Maďarčina na Slovensku – štúdia z variačnej sociolingvistiky

Abstract

Provides an overview of questions concerning research on contact varieties of Hungarian in Slovakia. Demographic & sociological characteristics of the bilingual (Hungarian Slovak) speech community of the autochtonous Hungarian minority in Slovakia are specified, showing that they have an impact on the way these speakers use the Hungarian language. It is not only the second language of the speakers, Slovak, that influences the way Hungarian is spoken in Slovakia. Other factors include the minority status & context as well as issues related to bilingualism in general. However, the impact of these factors can best be shown by using sociolinguistic methods of data collection & analysis, as differences between the varieties of Hungarian spoken by the monolingual Hungarian speech community in Hungary & those spoken by the bilingual Hungarian speech community in Slovakia are statistically demonstrable & interpretable within a variationist Labovian framework. The author provides some examples from one study, which shows the influence of social, linguistic, & contextual factors on the speech of two groups of bilingual secondary school students in Slovakia & one group of monolingual secondary school students in Hungary.