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.

## 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

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|||||

## Infobox (language)

- **name**: Serbo-Croatian
- **familycolor**: Indo-European
- **nativename**: srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
- **states**: Serbia
Croatia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Montenegro

Kosovo (existence disputed)
- **speakers**: 18 million
- **fam1**: Indo-European languages, Indo-European
- **fam2**: Slavic languages, Slavic
- **fam3**: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%20Slavic%20languages South Slavic]
- **ancestor**: Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European
- **ancestor2**: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Slavic_language Proto-Slavic]
- **ancestor3**: Proto-South Slavic
- **dialects**: Shtokavian
Torlakian

Chakavian
Kajkavian
- **stand1**: Serbian language, Serbian
- **stand2**: Croatian language, Croatian
- **stand3**: Bosnian language, Bosnian
- **stand4**: Montenegrin language, Montenegrin
- **script**: Cyrillic script, Cyrillic
Latin script, Latin

Glagolitic alphabet, Glagolitic (9th century)
Arabic alphabet, Arabic (16th century bosnian)
- **nation**: Serbia
Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro
European Union
- **minority**: Austria
Hungary

Italy

Romania

Slovakia

Czech Republic, Czechia

North Macedonia
- **iso1**: sh
- **iso2**: hbs