The influence of language policy on linguistic reality as an inevitable research topic (based on the example of the Croatian language)

In the article, the results of Croatian linguistic policy from two periods are taken into consideration: the first during the 1950's in popular science historiography, and the second in the year 2000 in Croatian press. An empirical analysis demonstrates that there was no effort made to impose unified Serbo-Croatian linguistic expression during the first period (in this concrete genre), and likewise no such attempt to impose exclusively Croatian linguistic varieties was successful in the second period (meaning that Serbianisms and alleged Serbianisms were in use). As for the second period, the analysis demonstrates that various types of media were polarized in this respect: the choice of preferred linguistic items depended on the ideological profile of the media. The article draws the following conclusion: data concerning linguistic reality that would enable us to verify the general theses "In Yugoslavia, Serbianisms were imposed on the Croatian language" or "In independent Croatia Serbianisms were banned" etc., is still unavailable. Only empirical investigations in various domains of communication, in various styles/genres, on various temporal levels, with frequency taken into consideration, will enable us to answer the question of how, when and where the first and second language policy were put into practice.