Works and reception
As a researcher, lecturer and author he has been active in the fields of English and general linguistics,
contrastive and
applied linguistics,
sociolinguistics,
language policy and
planning, language in relation to identity, culture, ethnicity and nationalism, language attitudes, written language and literacy, terminology and bibliography, translation theory, history of linguistics, the status of
Serbo-Croatian, political manipulations of language and wartime hate speech, current Serbian slang, etc. He is the author of some twenty books, ten edited volumes, and scores of articles, book chapters and reviews in international journals, congress proceedings and other collective volumes, mostly in English or Serbo-Croatian but some in German, French, Spanish and several other languages. (For a selective list see below). Among his noted contributions are his early research on English prepositions, acknowledged as a thematic and methodological precursor of
cognitive linguistics, his notion of graphic relativity as an extension of the
Sapir–Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity, his role in defining and organising applied linguistics as an academic discipline in Yugoslavia and internationally, the conception of Serbo-Croatian as one
polycentric standard language linguistically but several national languages politically, and his recent pioneering work on lexical blends in Serbian. lecture on language identity 2014.He has participated in several dozen Yugoslav, European and world congresses, symposia and other conferences, often also as an organiser or invited plenary speaker. He was the academic organiser of two international conferences at the University of London and editor (with Celia Hawkesworth) of their proceedings:
Language Planning in Yugoslavia (Columbus, OH: Slavica, 1992. Pp. 233. ) and
Language in the Former Yugoslav Lands (Bloomington, IN: Slavica, 2004. Pp. 325. ). He has edited scholarly journals and, as translator and editor, introduced to the Yugoslav public the works of some leading linguists (
Chomsky,
Sapir,
Whorf) and modern linguistic disciplines (
transformational-generative grammar, sociolinguistics,
psycholinguistics). At the same time, he has kept international audiences informed about the changing language situation in Yugoslavia and its successor states, with a special focus on the official dissolution of Serbo-Croatian. In 2017, he has signed the
Declaration on the Common Language of the
Croats,
Serbs,
Bosniaks and
Montenegrins. ==Notable positions==
Publications
Books Most of the first twelve originally published by different publishing houses, thereafter all brought together in the edition of Ranko Bugarski's Selected Works (Belgrade: Čigoja štampa/XX vek, 1996–1997): • Predlozi over, under, above, below i beneath u savremenom engleskom jeziku [The prepositions over, under, above, below and beneath in contemporary English] (1969, 2nd ed. 1996). Pp. vi+331. ID=47287308. /Ph.D. dissertation, with an English summary/. • Jezik i lingvistika [Language and linguistics] (1972, 4th ed. 2003). Pp. 301. ID=49205772. • Lingvistika o čoveku [Linguistics on man] (1975, 3rd ed. 1996). Pp. 218. ID=48322828. • Jezik u društvu [Language in society] (1986, 3rd ed. 2004). Pp. 261. ID=49207052. • Lingvistika u primeni [Linguistics in application] (1986, 3rd ed. 2007). Pp. 216. ID=48473612. • Uvod u opštu lingvistiku [Introduction to general linguistics] (1989, 8th ed. 2013). Pp. 269. ID=48323084. • Ka jedinstvu lingvistike [Towards unity in linguistics] (1997). Pp. 284. ID=56979468. • Jezik u kontekstu [Language in context] (1997). Pp. 298. ID=57560588. • Jezici [Languages] (1993, 6th ed. 2010). Pp. 144. . /Macedonian translation, Skopje, 2001/. • Pismo [Writing] (1996, 3rd ed. 2010). Pp. 190. . /Macedonian translation, Skopje, 2001/. • Jezik od mira do rata [Language from peace to war] (1994, 3rd ed. 1997). Pp. 142. ID=52929292. /Greek translation, Athens, 2011/. • Jezik u društvenoj krizi [Language in a social crisis] (1997). Pp. 168. ID=57789708. This set was followed by nine further books, all except the last on the list published by Biblioteka XX vek of Belgrade: • Lica jezika – sociolingvističke teme [Facets of language: Sociolinguistic topics] (2001, 2nd ed. 2002). Pp. 246. . • Nova lica jezika – sociolingvističke teme [New facets of language: Sociolinguistic topics] (2002, 2nd ed. 2009). Pp. 262. . • Žargon – lingvistička studija [Slang: A linguistic study] (2003, 2nd ed. 2006). Pp. 295. . • Jezik i kultura [Language and culture] (2005). Pp. 288. . • Evropa u jeziku [Europe in language] (2009). Pp. 246. . • Jezik i identitet [Language and identity] (2010). Pp. 279. . • Portret jednog jezika [Portrait of a language] (2012). Pp. 278. . • Sarmagedon u Mesopotamaniji – leksičke skrivalice [Sarmageddon in Mesopotamania: Lexical blends] (2013). Pp. 207. . • Selektivna sociolingvistička bibliografija: SFRJ/SRJ-SCG/Srbija, 1967–2007 [Selective sociolinguistic bibliography of Yugoslavia/Serbia, 1967–2007] (2009). Beograd: Narodna biblioteka Srbije. Pp. 124. . Selected articles and book chapters • On the interrelatedness of grammar and lexis in the structure of English. Lingua 19:3, 1968, 233–263. • Symmetry and asymmetry in prepositional systems. Zbornik radova povodom četrdesetogodišnjice osnivanja Katedre za engleski jezik i književnost. Beograd: Filološki fakultet, 1969, 57–69. • Writing systems and phonological insights. Papers from the Sixth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society. University of Chicago: Department of Linguistics, 1970, 453–458. • A system of English prepositions and their Serbo-Croatian equivalents. The Yugoslav Serbo-Croatian-English Contrastive Project (ed. R.Filipović), Zagreb: Institute of Linguistics/Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. Reports 8, 1973, 3–20. • The object of linguistics in historical perspective. In: History of Linguistic Thought and Contemporary Linguistics (ed. H.Parret), Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1976, 1–12. • The interdisciplinary relevance of folk linguistics. In: Progress in Linguistic Historiography (ed. K.Koerner), Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1980, 381–393. • Some thoughts on the structure and applications of linguistics. In: Models of Grammar, Descriptive Linguistics and Pedagogical Grammar (eds G.Nickel, D.Nehls), Heidelberg: Julius Groos, 1980, 22–45. • Sociolinguistic issues in standardizing linguistic terminology. Language in Society 12:1, 1983, 65–70. • Sociolinguistics and language universals. Studia Linguistica 37:1, 1983, 1–8. • Language universals and linguistic relativity. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia 19:2, 1985, 45–55. • (with Melanie Mikes) Types and methods in multilingual research in Yugoslavia. In: Methoden der Kontaktlinguistik/Methods in Contact Linguistic Research (ed. P.H.Nelde), Bonn:Dümmler, 1985, 145–154. • Translation across cultures: Some problems with terminologies. In: Scientific and Humanistic Dimensions of Language. Festschrift for Robert Lado (ed. K.R.Jankowsky), Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1985, 159–163. • Politique et aménagement linguistiques en Yougoslavie. In: Politique et Aménagement Linguistiques (ed. J.Maurais), Québec: Conseil de la Langue Française/Paris: Le Robert, 1987, 417–452. • Language planning in Yugoslavia. In: ''Actes du Colloque International sur l'Aménagement Linguistique/Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Language Planning'' (ed. L.Laforge), Québec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1987, 133–141. • Applied linguistics as linguistics applied. In: The Relation of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics (eds O. Mišeska Tomić, R.W.Shuy), New York/London: Plenum Press, 1987, 3–19. • Multilingualism and markedness in language use: The Yugoslav case. Grazer Linguistische Studien 28, 1987, 5–11. • Soziolinguistische Aspekte der heutigen serbokroatischen Standardsprache. Die Welt der Slaven 34:2, 1989, 259–273. • Generative structuralism. In: Yugoslav General Linguistics (ed. M.Radovanović), Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1989, 33–46. • The social basis of language conflict and language attitudes. In: Language Attitudes and Language Conflict/Spracheinstellungen und Sprachkonflikte (ed. P.H.Nelde), Bonn:Dümmler, 1990, 41–47. • Contrastive analysis of terminology and the terminology of contrastive analysis. In: Languages in Contact and Conflict (eds V.Ivir, D.Kalogjera), Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1991, 73–92. • Graphic relativity and linguistic constructs. In: Literacy and Language Analysis (ed. R.J.Scholes), Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1993, 5–18. • Language and languages: A retrospect. In: History of Linguistics 1993 (ed. K.R.Jankowsky), Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1995, 321–326. • A problem of language identity: The comparative linguistics of Serbo-Croatian. In: Dán do Oide: Essays in Memory of Conn R. Ó Cléirigh (eds A.Ahlqvist, V.Čapková), Dublin: The Linguistics Institute of Ireland, 1997, 67–73. • Language-internal conflict and language dissolution. In: Recent Studies in Contact Linguistics (eds W.Wölck, A. de Houwer), Bonn:Dümmler, 1997, 29–35. • Lengua, nacionalismo y la désintegración de Yugoslavia. Revista de Antropología Social 6, 1997, 13–27. • Discourses of war and peace. Folia Linguistica 34:3–4, 2000, 129–145. • Language, nationalism and war in Yugoslavia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 151, 2001, 69–87. • Serbo-Croatian and its descendants: A case of Umbau? In: Lexical Norm and National Language – Lexicography and Language Policy in South-Slavic Languages after 1989 (ed. R.Lučić), München: Otto Sagner, 2002, 145–149. • Sprachenpolitik in den Nachfolgestaaten des ehemaligen Jugoslawien. In: Sprache und politischer Wandel (eds H.Gruber, F.Menz, O.Panagl), Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, 2003, 51–70. • Serbo-Croatian and English: Some sociolinguistic parallels. In: Germano-Slavistische Beiträge. Festschrift für Peter Rehder zum 65. Geburtstag (eds M.Okuka, U.Schweier), München: Otto Sagner, 2004, 45–52. • Language and boundaries in the Yugoslav context. In: Language, Discourse and Borders in the Yugoslav Successor States (eds B.Busch, H.Kelly-Holmes), Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2004, 21–37. • One, two, three, four: It's Serbo-Croatian that counts. In: A Companion in Linguistics: A Festschrift for Anders Ahlqvist on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday (eds B.Smelik et al.), Nijmegen: Stichting Uitgeverij de Keltische Draak/Münster: Nodus, 2005, 310–323. • What English means to us. In: Interkatedarska konferencija anglističkih katedri Niš 2006 (ed. V.Ž.Jovanović), Niš: Filozofski fakultet, 2007, 11–19. • European language policy between diversity and globalisation. In: Jezična politika i jezična stvarnost/Language policy and language reality (ed. J.Granić), Zagreb: Hrvatsko društvo za primijenjenu lingvistiku, 2009, 629–640. • Half a century of linguistics: Some reflections and reminiscences. BAS/British and American Studies 14, 2009, 203–212. • English in European institutions: Some observations. Belgrade English Language & Literature Studies 1, 2009, 109–117. • Multiple language identities in Southeastern Europe (with a focus on Serbo-Croatian). In: Europe-Evropa: Cross-cultural Dialogues between the West, Russia, and Southeastern Europe (eds M.Könönen, J.Nuorluoto), Uppsala: Studia Multiethnica Upsaliensia 18, 2010, 34–49. • Who are you? Profiling individual identities. In: English Language and Literature Studies: Image, Identity, Reality (eds N.Tomović, J.Vujić), Belgrade: Faculty of Philology, vol. I, 2011, 11–17. • Language, identity and borders in the former Serbo-Croatian area. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 33:3, 2012, 219–235. • What happened to Serbo-Croatian? In: After Yugoslavia: The Cultural Spaces of a Vanished Land (ed. R.Gorup), Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2013, 160–168. ==See also==