Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian is the name of a South Slavic language, which is spoken in modern-day Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, it has been divided into four variants. The variants of this language are all based on a single dialect, Shtokavian. Speakers of these variants can understand each other.
| Serbo-Croatian | |
|---|---|
| srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски | |
| Native to | Serbia Kosovo (existence disputed) |
Native speakers | 18 million |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | Proto-Indo-European
|
Standard forms | |
| Dialects | Shtokavian
Torlakian Chakavian Kajkavian |
| Cyrillic
Glagolitic (9th century) Arabic (16th century bosnian) | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Serbia
Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro European Union |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | sh |
| ISO 639-2 | hbs |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
History
changeBetween 1954 and 1992, it was one of the official languages of Yugoslavia (the others were Slovenian and Macedonian). The term Serbo-Croatian was first used in the 1830s. Today, people often speak about Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin languages. Research has also shown that what is called Serbo-Croatian language, is in fact a number of slightly different sub-dialects. People speaking one of the dialects easily understand other people speaking a different dialect. People in Croatia use the Latin alphabet to write the language, while people in other parts use both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet
Writing and Pronounciation
changeWriting
changeUnlike English, Serbo-Croatian words are written the same way they're said, with every letter representing one sound.
Vowels
changeSerbo-Croatian has 5 vowels.
| Latin Alphabet | Cyrillic Alphabet | English (not exactly) |
|---|---|---|
| A a | А а | father |
| E e | Е е | den |
| I i | И и | seek |
| O o | О о | sock |
| U u | У у | look |
Consonants
changeSerbo-Croatian has 25 consonants.
| Latin Alphabet | Cyrillic Alphabet | English (not exactly) |
|---|---|---|
| B b | Б б | ball |
| V v | В в | vax (roughly) |
| G g | Г г | good |
| D d | Д д | dad |
| Đ đ | Ђ ђ | - |
| Ž ž | Ж ж | vision |
| Z z | З з | zero |
| J j | Ј ј | you |
| K k | К к | call |
| L l | Л л | loss |
| Lj lj | Љ љ | - |
| M m | М м | mom |
| N n | Н н | nose |
| Nj nj | Њ њ | news |
| P p | П п | poll |
| R r | Р р | rat |
| S s | С с | son |
| T t | Т т | tax |
| Ć ć | Ћ ћ | Qing |
| F f | Ф ф | fork |
| H h | Х х | harp (roughly) |
| C c | Ц ц | pots |
| Č č | Ч ч | check |
| Dž dž | Џ џ | George |
| Š š | Ш ш | Sharp |
Comparison of Serbo-Croatian dialects
change| English | Croatian | Bosnian | Serbian |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | siječanj | januar | |
| February | veljača | februar | |
| March | ožujak | mart | |
| April | travanj | april | |
| May | svibanj | maj | |
| June | lipanj | juni | jun |
| July | srpanj | juli | jul |
| August | kolovoz | august | avgust |
| September | rujan | septembar | |
| October | listopad | oktobar | |
| November | studeni | novembar | |
| December | prosinac | decembar | |
References
change