U radu je analizirana percepcija hrvatskoga jezika u očima relevantnijih slovenskih političkih i kulturnih djelatnika u 19. stoljeću. U tome kontekstu razmatra se, je li u očima Slovenaca u tome razdoblju postojalo razlikovanje hrvatskoga i srpskoga jezika i je li postojala sklonost približavanju slovenskoga hrvatskomu jeziku te na koji bi se način eventualno približavanje trebalo provesti. Autor zaključuje kako je slovenski odnos prema Hrvatima i hrvatskomu jeziku bio ambivalentan. S jedne strane zagovaralo se je jezično jedinstvo, dok se je s druge strane Prešernov krug energično ograđivao od takvih stavova. Generalno gledano, Slovenci nisu bili spremni potpuno odbaciti vlastitu jezičnu samobitnost, već su prihvaćanje hrvatskoga ili \u27hrvatsko-srpskoga\u27 jezika vidjeli kao svojevrsnu dopunu slovenskomu jeziku, a za uzvrat bi Slovenci dobili snažnije geopolitičko zaleđe u hrvatskim, odnosno u hrvatskim i srpskim zemljama. Pritom su i pojave koje su naizgled stremile k odricanju od slovenske jezične samobitnosti u korist hrvatskoga ili \u27srpsko-hrvatskoga\u27 jezika bile u funkciji formiranja jedinstvenoga južnoslavenskog jezika u svrhu obrane slovenskoga identiteta, odnosno kao taktički potez obrane pred kulturno-političkom najezdom Nijemaca i Talijana. Uz nastojanje očuvanja slovenske kulturne i postizanja političke posebnosti, slovenski su političari i jezikoslovci u ono vrijeme slabo razlikovali hrvatski i srpski jezik. To se je posebice odnosilo na onaj dio koji je promovirao Kopitarovu i Miklošičevu jezičnu teoriju, dok je drugi dio bio previše zaokupljen vlastitim problemima u kontekstu borbe za slovensku jezičnu i političko-pravnu emancipaciju da bi se mogao dublje upustiti u analizu hrvatsko-srpskih jezičnih odnosa.The article analyzes the perception of the Croatian language in the eyes of relevant Slovenian political and cultural figures in the 19th century. In this context, the paper examins whether, in the eyes of Slovenians during that period, there was a distinction between the Croatian and Serbian languages, and whether there was a tendency to merge the Slovenian language with Croatian. The author concludes that the Slovenian attitude towards Croats and the Croatian language was ambivalent. On the one hand, linguistic unity was advocated, while on the other hand, the Prešeren Circle strongly distanced itself from such views. Generally speaking, Slovenians were not willing to completely abandon their linguistic distinctiveness. Instead, the acceptance of the Croatian or \u27Croatian-Serbian\u27 language was seen as a kind of complement to the Slovenian language, and in return, Slovenians would gain a stronger geopolitical support in the Croatian or Croatian and Serbian territories. In line with that, occurrences that seemingly aimed at renouncing Slovenian linguistic distinctiveness in favor of the Croatian or \u27Serbo-Croatian\u27 language served the purpose of forming a unified South Slavic language for the defense of the Slovenian identity. It was a tactical move to defend Slovenes against the cultural-political spread of Germans and Italians. While striving to preserve Slovenian culture and to achieve political distinctiveness, Slovenian poli-
ticians and linguists at that time poorly differentiated between the Croatian and Serbian languages. This was particularly true for those who promoted the Kopitar-Miklošič linguistic theory, while the other part was too preoccupied with their own problems in the context of the struggle for Slovenian linguistic and political-legal emancipation to delve deeper into the analysis of Croatian-Serbian language relations
