The Role of Fórum Társadalomtudományi Szemle in Hungarian Linguistics

In the past quarter-century, the Slovakian-Hungarian social sciences review has become a major forum of publication for—among other fields—linguistics. It has covered a considerably wider range of topics than the linguistics journals published in Hungary. The work of two authors is discussed in some detail. Károly Tóth’s study on language shift in Vághosszúfalu (Dlhá nad Váhom) is a unique and exemplary analysis of the natural assimilation of Hungarians in a village (not caused by state violence but the economic power of Slovaks living in the nearby town of Šaľa). István Lanstyák was the first linguist to describe Hungarian as a pluricentric language (1995). He also published a detailed critique of Hungarian language cultivation (2003–2004), exposing its linguistically erroneous and outdated bases, and the social harm it causes. Finally, in the section “Scholars and politicians”, Kontra cites Susan Gal (USA), who discusses how she would be willing to give advice to Hungarian politicians wishing to slow down or halt Hungarian language shift in the countries adjacent to Hungary—but none of them has ever turned to her for advice.