Serbo-Croatian
A pluricentric South Slavic language with four standard varieties.
Serbo-Croatian, also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a Western South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually intelligible standard varieties: Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. The language emerged from a complex dialectal and religious mosaic shaped by the Ottoman Empire's expansion and population migrations, with Shtokavian becoming the most widespread supradialect.
- language_family
- Western South Slavic
- primary_regions
- Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro
- standard_varieties
- Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin
- writing_systems
- Latin (Gaj's Latin alphabet) and Cyrillic (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet)
- grammatical_cases
- Seven
- vowel_system
- Five vowels
- consonants
- Twenty-five
Lore & Background
The standardization of Serbo-Croatian was initiated in the mid-19th-century Vienna Literary Agreement by Croatian and Serbian writers and philologists, decades before a Yugoslav state was established. From the outset, literary Serbian and Croatian exhibited slight differences, although both were based on the same Shtokavian dialect—Eastern Herzegovinian. In the 20th century, Serbo-Croatian served as the lingua franca of Yugoslavia, being the sole official language in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (when it was called 'Serbo-Croato-Slovenian'), and afterwards the official language of four out of six republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Reader's Guide
Serbo-Croatian's significance lies in its role as a unifying yet contested linguistic entity in the western Balkans. The breakup of Yugoslavia influenced language attitudes, leading to the ethnic and political division of linguistic identity, with Bosnian established as an official standard in Bosnia and Herzegovina and efforts to codify a separate Montenegrin standard continuing. Despite the many linguistic similarities among the standard varieties, each possesses distinctive traits, although these differences remain minimal. The term 'Serbo-Croatian' remains controversial due to the widespread perception that national identity and language should correspond, but it is still used in academic and linguistic contexts due to the lack of a succinct alternative. Alternative designations such as Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS) are frequently used in political contexts, including by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Did You Know?
- The language is often colloquially called 'naš jezik' ('our language') by native speakers.
- It can be written in either the Latin (Gaj's Latin alphabet) or Cyrillic script (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet).
- The Vienna Literary Agreement of the mid-19th century initiated the standardization of Serbo-Croatian.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Serbo-Croatian?
Serbo-Croatian (also called BCMS) is a Western South Slavic language that serves as the primary tongue across four Balkan nations: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It grew out of a complex mosaic of dialects and religious communities shaped by centuries of Ottoman expansion and large-scale population migrations, with the Shtokavian supradialect eventually becoming the most widespread base.
What are Serbo-Croatian's powers and role?
Its defining 'power' is pluricentrism: a single linguistic continuum supports four mutually intelligible standard varieties—Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin—each with its own orthographic and lexical preferences. Structurally it packs seven grammatical cases, a five-vowel system, and dual-script literacy (Latin and Cyrillic), making it one of the most typologically rich Slavic languages.
How does Serbo-Croatian's story end?
Rather than a single finale, the narrative fractures: the once-unified standard splits into four nationally recognized varieties, each codified separately and tied to a different state. The language itself, however, remains very much alive, spoken daily by tens of millions across the Western Balkans in all four of its standard forms.
Why is Serbo-Croatian important?
It is the primary language of four sovereign states and acts as a shared linguistic bridge among communities of different religious and ethnic backgrounds in the Balkans. For linguists, its pluricentric model—where one dialectal continuum yields multiple co-equal standards—is a key real-world case study in how language, identity, and political borders interact.
What writing systems does Serbo-Croatian use?
The language is officially bilingual in script, employing both Gaj's Latin alphabet and the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. In practice, Croatian and Bosnian lean heavily toward Latin, while Serbian uses both scripts, with Cyrillic retaining a traditional and legal edge in education and government.
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