Hantec enthusiasts seek to make the Brno sociolect part of UNESCO list

The promoters of hantec, a unique Czech language variety, spoken by the lower classes of Brno during the 19th and early 20th centuries, would like get it inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage List. They are hoping that this might prevent the famous sociolect from completely dying out.

Although hantec no longer exists in its original form, many of the words and expressions, such as šalina (tram), or čurina (fun), have become part of spoken Czech in Brno. How did hantec originate and does it have a chance to become part of the prestigious UNESCO list? I discussed these questions with linguist Karel Oliva:

Karel Oliva|Photo: Annette Kraus, Radio Prague International

“Hantec is a sociolect which developed from a combination of a local Czech dialect and the German language. This is because until the end of the Second World War, Brno was a city with a mixed population. Actually, the share of the German-speaking population was over 50 percent there. So hantec developed as a sociolect of the lower classes to communicate with each other and partly also with the intention of not being understood by others.”

So what exactly makes it so specific? Is it the mix of Czech and German?

“Yes. It’s a mix of Czech, German, and there are even some words from Italian or the Roma dialect. What makes it really specific is that it is not understandable for regular speakers of Czech. So if we come from other parts of the Czech Republic we would not understand if someone speaks hantec.

“On the other hand, obviously Czech as the national language, is spoken in Brno and hantec is now just some sort of a speciality or curiosity, because the division into higher and lower classes, which was common when hantec developed, does not exist anymore.”

Brno|Photo: Radio Prague International

So hantec is actually not spoken on a regular basis by anyone in Brno nowadays…

“No, I don't think that it’s anyone’s mother tongue. The mother tongue of the inhabitants of Brno is the local dialect of Czech which is a combination of literary Czech and Czech from the Haná region. But proponents of this variety of language still learn it and use it, mostly for fun.”

What would you compare hantec to? Is there anything similar elsewhere in the world?

“Well, what comes to my mind is the “argot” spoken in the Bern region in Switzerland, developed by the local people, by the lowest social classes, with the intention of not being understood by others.

“And it seems to me that in the beginnings of hantec, at the turn of 19th and 20th century, the intention of not being understood by others was the main reason for developing such a language variety, while today it's just a curiosity and a Brno speciality.”

Brno|Photo: Martina Kutková, Radio Prague International

A group of enthusiasts from Brno now want to make hantec part of the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage. What chances do you think they have?

“I don’t think that they have any chances at all and I even hope that they don’t have any chances. Because this is not a cultural heritage. I would even say that it is in a sense a “non-cultural” heritage. It’s a heritage of the lowest social classes, of thieves and prostitutes, so I don’t think it’s something really valuable. It’s good for fun, but it's not valuable as a cultural heritage.”