Bosnian-Herzegovinian Moslems and their language
The language of Bosnian Moslems has not been examined properly and into depth up to now. Even the rare research was limited to a fragmented mentioning only. It is essential to examine the language of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Moslems within the context of overall cultural and other existence of Moslems. As any other nation, the Bosnian Moslems and their language has had their own history. This linguistic and ethnological history has also not been investigated enough. The appropriate attention has not been paid to the Moslem linguistics contributions. Sometimes these contributions are minimized, or they are presented as the treasure of other nations, which can only help to the process of its assimilation. The careful studies will show clearly that the language of the Bosnian Moslems is a single language, having been accumulated for centuries, confirmed with its own manifestations within the context of a nonunified system. Their language cannot be understood as a stylistic variant. Only when the speeches of the Bosnian Moslems and the language of literary works by Moslem authors are investigated, the scientific photograph of that language will emerge, and not a pseudo-social (political) wish. It is more than obvious that the language of Bosnian Moslems have its own specific features. These features belong to the oldest history of this nation, and cannot be taken as the thing that happened yesterday or today. These specific features have been neutralized for years now. The literary and practical facts up to now show that the Moslems call their own language Bosnian, but they do not want to deny the other nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina to call that same language Serbian, Croatian, or whatever name they choose to have. There are neither civilization nor cultural barriers for it; nor one can deny the fact that it is the one and the same language. Both non-Moslems and Moslems should be allowed to call the same language (the single language) - their own language with their own name the way he/she feels it, and in the way that language has lived in his/her tradition. For the Moslems in Bosnia and Herzegovina that language is the Bosnian language.