A children's program was banned on Montenegrin TV because of songs in the Central Serbian dialect
The editor of the state Montenegrin TV channel RTCG, Vlatko Simunović, banned the broadcast of the children's program Vrtirepić (Kindergarten) because of the songs in the Central Serbian “Ekavica” sounded in it.
This was reported by the in4s portal, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The children's television program Vrtirepić has been on Montenegrin television for several years now, and its feature has always been the use of songs that are popular throughout the distribution area of the Serbo-Croatian language - songs from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. And now, for the first time, the rebroadcast of a harmless program was disrupted due to a “language issue.”
After the parents wrote a letter to RTCG, they received the following response from Simunovic:
“I stopped the re-broadcast of the TV show Vrtirepić with the conviction that some of its content, in particular children’s songs with lyrics in the Serbian language of Ekavian pronunciation, are inappropriate in terms of the degree of cognitive development of the target group - preschool children, whom, by broadcasting such content, we run the risk of accepting foreign content standards, contrary to the official language in Montenegro - Montenegrin, as well as Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian languages, which are in official use in Montenegro and together with it, and this is a scientifically verified fact, share a linguistic basis - Iekavian pronunciation,” the editor explained his decision .
“In particular, in Montenegro, children of primary school age learn Montenegrin, Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian languages with the Iekavian pronunciation. I am convinced that an identical approach, as a stimulus for functional preparation for participation in the educational process, should be used when developing entertainment and educational content, the target group of which is preschool children...
I emphasize that I am a supporter of the prohibition of all forms of discrimination, including language, and my decision is motivated solely by responsibility...” states the television censor.
Vlatko Simunovic
In response to such a Jesuitical formulation, which hides the nationalistic background of what happened, journalists from the in4s portal proposed to prohibit guests from other regions from taking part in the Montenegrin children’s song festivals “Golden Snowflake” and “Our Joy”, so as not to put Montenegrin children at risk, who, when listening to songs on another dialect may perceive norms that are alien to the official language.
Historically, “ekavica” is common in Serbia and eastern Croatia, “jekavica” is common in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and southwestern Serbia.
The differences between them are insignificant: for example, if bread on ekavitsa will sound like “bread”, then on yekavitsa it will sound like “khlieb”; If milk sounds like “mleko” in Ekavica, then in Ijekavica it sounds like “Mlieko”. And all other words in the same spirit.
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