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Serbo-Croatian

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Serbo-Croatian
srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Native toSerbia

Croatia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Montenegro

Kosovo (existence disputed)
Native speakers
18 million
Early forms
Proto-Indo-European
Standard forms
DialectsShtokavian

Torlakian

Chakavian

Kajkavian
Cyrillic

Latin

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 639-1sh
ISO 639-2hbs
ISO 639-3
Serbo-Croatian language on the Balkan peninsula, in 2005
Different dialects
Street sign in Dalj, Croatia, showing road names in Latin and Cyrillic

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.

Between 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

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Unlike English, Serbo-Croatian words are written the same way they're said, with every letter representing one sound.

Serbo-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

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Serbo-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

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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

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