Banat Bulgarian Vulnerability in Serbia

The Banat Bulgarian language in Serbia has been assessed as an endangered language according to the UNESCO database (Moseley 2010). This paper aims to assess the current state of its vulnerability, on the basis of a questionnaire applied within the framework of the project “Vulnerable Languages and Linguistic Varieties in Serbia”, during field research in the villages of Ivanovo, Skorenovac, Belo Blato, and Konak in the year 2023. The questionnaire was completed by 32 participants. The vulnerability of Banat Bulgarian in Serbia is examined through questions categorized into five main aspects: language transmission, language use (oral and written), self-assessment of language skills and attitudes towards language, Banat Bulgarian in the educational system and official institutions, and Banat Bulgarian in cultural aspects.
According to the results, 43.4% of the participants’ children speak Banat Bulgarian fluently. This data can be considered a significant decline in language transmission when contrasted with the percentage of respondents’ parents who used the language (mother 78.2%, father 81.3%). Most of the respondents (71.9%) stated that they use Banat Bulgarian, Serbian, and  another language, but 53.1% of them mostly use Serbian. Banat Bulgarian is marginalized as a language used within the family and, less frequently, with friends. It is almost never used in conversations with neighbors, colleagues, clergy, and officials. Serbian is also significantly more prevalent in discussions on private and social topics. In written communication, 62.5% of respondents stated that they read and write constantly in Serbian, while Banat Bulgarian is used occasionally, rarely, or never. Banat Bulgarian is somewhat more represented (37.5%) in writing SMS and Viber messages, but Serbian again is more frequently used in social media, emails, and letters. The most apparent domination of the Serbian language is reflected in the assessment of language skills: Serbian received evaluations such as good, very good, and excellent, while respondents often assessed their understanding, speaking, reading, and writing in Banat Bulgarian as either poor or nonexistent. However, 75% considered Banat Bulgarian important, and 87.5% believed it symbolizes their community and culture. Banat Bulgarian is absent from the school system and official institutions in Serbia. It is only present in the linguistic landscape of Ivanovo on official signs,
while in other places, there are some inscriptions in graveyards, but they are not recent. It is also minimally represented in cultural life, radio and TV broadcasts, websites, social media, etc. Additionally, a small number of respondents indicated that they follow such content in their language.
Research on the Banat Bulgarian language in Serbia demonstrates that it is an extremely endangered language in all examined domains. The dominance of the Serbian language is evident, particularly in the assessment of language proficiency among the respondents. This evaluation, as well as the poor transmission of the language to younger generations, likely results from the neglect of Banat Bulgarian in various aspects, ranging from institutionalization and cultural aspects to the narrowed domain of use, characterizing it as exclusively a language within the home