BIOGRAFIILE LINGVISTICE ALE UNOR CROAȚI DIN CARAȘOVA ȘI CLOCOTICI
Language biographies of Croatian speakers from Caraşova and Clocotici

Summary/Abstract: The Krashovani are the most numerous group of the Croatian minority in Romanian Banat. They differ from other local ethnic groups by their unique language and Roman Catholic faith. They live in two localities, respectively in the communes of Carașova and Lupac where they inhabit seven villages. Although they do not know much about the history of their group, they share a local dialect, Carașova Croatian, and a local identity which is related both to Croatia and Romania. Through language biographies of seven members of this minority, this paper gives an insight of the individual histories connected to language(s), illustrating their every-day use of language but also their relationship between identity and (other) languages, respectively between their Krashovan identity and other identities - Croatian, but also Romanian. The relationship of identity and language codes is visible in the communication process - in the family and with other members of the community they use Caraşova Croatian, while in other, more formal situations, they use Romanian or even standard Croatian. These seven language biographies also show features of code-mixing and code-switching and the influence of the Romanian language, as well as speech accommodation, some of them modifying their language choice according to the desired group.

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