# Serbo-Croatian

| Serbo-Croatian |
| --- |
| srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски |
| Native to | Serbia
Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro
Kosovo (existence disputed) |
| Native speakers | 18 million |
| Language family | Indo-European
* Slavic
	+ South Slavic
		- **Serbo-Croatian**
 |
| Early forms | Proto-Indo-European
* Proto-Slavic
	+ Proto-South Slavic
 |
| Standard forms | * Serbian
* Croatian
* Bosnian
* Montenegrin
 |
| Dialects | Shtokavian
Torlakian
Chakavian
Kajkavian |
| Writing system | 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 | Austria
Hungary
Italy
Romania
Slovakia
Czechia
North Macedonia |
| Language codes |
| ISO 639-1 | `sh` |
| ISO 639-2 | `hbs` |
| 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.

## History

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 pronunciation

### Writing

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

### Vowels

Serbo-Croatian has 5 vowels.

| Latin Alphabet | Cyrillic Alphabet | English (not exactly) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A a | А а | f**a**ther |
| E e | Е е | d**e**n |
| I i | И и | s**ee**k |
| O o | О о | s**o**ck |
| U u | У у | l**oo**k |

### Consonants

Serbo-Croatian has 25 consonants.

| Latin Alphabet | Cyrillic Alphabet | English (not exactly) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| B b | Б б | **b**all |
| V v | В в | **v**ax (roughly) |
| G g | Г г | **g**ood |
| D d | Д д | **d**ad |
| Đ đ | Ђ ђ | **j**am |
| Ž ž | Ж ж | vi**si**on |
| Z z | З з | **z**ero |
| J j | Ј ј | **y**ou |
| K k | К к | **c**all |
| L l | Л л | **l**oss |
| Lj lj | Љ љ | mil**li**on |
| M m | М м | **m**om |
| N n | Н н | **n**ose |
| Nj nj | Њ њ | **n**ews |
| P p | П п | **p**oll |
| R r | Р р | **r**at |
| S s | С с | **s**on |
| T t | Т т | **t**ax |
| Ć ć | Ћ ћ | **Q**ing |
| F f | Ф ф | **f**ork |
| H h | Х х | lo**ch** |
| C c | Ц ц | po**ts** |
| Č č | Ч ч | **ch**eck |
| Dž dž | Џ џ | **G**eorge |
| Š š | Ш ш | **Sh**arp |

## Comparison of Serbo-Croatian dialects

| English | Croatian | Bosnian | Serbian |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| January | siječanj | januar |
| February | veljača | februar |
| March | ožujak | mart |
| April | travanj | april |
| May | svibanj | maj |
| June | lipanj | jun**i** | jun |
| July | srpanj | jul**i** | jul |
| August | kolovoz | a**u**gust | a**v**gust |
| September | rujan | septembar |
| October | listopad | oktobar |
| November | studeni | novembar |
| December | prosinac | decembar |