci and an ongoing language battle over the status of the Bunjevac speech as well.^[12]^[13]^[14]

^ Černelić 2016, p. 11–12.
^ "Croatian Minority in Republic of Serbia".
^ Máté Kitanics; Norbert Pap (4 December 2017). "De-bordering, Re-bordering and Integration of the Croatian Minority of Hungary" (PDF). Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe, Vol. 15, No. 3, pages 91-111. p. 99. Retrieved 12 March 2023. The Magyarization (Hungarianization) of Hungarian Croats proceeded according to their social structures and status. Their aristocracy with Hungarian identity underwent this process first, followed by the assimilation of the citizens in the 19th century and the early 20th century. This does not mean that, in border towns during the first half of the 20th century, most of the aforementioned were not bilingual (or trilingual), but their identities had mostly become Hungarian by then, and in the mid-20th century homogeneous Croat communities were only found in rural environments.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Sokcsevits, Dénes. "History of Croats in Hungary".
^ "Deklaracija Hds-a o nacionalnoj pripadnosti Bunjevaca u Mađarskoj". horvatok.hu.
^ Cite error: The named reference council was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Vuković 2017, p. 198.
^ "O Bunjevcima (About the Bunjevci)". bunjevci.net. Bunjevačkog informativnog centra (Bunjevac Information Center of the Bunjevac National Council).
^ "National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia | National Assembly activities". parlament.gov.rs.
^ "Hrvatska manjina u Republici Srbiji". hrvatiizvanrh.gov.hr. Središnji državni ured za Hrvate izvan Republike Hrvatske (Central State Office for Croats Outside the Republic of Croatia).
^ "Statement by the Presidency of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts regarding the Bunjevci Croats" (PDF). info.hazu.hr. Glasnik HAZU. 2014. p. 53. The Presidency of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, in a session held on 12 September 2014, made the following statement explaining that the Bunjevci Croats form an integral part of the Croatian national corpus. The Presidency of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, one of the fundamental institutions of the Croatian nation and of all the citizens of the Republic of Croatia, among the roles of which belongs the preservation of national identity, made the following statement in a session held on 12 September 2014: The Bunjevci, a Croatian ethnic group, are made up of three branches: the Dalmatian-Herzegovinian branch; the Primorje-Lika branch; and the Danube Region branch. Not encroaching on the right of any individual to express their national affiliation based on their origin, history, traditional culture, customs and language – the western new-Štokavian and Ikavian – the Bunjevci Croats form an integral part of the Croatian national corpus.
^ Fajin Deran, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia (8 October 2021). "Bunjevački govori upisani u Registar kulturnih dobara Republike Hrvatske kao nematerijalno kulturno dobro".
^ Minority News Serbia (20 April 2021). "U VEZI SA OSPORAVANJEM DA BUNJEVAČKI JEZIK BUDE SLUŽBENI U SUBOTICI". Osporavanja koja iznose u istupima političari isprid hrvatske nacionalne manjine u Srbiji, i nekih krugova u Hrvatskoj, smatramo narušavanjem međunacionalni odnosa, nepoštovanjem ljudski i manjinski prava, i vriđanjem na nacionalnoj osnovi, jer u suštini iznose stav da Bunjevci nisu autohtona nacionalna manjina, nego etnička grupa Hrvata, ili kako to u žargonu definišu – „bunjevački Hrvati" i da bunjevački jezik nije maternji jezik Bunjevaca nego dijalekt hrvatskog jezika. Zaista je neshvatljivo i neprihvatljivo da i danas zastupaju stav, koji proističe iz navedene Naredbe iz 1945-te godine – da su Bunjevci Hrvati, kao da je taj akt i danas u zvaničnoj primeni.
^ Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje (2022). "BUNJEVAČKI GOVORI – PRIMORSKO-LIČKI OGRANAK". Bunjevački govori, koji pripadaju novoštokavskomu ikavskom dijalektu štokavskoga narječja hrvatskoga jezika, a govore se u dijelovima Dalmatinske zagore, Ravnih kotara, Like, Primorja, Gorskoga kotara, Bosne i Hercegovine, Srbije i Mađarske, na inicijativu Instituta za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje upisani su u listopadu 2021. u Registar kulturnih dobara Republike Hrvatske kao nematerijalno kulturno dobro.

[FOOTNOTEČernelić201611–12-1] Černelić 2016, p. 11–12.

[2] "Croatian Minority in Republic of Serbia".

[3] Máté Kitanics; Norbert Pap (4 December 2017). "De-bordering, Re-bordering and Integration of the Croatian Minority of Hungary" (PDF). Yearbook of the Institute of East-Central Europe, Vol. 15, No. 3, pages 91-111. p. 99. Retrieved 12 March 2023. The Magyarization (Hungarianization) of Hungarian Croats proceeded according to their social structures and status. Their aristocracy with Hungarian identity underwent this process first, followed by the assimilation of the citizens in the 19th century and the early 20th century. This does not mean that, in border towns during the first half of the 20th century, most of the aforementioned were not bilingual (or trilingual), but their identities had mostly become Hungarian by then, and in the mid-20th century homogeneous Croat communities were only found in rural environments.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[4] Sokcsevits, Dénes. "History of Croats in Hungary".

[5] "Deklaracija Hds-a o nacionalnoj pripadnosti Bunjevaca u Mađarskoj". horvatok.hu.

[council-6] Cite error: The named reference council was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[FOOTNOTEVuković2017198-7] Vuković 2017, p. 198.

[bnjevcicentar-8] "O Bunjevcima (About the Bunjevci)". bunjevci.net. Bunjevačkog informativnog centra (Bunjevac Information Center of the Bunjevac National Council).

[9] "National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia | National Assembly activities". parlament.gov.rs.

[10] "Hrvatska manjina u Republici Srbiji". hrvatiizvanrh.gov.hr. Središnji državni ured za Hrvate izvan Republike Hrvatske (Central State Office for Croats Outside the Republic of Croatia).

[11] "Statement by the Presidency of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts regarding the Bunjevci Croats" (PDF). info.hazu.hr. Glasnik HAZU. 2014. p. 53. The Presidency of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, in a session held on 12 September 2014, made the following statement explaining that the Bunjevci Croats form an integral part of the Croatian national corpus. The Presidency of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, one of the fundamental institutions of the Croatian nation and of all the citizens of the Republic of Croatia, among the roles of which belongs the preservation of national identity, made the following statement in a session held on 12 September 2014: The Bunjevci, a Croatian ethnic group, are made up of three branches: the Dalmatian-Herzegovinian branch; the Primorje-Lika branch; and the Danube Region branch. Not encroaching on the right of any individual to express their national affiliation based on their origin, history, traditional culture, customs and language – the western new-Štokavian and Ikavian – the Bunjevci Croats form an integral part of the Croatian national corpus.

[12] Fajin Deran, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia (8 October 2021). "Bunjevački govori upisani u Registar kulturnih dobara Republike Hrvatske kao nematerijalno kulturno dobro".

[13] Minority News Serbia (20 April 2021). "U VEZI SA OSPORAVANJEM DA BUNJEVAČKI JEZIK BUDE SLUŽBENI U SUBOTICI". Osporavanja koja iznose u istupima političari isprid hrvatske nacionalne manjine u Srbiji, i nekih krugova u Hrvatskoj, smatramo narušavanjem međunacionalni odnosa, nepoštovanjem ljudski i manjinski prava, i vriđanjem na nacionalnoj osnovi, jer u suštini iznose stav da Bunjevci nisu autohtona nacionalna manjina, nego etnička grupa Hrvata, ili kako to u žargonu definišu – „bunjevački Hrvati" i da bunjevački jezik nije maternji jezik Bunjevaca nego dijalekt hrvatskog jezika. Zaista je neshvatljivo i neprihvatljivo da i danas zastupaju stav, koji proističe iz navedene Naredbe iz 1945-te godine – da su Bunjevci Hrvati, kao da je taj akt i danas u zvaničnoj primeni.

[14] Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje (2022). "BUNJEVAČKI GOVORI – PRIMORSKO-LIČKI OGRANAK". Bunjevački govori, koji pripadaju novoštokavskomu ikavskom dijalektu štokavskoga narječja hrvatskoga jezika, a govore se u dijelovima Dalmatinske zagore, Ravnih kotara, Like, Primorja, Gorskoga kotara, Bosne i Hercegovine, Srbije i Mađarske, na inicijativu Instituta za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje upisani su u listopadu 2021. u Registar kulturnih dobara Republike Hrvatske kao nematerijalno kulturno dobro.

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