View source for Serbo-Croatian

{{short description|South Slavic language}}
{{About|the language}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = {{nowrap|Serbo-Croatian}}
| altname          = Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian
| nativename       = {{lang|sh-Latn|srpskohrvatski}} / {{lang|sh-Cyrl|српскохрватски}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|sh|sr̩pskoxř̩ʋaːtskiː|}}
| states           = {{hlist
 | [[Languages of Serbia|Serbia]]
 | [[Languages of Croatia|Croatia]]
 | [[Languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
 | [[Languages of Montenegro|Montenegro]]
 | [[Languages of Kosovo|Kosovo]]
 }}
| ethnicity        = {{hlist
 | [[Serbs]]
 | [[Croats]]
 | [[Bosniaks]]
 | [[Montenegrins]]
 }}
| speakers         = {{sigfig|16.749706|2}} million
| date             = 2025
| ref              = <ref name="e27">{{e27|hbs}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]]
| fam3             = [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]
| fam4             = [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]]
| fam5             = [[Western South Slavic languages|Western South Slavic]]
| stand1           = [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]]
| stand2           = [[Croatian language|Croatian]]
| stand3           = [[Montenegrin language|Montenegrin]]
| stand4           = [[Serbian language|Serbian]]
| script           = {{plainlist|
* [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Gaj's Latin alphabet|Gaj's]]{{efn|name=cnr-script}})
* [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] ([[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet|Serbian]]{{efn|name=cnr-script}})
* [[Yugoslav Braille]]
* '''Formerly:'''
* [[Glagolitic script|Glagolitic]]
* [[Arabic script|Arabic]] ([[Arebica]])
* Cyrillic ([[Bosnian Cyrillic|Bosančica]])
}}
| nation           = {{plainlist|
* [[Serbia]] (as Serbian)
* [[Croatia]] (as Croatian)
* [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (as Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian)
* [[Montenegro]] (as Montenegrin)
* [[Kosovo]] (as Serbian)<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.kushtetutakosoves.info/repository/docs/Constitution.of.the.Republic.of.Kosovo.pdf |title = Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo |page=2 |access-date=2012-08-17 }}</ref>
* [[European Union]] (as Croatian)
}}
| minority         = {{plainlist|
* [[North Macedonia]]<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=4021 |title = Minority Rights Group International : Macedonia : Macedonia Overview |website = Minorityrights.org |access-date = 2012-10-24 }}</ref>
* [[Hungary]]<ref>1993, Minorities Act No. LXXVII</ref><ref name=e27/>
* [[Italy]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sardegnacultura.it/documenti/7_93_20061218095702.pdf|title=Legge Regionale n.15 del 14 maggio 1997 – Tutela e valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale delle minoranze linguistiche nel Molise – Bollettino Ufficiale n. 10 del 16.5.1997|publisher=Sardegna Cultura|access-date=2018-07-15|archive-date=2018-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715210618/http://www.sardegnacultura.it/documenti/7_93_20061218095702.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Romania]]<ref>2007, National Minority Status Law, Article 3(2)</ref><ref name=e27/>
* [[Czech Republic]]<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=1834 |title=Minority Rights Group International : Czech Republic : Czech Republic Overview |website=Minorityrights.org |access-date = 2012-10-24 }}</ref>
* [[Slovakia]]<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=02&dd=09&nav_id=65083 |title=Serbs in Slovakia granted minority status |date=February 9, 2010 |website=B92 |access-date=2013-09-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131110174015/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2010&mm=02&dd=09&nav_id=65083 |archive-date=2013-11-10 }}</ref>
}}
| agency           = {{plainlist|
* [[Board for Standardization of the Serbian Language]] (Serbian)
* [[Institute of Croatian Language]] (Croatian)
* [[Language Institute of the University of Sarajevo]] (Bosnian)
* [[Faculty of Montenegrin Language and Literature]] (Montenegrin)
}}
| iso1             = sh
| iso1comment      = (deprecated)
| iso3             = hbs
| lc1              = bos
| ld1              = [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]]
| lc2              = cnr
| ld2              = [[Montenegrin language|Montenegrin]]
| lc3              = hrv
| ld3              = [[Croatian language|Croatian]]
| lc4              = srp
| ld4              = [[Serbian language|Serbian]]
| lingua           = 53-AAA-g
| glotto           = sout1528
| ietf             = sh
| map              = Serbo croatian language2005.png
| mapcaption       = {{legend|#a7f0f0|Areas where Serbo-Croatian is spoken by a plurality of inhabitants (as of 2005){{update inline|date=July 2018}}}}
| notice           = IPA
| glottoname       = Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian
}}
{{South Slavic languages sidebar}}

'''Serbo-Croatian''',{{efn|English pronunciation: {{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Serbo-Croatian.ogg|ˌ|s|ɜːr|b|oʊ|k|r|oʊ|ˈ|eɪ|ʃ|ən}} {{respell|SUR|boh|kroh|AY|shən}}<!-- DO NOT CHANGE THE STRESS – IT IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHAT LPD SAYS --><ref name="lpd">{{citation |last=Wells |first=John C. |year=2008 |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |edition=3rd |publisher=Longman |isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0 }}</ref>{{refn|name=jones2003|{{Citation |last=Jones |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Jones (phonetician) |title=English Pronouncing Dictionary |editor=Peter Roach |editor2=James Hartmann |editor3=Jane Setter |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |orig-date=1917 |year=2003 |isbn=978-3-12-539683-8 }}}}; alternatively, '''Serbo-Croat'''.}} also known as '''Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian''' ('''BCMS'''),<ref name=ThomasOsipov />{{efn|BCMS expands on earlier designations such as '''Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian''' ('''BCS'''){{sfn|Alexander|2006|p=XVII}} or '''Serbo-Croat-Bosnian''' ('''SCB'''),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Čamdžić |first1=Amela |last2=Hudson |first2=Richard |year=2007 |title=Serbo-Croat-Bosnian clitics and Word Grammar |publisher=UCL Psychology and Language Sciences |url=http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/PUB/WPL/02papers/camdzic_hudson.pdf |journal=Research in Language |doi=10.2478/v10015-007-0001-7 |hdl=11089/9540 |s2cid=54645947 |access-date=11 September 2013 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924072545/http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/PUB/WPL/02papers/camdzic_hudson.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> following the codification and gradual recognition of Montenegrin as a standard language variety distinct from Serbian. These designations have also been alternatively separated with a [[Slash (punctuation)|forward slash]] ({{char|/}}), i.e. '''Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian''' or '''Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian'''.}} is a [[South Slavic language]] and the primary language of [[Serbia]], [[Croatia]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], and [[Montenegro]].<ref name="Econ"/> It is a [[pluricentric language]] with four<ref>{{cite book |last=Mørk |first=Henning |year=2002 |language=da |title=Serbokroatisk grammatik: substantivets morfologi |trans-title=Serbo-Croatian Grammar: Noun Morphology |series=Arbejdspapirer |volume=1 |location=Århus |publisher=Slavisk Institut, Århus Universitet |page=unpaginated (Preface) |oclc=471591123 }}</ref> [[mutually intelligible]] [[Standard language|standard varieties]], namely [[Serbian language|Serbian]], [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]], and [[Montenegrin language|Montenegrin]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Šipka |first=Danko |author-link=Danko Sipka |year=2019 |title=Lexical layers of identity: words, meaning, and culture in the Slavic languages |location=New York, NY |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=206, 166 |doi=10.1017/9781108685795|isbn=978-953-313-086-6 |s2cid=150383965 |lccn=2018048005 |oclc=1061308790 |quote = Serbo-Croatian, which features four ethnic variants: Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin}}</ref><ref name="Econ">{{cite news |url = https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2017/04/10/is-serbo-croatian-a-language |title = Is Serbo-Croatian a language? |date=10 April 2017 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>

South Slavic languages historically formed a [[dialect continuum]]. The region's turbulent history, particularly due to the expansion of the [[Ottoman Empire]], led to a complex dialectal and religious mosaic. Due to population migrations, [[Shtokavian]] became the most widespread [[supradialect]] in the western Balkans, encroaching westward into the area previously dominated by [[Chakavian]] and [[Kajkavian]].<ref>{{harvnb|Greenberg|2004|p=33|loc=chpt. 2. 3. The power of competing dialects}}: "Over the past few hundred years, the Štokavian dialects have expanded at the expense of both Čakavian and Kajkavian [...]"</ref> [[Bosniaks]], [[Croats]], and [[Serbs]] differ in religion and were historically often part of different cultural spheres, although large portions of these populations lived side by side under foreign rule. During that period, the language was referred to by various names, such as "Slavic" in general, or "Serbian", "Croatian" or "Bosnian" in particular. In a classicizing manner, it was also referred to as "[[Illyrian (South Slavic)|Illyrian]]".

The [[linguistic standardization|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.{{sfn|Blum|2002|pp=130–132}} From the outset, literary Serbian and Croatian exhibited slight differences, although both were based on the same Shtokavian dialect—[[Eastern Herzegovinian dialect|Eastern Herzegovinian]]. In the 20th century, Serbo-Croatian served as the [[lingua franca]] of the country of [[Yugoslavia]], being the sole official language in the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] (when it was called "Serbo-Croato-Slovenian"),<ref name="Busch2004" /> and afterwards the official language of four out of six republics of the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]. The [[breakup of Yugoslavia]] influenced language attitudes, leading to the [[Language secessionism#In Serbo-Croatian|ethnic and political division]] of linguistic identity. Since then, Bosnian has likewise been established as an official standard in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and efforts to [[Codification (linguistics)|codify]] a separate Montenegrin standard continue.

Like other South Slavic languages, Serbo-Croatian has a relatively simple [[Serbo-Croatian phonology|phonology]], with the common five-vowel system and twenty-five consonants. Its [[Serbo-Croatian grammar|grammar]] evolved from [[History of the Slavic languages|Common Slavic]], with complex [[inflection]], preserving seven [[grammatical case]]s in nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. Verbs exhibit [[imperfective aspect|imperfective]] or [[perfective aspect]], with a moderately complex tense system. Serbo-Croatian is a [[pro-drop language]] with flexible word order, [[subject–verb–object]] being the default. It can be written in either the [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Gaj's Latin alphabet]]) or [[Cyrillic script]] ([[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet]]),{{efn|name=cnr-script|Officially codified [[Montenegrin alphabet]] for the standard [[Montenegrin language]] expands on Gaj's Latin and Serbian Cyrillic alphabets with two additional letters (see the section {{section link||Writing systems}}); these language reforms, however, have not entered everyday use.}} and the [[orthography]] is highly [[Phonemic orthography|phonemic]] in all standards. Despite the many linguistic similarities among the standard varieties, each possesses distinctive traits,{{sfn|Alexander|2006|p=379}} although these differences remain minimal.{{sfn|Ćalić|2021|loc=In contrast with the prevalence of language-external criteria that determine attitudes about the status of Serbo-Croatian as well as about its description, attitudes to language-internal criteria show there is almost unanimous agreement that differences between the standards are minimal. Overall, 96.3 % of respondents considered Serbo-Croatian varieties to be mutually intelligible [...]}}

==Name==
Throughout the history of the [[South Slavs]], the [[vernacular]], literary, and written languages (e.g., Chakavian, Kajkavian, Shtokavian) of various regions and ethnic groups developed and diverged independently. Before the 19th century, these languages were collectively called "Illyrian", "Slavic", "Slavonian", "Bosnian", "Dalmatian", "Serbian", or "Croatian".<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kordić, Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |title=Moderne Nationalbezeichnungen und Texte aus vergangenen Jahrhunderten |trans-title=Modern nation names and texts in the past |url=http://www.zeitschrift-fuer-balkanologie.de/index.php/zfb/article/view/222/222 |language=de |journal=Zeitschrift für Balkanologie |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=40–41 |year=2010 |issn=0044-2356 |ssrn=3440016 |id={{CROSBI|495349}}. {{ZDB|201058-6}} |archive-date=1 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601175024/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/495349.MODERNE_NATIONALBEZEICHNUNGEN.PDF |access-date=11 May 2014 }}</ref> Since the 19th century, the term ''Illyrian'' or ''Illyric'' was frequently used, sometimes leading to confusion with the ancient [[Illyrian language]]. Although [[Illyrian (South Slavic)|the word ''Illyrian'' was used occasionally before]], its widespread usage began after [[Ljudevit Gaj]] and several other prominent linguists met at [[Ljudevit Vukotinović]]'s house to discuss the issue in 1832.<ref>{{cite book |last=Despalatović |first=Elinor Murray |title=Ljudevit Gaj and the Illyrian Movement |publisher=East European Quarterly; [[Columbia University Press]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/ljudevitgajillyr0000desp/page/64 64] |location=New York and London |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-914710-05-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/ljudevitgajillyr0000desp/page/64 }}</ref> The term ''{{Nowrap|Serbo-Croatian}}'' was first used by [[Jacob Grimm]] in 1824,{{Sfn|Lencek|1976|p=46}}{{Sfn|Pohl|1996|pp=209–210}} later popularized by the Viennese philologist [[Jernej Kopitar]], and adopted by Croatian grammarians in [[Zagreb]] in 1854 and 1859.{{Sfn|Lencek|1976|p=49}} At that time, Serb and Croat lands were still part of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] and [[Austrian Empire]]s.

Serbo-Croatian is typically referred to by the names of its standardized varieties—Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin.{{Sfn|Brown|Anderson|2006|p=259}}<ref>"In 1993 the authorities in Sarajevo adopted a new language law (Službeni list Republike Bosne i Hercegovine, 18/93): In the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ijekavian standard literary language of the three constitutive nations is officially used, designated by one of the three terms: Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian." ({{Harvnb|Bugarski|Hawkesworth|2006|p=142}})</ref> It is rarely referred to by the names of its sub-dialects, such as [[Bunjevac dialect|Bunjevac]] or [[Šokac dialect|Šokac]].<ref>"The same language [Croatian] is referred to by different names, Serbian (srpski), Serbo-Croat (in Croatia: hrvatsko-srpski), Bosnian (bosanski), based on political and ethnic grounds. […] the names Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian are politically determined and refer to the same language with possible slight variations." ({{Harvnb|Brown|Anderson|2006|p=294}})</ref> In the language itself, it is formally known as {{lang-sh-Latn-Cyrl|srpskohrvatski|српскохрватски|separator=|label=none}} ("Serbo-Croatian") and {{lang-sh-Latn-Cyrl|hrvatskosrpski|хрватскoсрпски|separator=|label=none}} ("Croato-Serbian").<ref name="Econ" /> Historically, linguists and philologists, including [[Đuro Daničić]] and [[Tomislav Maretić]], have referred to the language as "Serbian or Croatian" and "Croatian or Serbian". Serbo-Croatian is often colloquially called ''naš jezik'' ("our language") or ''naški'' (sic. "ourish" or "ourian") by native speakers. This term is frequently used by those who wish to avoid linguistic discussions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Štiks |first=Igor |url=http://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=642971 |title=Brothers United: The Making of Yugoslavs |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=9781474221542 |pages=27 |language=en |access-date=1 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Đorđe |first=Tomić |title=European National Identities: Elements, Transitions, Conflicts |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=9781351296465 |editor1-last=Roland |editor1-first=Vogt |pages=287 |language=en |chapter=From "Yugoslavism" to (Post-)Yugoslav Nationalisms: Understanding Yugoslav Identities}}</ref> Native speakers traditionally describe their language as ''jedan ali ne jedinstven'' ("one but not uniform").{{sfn|Alexander|2006|p=425}}

In 1988, Croatian linguist [[Dalibor Brozović]] advocated the term ''Serbo-Croatian'', stating that, by analogy with Indo-European, it not only denotes the two components of the same language but also delineates the geographical region in which it is spoken, encompassing all language varieties within these boundaries, including Bosnian and Montenegrin.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brozović |first=Dalibor |author-link=Dalibor Brozović |title=Jezik, srpskohrvatski/hrvatskosrpski, hrvatski ili srpski : izvadak iz II izdanja Enciklopedije Jugoslavije |publisher=Jugoslavenski Leksikografski zavod "Miroslav Krleža" |page=4 |language=sh |chapter=Jezik, srpskohrvatski/hrvatskosrpski, hrvatski ili srpski |trans-chapter=Language, Serbo-Croatian/Croato-Serbian, Croatian or Serbian : Extract From the Second Edition of the Encyclopedia of Yugoslavia |location=Zagreb |year=1988 |isbn=978-86-7053-014-0 |oclc=645757653}}</ref> Croatian linguist [[Mate Kapović]] suggested ''Standard Shtokavian'' as the ethnically neutral and linguistically most precise term.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Muhr |first=Rudolf |editor-first1=Rudolf |editor-first2=Josep Angel |editor-first3=Jack |editor-last1=Muhr |editor-last2=Mas Castells |editor-last3=Rueter |author-link=:de:Rudolf Muhr |display-authors=etal |contribution=Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian: Notes on contact and conflict |contributor-last=Kapović |contributor-first=Mate |contributor-link=Mate Kapović |year=2019 |title=European Pluricentric Languages in Contact and Conflict |series=Österreichisches Deutsch – Sprache der Gegenwart |volume=21 |isbn=978-3-631-80297-7 |doi=10.3726/b16182 |id={{CROSBI|66007}} |pages=171–184 |quote=The common pluricentric standard dialect<sup>6</sup> in question would today best be called, in an ethnically neutral and lingustically most precise manner, Standard Štokavian,<sup>7</sup> though that name is not very suitable for wider, non-linguistic use due to obscureness of the dialectal term Štokavian outside the region. [...] (“Serbo-Croatian” is considered politically incorrect by many and “Standard Štokavian” is still not common)}}</ref> Nowadays, the use of the term "Serbo-Croatian" is controversial due to the widespread perception that national identity and language should correspond.<ref>{{cite book|last=Richter Malabotta |first=Melita |editor1-last=Busch |editor1-first=Brigitta |editor2-last=Kelly-Holmes |editor2-first=Helen |title=Language, Discourse and Borders in the Yugoslav Successor States |url=https://archive.org/details/languagediscours00busc |url-access=limited |publisher=Multilingual Matters |page=[https://archive.org/details/languagediscours00busc/page/n86 81] |chapter=Semantics of War in Former Yugoslavia |location=Clevedon |year=2004 |oclc=803615012}}</ref>{{Sfn | Mappes-Niediek | 2005 | p = 30}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |editor1-last=Ajdačić |editor1-first=Dejan |editor2-last=Lazarević Di Đakomo |editor2-first=Persida |title=U čast Pera Jakobsena: zbornik radova |publisher=SlovoSlavia |pages=225–239 |language=sh |chapter=Ideologija nacionalnog identiteta i nacionalne kulture |trans-chapter=The ideology of national identity and culture |chapter-url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/522531.Ideologija_nacionalnog.PDF |series=Studia in honorem Per Jakobsen; vol. 1 |location=Beograd |year=2010 |isbn=978-86-87807-02-0 |oclc=723062357 |s2cid=132883650 |ssrn=3439190 |id={{CROSBI|522531}} |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601175039/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/522531.Ideologija_nacionalnog.PDF|url-status=live|archive-date=1 June 2012|url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/522531.Ideologija_nacionalnog.PDF |ref=none}}</ref> However, it is still used in academic and linguistic contexts due to the lack of a succinct alternative.<ref>{{cite book|last=Obst |first=Ulrich |editor1-last=Okuka |editor1-first=Miloš |editor2-last=Schweier |editor2-first=Ulrich |title=Festschrift für Peter Rehder zum 65. Geburtstag |series=Welt der Slaven; vol. 21 |publisher=Otto Sagner |page=212 |language=de |chapter=Zum genitivus qualitatis und zu alternativen Möglichkeiten in den drei 'Buddenbrooks'-Übersetzungen aus dem kroatischen und serbischen Sprachgebiet |location=Munich |year=2004 |oclc=55018584}}</ref> Following the [[breakup of Yugoslavia]], alternative designations have emerged, such as ''Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian'' (BCS),<ref>Tomasz Kamusella. ''The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. pp. 228, 297.</ref> which is frequently used in political contexts, including by the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]].

== History ==

=== Early history ===
{{See also|Shtokavian#Early history of Shtokavian}}{{Expand section|date=March 2025}}

=== Standardization ===
[[File:Rjecnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Đuro Daničić]], ''Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika'' (Croatian or Serbian Dictionary), 1882]]
[[File:Gramatika bosanskog jezika.jpg|thumb|upright|''Gramatika bosanskoga jezika'' (Grammar of the Bosnian Language), 1890]]

In the mid-19th century, Serbian (led by self-taught writer and folklorist [[Vuk Stefanović Karadžić]]) and most Croatian writers and linguists (represented by the [[Illyrian movement]] and led by [[Ljudevit Gaj]] and [[Đuro Daničić]]), proposed the use of the most widespread dialect, [[Shtokavian dialect|Shtokavian]], as the base for their common standard language. Karadžić standardised the [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet]], and Gaj and Daničić standardized the [[Gaj's Latin Alphabet|Croatian Latin alphabet]], on the basis of vernacular speech phonemes and the principle of phonological spelling. In 1850 Serbian and Croatian writers and linguists signed the [[Vienna Literary Agreement]], declaring their intention to create a unified standard.{{Sfn | Greenberg | 2004 | p = 24}} Thus a complex bi-variant language appeared, which the Serbs officially called "Serbo-Croatian" or "Serbian or Croatian" and the Croats "Croato-Serbian", or "Croatian or Serbian". Yet, in practice, the variants of the conceived common literary language served as different literary variants, chiefly differing in lexical inventory and stylistic devices. The common phrase describing this situation was that Serbo-Croatian or "Croatian or Serbian" was a single language. In 1861, after a long debate, the [[Croatian Parliament|Croatian Sabor]] put up several proposed names to a vote of the members of the parliament; "Yugoslavian" was opted for by the majority and legislated as the official language of the [[Triune Kingdom]]. The [[Austrian Empire]], suppressing Pan-Slavism at the time, did not confirm this decision and legally rejected the legislation, but in 1867 finally settled on "Croatian or Serbian" instead.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.snjezana-kordic.de/SAMARDZIJA.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023141331/http://www.snjezana-kordic.de/SAMARDZIJA.htm |archive-date=23 October 2016 |magazine={{ill|Književna republika|sh|vertical-align=sup}} |title=Pseudoznanost na djelu |trans-title=Pseudoscience at work |first=Snježana |last=Kordić |year=2007 |number=7–9 |location=Zagreb |pages=243–250 |editor-first1=Velimir |editor-last1=Visković |editor-link1=:sh:Velimir Visković |issn=1334-1057 |oclc=190812698}}</ref> During the [[Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina]], the language of all three nations in this territory was declared "Bosnian" until the death of administrator [[Benjamin von Kállay|von Kállay]] in 1907, at which point the name was changed to "Serbo-Croatian".<ref>{{cite book |title=Industrialization of Bosnia-Hercegovina: 1878–1918 |url=https://archive.org/details/industrializatio0000unse_i6h0 |url-access=registration |last=Sugar |first=Peter F. |year=1963 |publisher=University of Washington Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/industrializatio0000unse_i6h0/page/201 201]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia at Peace and at War: Selected Writings, 1983–2007 |last=Ramet |first=Sabrina P. |year=2008 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |chapter=Nationalism and the 'Idiocy' of the Countryside: The Case of Serbia |pages=74–76 |isbn=978-3-03735-912-9}}</ref><ref name=velikonja>{{cite book |title=Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina |last=Velikonja |first=Mitja |year=1992 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=978-1-58544-226-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/religiousseparat0000veli }}</ref>

With unification of the first the [[Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes]] – the approach of Karadžić and the Illyrians became dominant. The official language was called "Serbo-Croato-Slovenian" (''srpsko-hrvatsko-slovenački'') in the 1921 constitution.<ref name="Busch2004">{{cite book|last1=Busch|first1=Birgitta|last2=Kelly-Holmes|first2=Helen|title=Language, Discourse and Borders in the Yugoslav Successor States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlXQ5zKb_VQC&pg=PA26|year=2004|publisher=Multilingual Matters|isbn=978-1-85359-732-9|pages=26}}</ref> In 1929, the constitution was suspended,<ref>{{cite book|last=Tomasevich|first=Jozo|title=Contemporary Yugoslavia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a--6hauBIb4C&pg=PA8|year=1969|publisher=University of California Press|pages=8–9}}</ref> and the country was renamed the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]], while the official language of Serbo-Croato-Slovene was reinstated in the 1931 constitution.<ref name="Busch2004" />

In June 1941, the Nazi puppet [[Independent State of Croatia]] began to rid the language of "Eastern" (Serbian) words, and shut down Serbian schools.<ref name="Crowe2013">{{cite book |first=David M. |last=Crowe |author-link=David M. Crowe |title=Crimes of State Past and Present: Government-Sponsored Atrocities and International Legal Responses |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRTdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |date=13 September 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-98682-9 |page=61}}</ref> The totalitarian dictatorship introduced a language law that promulgated [[Croatian linguistic purism]] as a policy that tried to implement a complete elimination of Serbisms and internationalisms.<ref name="Busch2004 Sprachen im Disput">{{cite book | last=Busch |first=Brigitta |year=2004 |language=de |title=Sprachen im Disput |url=https://heteroglossia.net/fileadmin/user_upload/publication/sprachen_disput.pdf |location=Klagenfurt |publisher=Drava |page=205 |isbn=3-85435-428-2 |access-date=16 May 2022}}</ref>

On January 15, 1944, the Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia ([[AVNOJ]]) declared Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, and Macedonian to be equal in the entire territory of Yugoslavia.{{Sfn | Greenberg | 2004 | p = 115}} In 1945 the decision to recognize Croatian and Serbian as separate languages was reversed in favor of a single Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Serbian language.{{Sfn | Greenberg | 2004 | p = 115}} In the [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia|Communist]]-dominated [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|second Yugoslavia]], ethnic issues eased to an extent, but the matter of language remained blurred and unresolved.

In 1954, major Serbian and Croatian writers, linguists and literary critics, backed by [[Matica srpska]] and [[Matica hrvatska]] signed the [[Novi Sad Agreement]], which in its [[The Novi Sad Agreement#The text of the Novi Sad Agreement|first conclusion]] stated: "Serbs, Croats and Montenegrins share a single language with two equal variants that have developed around Zagreb (western) and Belgrade (eastern)". The agreement insisted on the [[The Novi Sad Agreement#The text of the Novi Sad Agreement|equal status]] of Cyrillic and Latin scripts, and of Ekavian and Ijekavian pronunciations.<ref name=JonkeRazvoj>{{cite journal|author=Jonke, Ljudevit |author-link=Ljudevit Jonke |title=Razvoj hrvatskoga književnog jezika u 20. stoljeću |trans-title=The Development of the Croatian language in the 20th century |journal=[[Jezik]] |volume=16 |issue=1 |page=18 |year=1968 |language=sh |issn=0021-6925}}</ref> It also specified that ''Serbo-Croatian'' should be the name of the language in official contexts, while in unofficial use the traditional ''Serbian'' and ''Croatian'' were to be retained.<ref name=JonkeRazvoj /> Matica hrvatska and Matica srpska were to work together on a dictionary, and a committee of Serbian and Croatian linguists was asked to prepare a {{lang|sh|pravopis}}. During the sixties both books were published simultaneously in Ijekavian Latin in Zagreb and Ekavian Cyrillic in Novi Sad.{{Sfn | Kordić | 2010 | pp = 303–304}} Yet Croatian linguists claim that it was an act of unitarianism. The evidence supporting this claim is patchy: Croatian linguist Stjepan Babić complained that the television transmission from Belgrade always used the Latin alphabet<ref name=BabHh>{{cite book|last=Babić |first=Stjepan| author-link=Stjepan Babić |year=2004 |language=sh |title=Hrvanja hrvatskoga |trans-title=Croatian Language Quarrels |location=Zagreb |publisher=Školska knjiga |page=36 |isbn=978-953-0-61428-4}}</ref>— which was true, but was not proof of unequal rights, but of frequency of use and prestige. Babić further complained that the Novi Sad Dictionary (1967) listed side by side words from both the Croatian and Serbian variants wherever they differed,<ref name=BabHh /> which one can view as proof of careful respect for both variants, and not of unitarism. Moreover, Croatian linguists criticized those parts of the Dictionary for being unitaristic that were written by Croatian linguists.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Milutinović, Zoran |title=Review of the Book ''Jezik i nacionalizam'' |journal=[[The Slavonic and East European Review]] |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=522–523 |year=2011 |url=http://www.snjezana-kordic.de/Rec_SEER.pdf |issn=0037-6795 |oclc=744233642 |id={{ZDB|209925-1}} |archive-date=2012-10-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004024736/http://www.snjezana-kordic.de/Rec_SEER.pdf |access-date=25 May 2014 }}</ref> And finally, Croatian linguists ignored the fact that the material for the {{lang|sh|Pravopisni rječnik}} came from the Croatian Philological Society.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Jonke, Ljudevit |author-link=Ljudevit Jonke |title=Drugi i treći sastanak Pravopisne komisije |trans-title=The second and third meeting of The Orthographic Commission |journal=Jezik |volume=4 |issue=2 |page=59 |year=1955 |language=sh |issn=0021-6925}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Jonke, Ljudevit |author-link=Ljudevit Jonke |title=Pravopis hrvatskosrpskoga književnog jezika |trans-title=Serbo-Croatian Spelling-Book |journal=Jezik |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=57–59 |year=1961 |language=sh |issn=0021-6925}}</ref> Regardless of these facts, Croatian intellectuals brought the [[Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Literary Language]] in 1967. On occasion of the publication's 45th anniversary, the Croatian weekly journal ''Forum'' published the Declaration again in 2012, accompanied by a critical analysis.<ref>{{cite news |title=SOS ili tek alibi za nasilje nad jezikom |trans-title=SOS, or nothing but an alibi for violence against language |url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/578565.O_Deklaraciji_Forum.jpg |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |language=sh |location=Zagreb |publisher=Forum |date=16 March 2012 |pages=38–39 |issn=1848-204X |id={{CROSBI|578565}} |archive-date=21 December 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221223957/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/578565.O_Deklaraciji_Forum.jpg |access-date=9 April 2013 }}</ref>

West European scientists judge the Yugoslav language policy as an exemplary one:{{Sfn | Gröschel | 2009 | p = 72}}{{Sfn | Mappes-Niediek | 2005 | pp = 18, 64}} although three-quarters of the population spoke one language, no single language was official on a federal level.{{Sfn | Blum | 2002 | pp = 41–42}} Official languages were declared only at the level of constituent republics and provinces,<ref name=Gak>{{cite journal |author=Gak, Vladimir G. |title=K tipologii form jazykovoj politiki |trans-title=Towards a typology of language policy |journal=Voprosy Jazykoznanija |volume=5 |pages=122–123 |year=1989 |language=ru }}</ref>{{Sfn | Blum | 2002 | pp = 47–48}}{{Sfn | Gröschel | 2003 | pp = 160–161}} and very generously: Vojvodina had five (among them Slovak and Romanian, spoken by 0.5 per cent of the population), and Kosovo four (Albanian, Turkish, Romany and Serbo-Croatian).<ref name=Gak />{{Sfn | Blum | 2002 | p = 65}} Newspapers, radio and television studios used sixteen languages,{{Sfn | Blum | 2002 | p = 81}} fourteen were used as languages of tuition in schools, and nine at universities.<ref name=Gak />{{Sfn | Blum | 2002 | pp = 73–79}} Only the [[Yugoslav People's Army]] used Serbo-Croatian as the sole language of command, with all other languages represented in the army's other activities—however, this is not different from other armies of multilingual states,{{Sfn | Blum | 2002 | pp = 69–80}} or in other specific institutions, such as international air traffic control where English is used worldwide. All variants of Serbo-Croatian were used in state administration and republican and federal institutions.<ref name=Gak /> Both Serbian and Croatian variants were represented in respectively different grammar books, dictionaries, school textbooks and in books known as {{lang|sh|pravopis}} (which detail spelling rules).{{Sfn | Kordić | 2010 | pp = 291–292}} Serbo-Croatian was a kind of soft standardisation.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Busch |editor1-first=Brigitta |editor2-last=Kelly-Holmes |editor2-first=Helen |title=Language, Discourse and Borders in the Yugoslav Successor States |url=https://archive.org/details/languagediscours00busc |url-access=limited |publisher=Multilingual Matters |pages=[https://archive.org/details/languagediscours00busc/page/n56 51], 54 |chapter=Semantics of War in Former Yugoslavia |location=Clevedon |year=2004 |oclc=803615012}}</ref> However, legal equality could not dampen the prestige Serbo-Croatian had: since it was the language of three quarters of the population, it functioned as an unofficial lingua franca.{{Sfn | Kordić | 2010 | pp = 294–295}} And within Serbo-Croatian, the Serbian variant, with twice as many speakers as the Croatian,{{Sfn | Gröschel | 2009 | p = 38}} enjoyed greater prestige, reinforced by the fact that Slovene and Macedonian speakers preferred it to the Croatian variant because their languages are also Ekavian.{{Sfn | Kordić | 2010 | p = 299}} This is a common situation in other pluricentric languages, e.g. the variants of German differ according to their prestige, the variants of Portuguese too.{{Sfn | Ammon | 1995 | pp = 484, 494–497}} Moreover, all languages differ in terms of prestige: "the fact is that languages (in terms of prestige, learnability etc.) are not equal, and the law cannot make them equal".<ref>"die Tatsache, dass Sprachen (in ihrem Prestige, ihrer Erlernbarkeit etc.) nicht gleich sind und auch per Gesetz nicht gleich gemacht werden können" ({{Harvnb | Blum | 2002 | p = 170}})</ref>

=== Legal status ===
* 1921 constitution of the [[Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes]], Article 3: "The official language of the Kingdom is Serbo-Croato-Slovene." (Latin script: ''Službeni jezik Kraljevine je srpsko-hrvatski-slovenački.''; Cyrillic script: Службени језик Краљевине је српско-хрватски-словеначки.).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Устав Краљевине Срба, Хрвата и Словенаца (1921) |work=Викизворник |date= |access-date=20 July 2023 |url= https://sr.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2_%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%99%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B5_%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B0,_%D0%A5%D1%80%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%B8_%D0%A1%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B0_(1921) |language=sr}}</ref><ref name="Busch2004"/>
* 1931 constitution of the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]], Article 3: "The official language of the Kingdom is Serbo-Croato-Slovene".<ref name="Busch2004" />
* 1963 constitution of the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]: 
** Article 42: "The languages of the peoples of Yugoslavia and their scripts shall be equal. Members of the peoples of Yugoslavia on the territories of republics other than their own shall have the right to school instruction in their own languages, in conformity with republican law. As an exception, in the Yugoslav People's Army, commands, military drill and administration shall be in the Serbo-Croatian language."<ref name="1963 constitution"/>
** Article 131: "The federal laws and other general acts of the federal organs shall be made public in the official gazette of the Federation, in the authentic texts in the languages of the peoples of Yugoslavia: in Serbo-Croatian and Croato-Serbian, Slovene and Macedonian. In official communication the organs of the Federation shall abide by the principle of equality of languages of the peoples of Yugoslavia."<ref name="1963 constitution">{{Cite web |title=Constitution of Yugoslavia (1963) |work=Wikisource |date= |access-date=20 July 2023 |url= https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Yugoslavia_(1963)}}</ref>
* 1974 constitution of the [[Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo]], Article 5: "In the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, the equality of the Albanian, Serbo-Croatian and Turkish languages and their scripts is guaranteed."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kushtetuta e Kosoves 1974 |author= |work=Internet Archive |date=1974 |access-date=21 July 2023 |url= https://archive.org/details/kushtetutaekosoves1974/page/n13/mode/2up |quote=Neni 5. Në Krahinën Socialiste Autonome të Kosovës sigurohet barazia e gjuhës shqipe, serbokroate e turke dhe e shkrimeve të tyre. |language=Albanian}}</ref>
* 1990 constitution of the [[Socialist Republic of Serbia|(Socialist) Republic of Serbia]], Article 8: "In the Republic of Serbia, the Serbo-Croatian language and the Cyrillic alphabet are in official use, while the Latin alphabet is in official use in the manner established by law."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Устав Републике Србије (1990) |work=Викизворник |date= |access-date=20 July 2023 |url= https://sr.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2_%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B5_(1990) |language=sr |quote=У Републици Србији у службеној је употреби српскохрватски језик и ћириличко писмо, а латиничко писмо је у службеној употреби на начин утврђен законом.}}</ref>
* 1993 constitution of the [[Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina]], Article 4: "In the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbo-Croatian or Croatian-Serbian language with the Ijekavian pronunciation is in official use. Both scripts — Latin and Cyrillic, are equal."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Устав Републике Босне и Херцеговине (1993) |work=Викизворник |date= |access-date=20 July 2023 |url= https://sr.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2_%D0%A0%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%91%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B5_%D0%B8_%D0%A5%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%86%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B5_(1993) |language=sr}}</ref>
The 1946, 1953, and 1974 constitutions of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia did not name specific official languages at the federal level. The 1992 constitution of the [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]], in 2003 renamed [[Serbia and Montenegro]], stated in Article 15: "In the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Serbian language in its ekavian and ijekavian dialects and the Cyrillic script shall be official, while the Latin script shall be in official use as provided for by the Constitution and law."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Constitution of Yugoslavia (1992) |work=Wikisource |date= |access-date=20 July 2023 |url= https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Yugoslavia_(1992)}}</ref>

The term "Serbo-Croatian" (or synonyms) is not officially used in any of the successor countries of former Yugoslavia. The current [[Constitution of Serbia|Serbian constitution]] of 2006 refers to the official language as ''Serbian'',<ref>{{citation |title=2006 Constitution of Serbia |url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Serbia#Language_and_script |article=10}}</ref> while the current [[Constitution of Montenegro|Montenegrin constitution]] of 2007 proclaims ''Montenegrin'' as the official language but also grants other Serbo-Croatian varieties the right to official use.<ref>{{citation |title=Constitution of Montenegro |year=2007 |url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Montenegro#Article_13_.28Language_and_alphabet.29 |quote=The official language in Montenegro shall be Montenegrin.[…]Serbian, Bosniac, Albanian and Croatian shall also be in the official use.}}</ref> Croatian is the official language of Croatia, while Serbian is also official in municipalities with significant Serb population. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, all three standard varieties are recorded as official.

In Serbia, the Serbian standard has an official status countrywide, while both Serbian and Croatian are official in the province of [[Vojvodina]]. A large Bosniak minority is present in the southwest region of [[Sandžak]], but the "official recognition" of Bosnian is moot.<ref>Official communique, 27 December 2004, Serbian Ministry of Education {{in lang|sr}}</ref> Bosnian is an optional course in first and second grade of the elementary school, while it is also in official use in the municipality of [[Novi Pazar]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Opštinski službeni glasnik opštine Novi Pazar |url=http://www.novipazar.org.rs/sl/gl_06_2002.pdf}}{{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}&nbsp;{{small|(65.8&nbsp;KB)}}, 30 April 2002, page 1</ref> However, its nomenclature is controversial, as there is incentive that it is referred to as "Bosniak" (''bošnjački'') rather than "Bosnian" (''bosanski'') (see also: [[Bosnian language#Controversy and recognition]]).

=== Modern developments ===
[[File:Drina Sa Denifine cigar pack wt Serb Cro Bos lg warn label.png|200px|thumb|right|A trilingual health warning printed in both Latin and Cyrillic scripts on a pack of [[Drina (cigarette)|Drina cigarettes]], with identical text across all three inscriptions]]
In 2017, numerous prominent writers, scientists, journalists, activists, and other public figures from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia signed the [[Declaration on the Common Language]], which states that all standard varieties are equal and belong to a common [[Pluricentric language|polycentric language]],<ref>{{cite web |date=2017-03-30 |title=Post-Yugoslav 'Common Language' Declaration Challenges Nationalism |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/post-yugoslav-common-language-declaration-challenges-nationalism-03-29-2017 |publisher=Balkan Insight}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2017-04-10 |title=Is Serbo-Croatian a language? |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/04/economist-explains-4 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> just like German, English, and Spanish.<ref>{{cite web |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Trudgill |date=30 November 2017 |title=Time to Make Four Into One |url=https://archive.org/details/PeterTrudgillTimeToMakeFourIntoOne2017 |access-date=7 April 2018 |publisher=[[The New European]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/PeterTrudgillTimeToMakeFourIntoOne2017/page/n0 46]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Nosovitz |first=Dan |date=11 February 2019 |title=What Language Do People Speak in the Balkans, Anyway? |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-language-is-spoken-in-the-balkans |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190211191959/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-language-is-spoken-in-the-balkans |archive-date=11 February 2019 |access-date=3 March 2019 |magazine=[[Atlas Obscura]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Milekić |first=Sven |date=30 March 2017 |title=Post-Yugoslav 'Common Language' Declaration Challenges Nationalism |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/post-yugoslav-common-language-declaration-challenges-nationalism-03-29-2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330075725/http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/post-yugoslav-common-language-declaration-challenges-nationalism-03-29-2017 |archive-date=30 March 2017 |access-date=1 July 2017 |publisher=[[Balkan Insight]] |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=J. |first=T. |date=10 April 2017 |title=Is Serbo-Croatian a Language? |url=http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/04/economist-explains-4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410083158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/04/economist-explains-4 |archive-date=10 April 2017 |access-date=9 October 2018 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |location=London |issn=0013-0613}} [http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2017&mm=04&dd=10&nav_category=12&nav_id=1248942 Alt URL]</ref>

== Demographics ==
[[File:Map of Serbo-Croatian language.png|thumbnail|300px|{{legend|#004DFF|Countries where a standard form of Serbo-Croatian is an official language}}
{{legend|#88C4FF|Countries where one or more forms are designated as minority languages}}]]
About {{sigfig|18.167506|2}} million people declare their native language as either 'Bosnian', 'Croatian', 'Serbian', 'Montenegrin', or 'Serbo-Croatian'.<ref name="e27"/>

Serbian is spoken by {{sigfig|10.300476|2}} million people around the world, mostly in Serbia ({{sigfig|7.760000|2}} million), Bosnia and Herzegovina ({{sigfig|1.170000|2}} million), and Montenegro ({{sigfig|266000|1}}). Besides these, Serbian minorities are found in [[Kosovo]], [[North Macedonia]] and in [[Romania]].<ref name="e25srp">{{e25|srp|Serbian}}</ref> In Serbia, there are about 760,000 second-language speakers of Serbian, including Hungarians in [[Vojvodina]] and the 400,000 estimated Roma.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} In [[Kosovo]], Serbian is spoken by the members of the [[Kosovo Serbs|Serbian minority]] which approximates between 70,000 and 100,000.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ramet|first1=Sabrina P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FpEwDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA267|title=Ethnic Minorities and Politics in Post-Socialist Southeastern Europe|last2=Valenta|first2=Marko|date=2016-09-22|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-316-98277-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2019-11-07|title=Kosovo's Demographic Destiny Looks Eerily Familiar|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2019/11/07/kosovos-demographic-destiny-looks-eerily-familiar/|access-date=2021-06-29|website=Balkan Insight|language=en-US}}</ref> Familiarity of [[Kosovar Albanians]] with Serbian varies depending on age and education, and exact numbers are not available.

Croatian is spoken by {{sigfig|6.765010|2}} million people in the world, including {{sigfig|4.100000|2}} million in Croatia and {{sigfig|554000|1}} in Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref name="e25hrv">{{e25|hrv|Croatian}}</ref> A small Croatian minority that lives in Italy, known as [[Molise Croats]], have somewhat preserved traces of Croatian. In Croatia, 170,000, mostly [[Italians]] and [[Hungarians]], use it as a [[second language]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Bosnian is spoken by {{sigfig|2.730720|2}} million people worldwide, chiefly [[Bosniaks]], including {{sigfig|2.010000|2}} million in Bosnia and Herzegovina, {{sigfig|172,000|1}} in Serbia and {{sigfig|36,700|1}} in Montenegro.<ref name="e25bos">{{e25|bos|Bosnian}}</ref>

Montenegrin is spoken by {{sigfig|265,660|1}} people globally.<ref name="e25cnr">{{e25|cnr|Montenegrin}}</ref> The notion of Montenegrin as a separate standard from Serbian is relatively recent. In the 2011 census, around 229,251 Montenegrins, of the country's 620,000, declared Montenegrin as their native language.

Serbo-Croatian is also a [[second language]] of many [[Slovenians]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YuBEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Od%20Vardara%20pa%20do%20Triglava%22&pg=PA198 |last=Törnquist-Plewa |first=Barbara |title=The Balkans in Focus: Cultural Boundaries in Europe |date=2002 |page=198 |editor-last=Resic |editor-first=Sanimir |publisher=Nordic Academic Press |location=Lund, Sweden |isbn=9789187121708 |oclc=802047788}}</ref> and [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonians]], especially those born during the time of Yugoslavia. According to the 2002 census, Serbo-Croatian and its variants have the largest number of speakers of the minority languages in Slovenia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inv.si/DocDir/Publikacije-PDF/Raziskovalna%20porocila/Raziskava_Polozaj_in_status_pripadnikov_narodov_nekdanje_Jugoslavije_v_RS.pdf|title=Raziskava Položaj in status pripadnikov narodov nekdanje Jugoslavije vRS.pdf|language=sl|access-date=2010-11-25|archive-date=2011-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007115553/http://www.inv.si/DocDir/Publikacije-PDF/Raziskovalna%20porocila/Raziskava_Polozaj_in_status_pripadnikov_narodov_nekdanje_Jugoslavije_v_RS.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Grammar ==
{{Further|Serbo-Croatian grammar}}
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2025}}
[[File:Gramatika i stilistika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga knjizevnoga jezika.JPG|thumb|[[Tomislav Maretić]]'s 1899 Grammar of Croatian or Serbian]]
Serbo-Croatian is a highly [[inflected language]]. Traditional grammars list seven [[Grammatical case|cases]] for [[noun]]s and [[adjective]]s: [[Nominative case|nominative]], [[Genitive case|genitive]], [[Dative case|dative]], [[Accusative case|accusative]], [[Vocative case|vocative]], [[Locative case|locative]], and [[Instrumental case|instrumental]], reflecting the original seven cases of [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]], and indeed older forms of Serbo-Croatian itself. However, in modern [[Shtokavian dialect|Shtokavian]] the locative has almost merged into dative (the only difference is based on accent in some cases), and the other cases can be shown declining; namely:
* For all nouns and adjectives, the instrumental, dative, and locative forms are identical (at least orthographically) in the plural: ''ženama'', ''ženama'', ''ženama''; ''očima'', ''očima'', ''očima''; ''riječima'', ''riječima'', ''riječima''.
* There is an accentual difference between the genitive [[singular (grammatical number)|singular]] and genitive [[plural]] of masculine and neuter nouns, which are otherwise homonyms (''seljáka'', ''seljaka'') except that on occasion an [[Serbo-Croatian phonology#Fleeting a|"a"]] (which might or might not appear in the singular) is filled between the last letter of the root and the genitive plural ending (''kapitalizma'', ''kapitalizama'').
* The old instrumental ending "ju" of the feminine consonant stems and in some cases the "a" of the genitive plural of certain other sorts of feminine nouns is fast yielding to "i": ''noći'' instead of ''noćju'', ''borbi'' instead of ''boraba'' and so forth.
* Almost every Shtokavian number is indeclinable, and numbers after prepositions have not been declined for a long time.

Like most Slavic languages, there are mostly three [[Grammatical gender|genders]] for nouns: masculine, feminine, and neuter, a distinction which is still present even in the plural (unlike [[Russian language|Russian]] and, in part, the [[Chakavian dialect|Čakavian dialect]]). They also have two [[Grammatical number|numbers]]: singular and plural. However, some consider there to be three numbers ([[paucal]] or ''dual,'' too), since (still preserved in closely related [[Slovene language|Slovene]]) after two (''dva'', ''dvije''/''dve''), three (''tri'') and four (''četiri''), and all numbers ending in them (e.g. twenty-two, ninety-three, one hundred four, but not twelve through fourteen) the genitive singular is used, and after all other numbers five (''pet'') and up, the genitive plural is used. (The number one [''jedan''] is treated as an adjective.) Adjectives are placed in front of the noun they modify and must agree in both case and number with it.

There are seven [[Grammatical tense|tenses]] for verbs: [[past tense|past]], [[present tense|present]], [[future tense|future]], exact future, [[aorist]], [[imperfect]], and [[pluperfect]]; and three [[Grammatical mood|moods]]: [[indicative]], [[Imperative mood|imperative]], and [[conditional mood|conditional]]. However, the latter three tenses are typically used only in Shtokavian writing, and the time sequence of the exact future is more commonly formed through an alternative construction.

In addition, like most Slavic languages, the Shtokavian verb also has one of two [[Grammatical aspect|aspects]]: [[Perfective aspect|perfective]] or [[Imperfective aspect|imperfective]]. Most verbs come in pairs, with the perfective verb being created out of the imperfective by adding a [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]] or making a stem change. The imperfective aspect typically indicates that the action is unfinished, in progress, or repetitive; while the perfective aspect typically denotes that the action was completed, instantaneous, or of limited duration. Some Štokavian tenses (namely, aorist and imperfect) favor a particular aspect (but they are rarer or absent in Čakavian and Kajkavian). Actually, aspects "compensate" for the relative lack of tenses, because verbal aspect determines whether the act is completed or in progress in the referred time.

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Serbo-Croatian phonology}}

=== Vowels ===
The Serbo-Croatian [[vowel]] system is simple, with only five vowels in Shtokavian. All vowels are [[monophthong]]s. The oral vowels are as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Latin script
! Cyrillic script
! [[help:IPA|IPA]]
! Description
! English approximation
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| a
| style="text-align:center;"| а
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|a}}
| [[Open central unrounded vowel|open central unrounded]]
| ''f'''a'''ther''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| e
| style="text-align:center;"| е
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|e}}
| [[Mid front unrounded vowel|mid front unrounded]]
| ''d'''e'''n''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| i
| style="text-align:center;"| и
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|i}}
| [[Close front unrounded vowel|close front unrounded]]
| ''s'''ee'''k''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| o
| style="text-align:center;"| о
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|o}}
| [[Mid back rounded vowel|mid back rounded]]
| ''l'''o'''rd''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| u
| style="text-align:center;"| у
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|u}}
| [[Close back rounded vowel|close back rounded]]
| ''p'''oo'''l''
|}

The vowels can be short or long, but the phonetic quality does not change depending on the length. In a word, vowels can be long in the stressed syllable and the syllables following it, never in the ones preceding it.

=== Consonants ===
The [[consonant]] system is more complicated, and its characteristic features are series of [[affricate]] and [[Palatal consonant|palatal]] consonants. As in English, [[voice (phonetics)|voice]] is [[phoneme|phonemic]], but [[aspiration (phonetics)|aspiration]] is not.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Latin script
! Cyrillic script
! [[help:IPA|IPA]]
! Description{{Sfn|Kordić|2006|p=5}}
! English approximation
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Trill consonant|trill]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| r
| style="text-align:center;"| р
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|r}}
| [[alveolar trill]]
| rolled (vibrating) '''r''' as in ''ca'''rr'''amba''
|-
! colspan="6" | [[approximants]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| v
| style="text-align:center;"| в
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|ʋ}}
| [[labiodental approximant]]
| roughly between '''''v'''ortex'' and '''''w'''ar''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| j
| style="text-align:center;"| ј
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|j}}
| [[palatal approximant]]
| '''''y'''ear''
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Lateral consonant|laterals]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| l
| style="text-align:center;"| л
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|l}}
| [[alveolar lateral approximant]]
| '''''l'''ight''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| lj
| style="text-align:center;"| љ
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|ʎ}}
| [[palatal lateral approximant]]
| roughly ''batta'''li'''on''
|-
! colspan="6" | [[Nasal stop|nasals]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| m
| style="text-align:center;"| м
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|m}}
| [[bilabial nasal]]
| '''''m'''an''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| n
| style="text-align:center;"| н
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|n}}
| [[alveolar nasal]]
| '''''n'''ot''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| nj
| style="text-align:center;"| њ
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|ɲ}}
| [[palatal nasal]]
| British '''''n'''ews'' or American ''ca'''ny'''on''
|-
! colspan="6" | [[fricatives]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| f
| style="text-align:center;"| ф
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|f}}
| [[voiceless labiodental fricative]]
| '''''f'''ive''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | z
| style="text-align:center;" | з
| style="text-align:center;" | {{IPAslink|z}}
| [[voiced dental sibilant]]
| '''''z'''ero''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| s
| style="text-align:center;"| с
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|s}}
| [[voiceless dental sibilant]]
| '''''s'''ome''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| ž
| style="text-align:center;"| ж
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|ʒ}}
| [[voiced postalveolar fricative]]
| ''televi'''si'''on''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" | š
| style="text-align:center;" | ш
| style="text-align:center;" | {{IPAslink|ʃ}}
| [[voiceless postalveolar fricative]]
| '''''sh'''arp''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| h
| style="text-align:center;"| х
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|x}}
| [[voiceless velar fricative]]
| ''lo'''ch'''''
|-
! colspan="6" | [[affricates]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| c
| style="text-align:center;"| ц
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|t͡s}}
| [[voiceless dental affricate]]
| ''po'''ts'''''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| dž
| style="text-align:center;"| џ
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}}
| [[voiced postalveolar affricate]]
| as English '''''j'''am''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| č
| style="text-align:center;"| ч
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}}
| [[voiceless postalveolar affricate]]
| as English '''''ch'''eck''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| đ
| style="text-align:center;"| ђ
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|d͡ʑ}}
| [[voiced alveolo-palatal affricate]]
| roughly '''''j'''eans''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| ć
| style="text-align:center;"| ћ
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|t͡ɕ}}
| [[voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate]]
| roughly '''''ch'''eese''
|-
! colspan="6" | [[plosives]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| b
| style="text-align:center;"| б
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|b}}
| [[voiced bilabial plosive]]
| '''''b'''ook''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| p
| style="text-align:center;"| п
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|p}}
| [[voiceless bilabial plosive]]
| ''to'''p'''''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| d
| style="text-align:center;"| д
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|d}}
| [[voiced dental plosive]]
| '''''d'''og''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| t
| style="text-align:center;"| т
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|t}}
| [[voiceless dental plosive]]
| ''s'''t'''op''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| g
| style="text-align:center;"| г
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|ɡ}}
| [[voiced velar plosive]]
| '''''g'''ood''
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| k
| style="text-align:center;"| к
| style="text-align:center;"| {{IPAslink|k}}
| [[voiceless velar plosive]]
| ''du'''ck'''''
|}

In [[consonant cluster]]s all consonants are either voiced or voiceless. All the consonants are voiced if the last consonant is normally voiced or voiceless if the last consonant is normally voiceless. This rule does not apply to [[approximant]]s{{spaced ndash}}a consonant cluster may contain voiced approximants and voiceless consonants; as well as to foreign words (''Washington'' would be transcribed as ''VašinGton''), personal names and when consonants are not inside of one syllable.

{{IPA|/r/}} can be syllabic, playing the role of the syllable nucleus in certain words (occasionally, it can even have a long accent). For example, the [[tongue-twister]] ''navrh brda vrba mrda'' involves four words with syllabic {{IPA|/r/}}. A similar feature exists in [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Slovak language|Slovak]], and [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]. Very rarely other sonorants can be syllabic, like {{IPA|/l/}} (in ''bicikl''), {{IPA|/ʎ/}} (surname ''Štarklj''), {{IPA|/n/}} (unit ''njutn''), as well as {{IPA|/m/}} and {{IPA|/ɲ/}} in [[slang]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

=== Pitch accent ===
{{Further|Pitch accent#Serbo-Croatian|Serbo-Croatian phonology#Pitch accent}}

Apart from [[Slovene language|Slovene]], Serbo-Croatian is the only Slavic language with a [[pitch accent]] (simple [[Tone (linguistics)|tone]]) system. This feature is present in some other [[Indo-European languages]], such as [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Ancient Greek]], and [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]. Neo-Shtokavian Serbo-Croatian, which is used as the basis for standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian, has four "accents", which involve either a [[Tone contour|rising or falling tone]] on either long or short vowels, with optional post-tonic lengths:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Serbo-Croatian accent system
|-
!Slavicist<br />symbol!![[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]<br />symbol!!Description
|- style="text-align:center;"
|e||{{IPA|[e]}}||align="left"|non-tonic short vowel
|- style="text-align:center;"
|ē||{{IPA|[eː]}}||align="left"|non-tonic long vowel
|- style="text-align:center;"
|è||{{IPA|[ě]}}||align="left"|short vowel with rising tone
|- style="text-align:center;"
|é||{{IPA|[ěː]}}||align="left"|long vowel with rising tone
|- style="text-align:center;"
|ȅ||{{IPA|[ê]}}||align="left"|short vowel with falling tone
|- style="text-align:center;"
|ȇ||{{IPA|[êː]}}||align="left"|long vowel with falling tone
|}

The tone stressed vowels can be approximated in English with ''set'' vs. ''setting?'' said in isolation for a short tonic ''e,'' or ''leave'' vs. ''leaving?'' for a long tonic ''i,'' due to the [[prosody (linguistics)|prosody]] of final stressed syllables in English.

General accent rules in the standard language:

# Monosyllabic words may have only a falling tone (or no accent at all – [[enclitic]]s);
# Falling tone may occur only on the first syllable of polysyllabic words;
# Accent can never occur on the last syllable of polysyllabic words.

There are no other rules for accent placement, thus the accent of every word must be learned individually; furthermore, in inflection, accent shifts are common, both in type and position (the so-called "[[mobile paradigm]]s"). The second rule is not strictly obeyed, especially in borrowed words.

Comparative and historical linguistics offers some clues for memorising the accent position: If one compares many standard Serbo-Croatian words to e.g. [[cognate]] Russian words, the accent in the Serbo-Croatian word will be one syllable before the one in the Russian word, with the rising tone. Historically, the rising tone appeared when the place of the accent shifted to the preceding syllable (the so-called "Neo-Shtokavian retraction"), but the quality of this new accent was different – its melody still "gravitated" towards the original syllable. Most Shtokavian (Neo-Shtokavian) dialects underwent this shift, but Chakavian, Kajkavian and the Old-Shtokavian dialects did not.

Accent diacritics are not used in the ordinary orthography, but only in the linguistic or language-learning literature (e.g. dictionaries, orthography and grammar books). However, there are very few [[minimal pair]]s where an error in accent can lead to misunderstanding.

== Orthography ==
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2013}}
{{Cleanup reorganize|section|date=April 2025}}
}}
Serbo-Croatian orthography is almost entirely phonetic. Thus, most words should be spelled as they are pronounced. In practice, the writing system does not take into account [[allophone]]s which occur as a result of interaction between words:
* bit će{{spaced ndash}}pronounced ''biće'' (and only written separately in Bosnian and Croatian)
* od toga{{spaced ndash}}pronounced ''otoga'' (in many vernaculars)
* iz čega{{spaced ndash}}pronounced ''iščega'' (in many vernaculars)

Also, there are some exceptions, mostly applied to foreign words and compounds, that favor morphological/etymological over phonetic spelling:
* postdiplomski (postgraduate){{spaced ndash}}pronounced {{IPA|sh|pôzdiploːmskiː|}}

One systemic exception is that the consonant clusters '''ds''' and '''dš''' are not respelled as '''ts''' and '''tš''' (although ''d'' tends to be unvoiced in normal speech in such clusters):
* predstava {{IPA|sh|prětstaʋa|}} (show)
* odšteta {{IPA|sh|ôtʃteta|}} (damages)

Only a few words are intentionally "misspelled", mostly in order to resolve ambiguity:
* šeststo {{IPA|sh|ʃêːsto|}} (six hundred){{spaced ndash}}pronounced ''šesto'' (to avoid confusion with "šesto" [sixth], pronounced the same)
* prstni {{IPA|sh|př̩sniː|}} (adj., finger){{spaced ndash}}pronounced ''prsni'' (to avoid confusion with "prsni" {{IPA|sh|pr̩̂sniː|}} [adj., chest]), differentiated by tone in some areas (where the short rising tone contrasts with the short falling tone).

=== Writing systems ===
{{Main|Gaj's Latin alphabet|Serbian Cyrillic alphabet|Yugoslav Braille}}
Through history, this language has been written in a number of writing systems:
* [[Glagolitic script|Glagolitic alphabet]], chiefly in [[Croatia]].
* [[Bosančica]], [[Arebica]] (mostly in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]).
* [[Cyrillic script]].
* various modifications of the [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] and [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] alphabets.

The oldest texts since the 11th century are in [[Glagolitic script|Glagolitic]], and the oldest preserved text written completely in the Latin alphabet is {{lang|sh-Latn|Red i zakon sestara reda Svetog Dominika}}, from 1345. The Arabic alphabet had been used by [[Bosniaks]]; Greek writing is out of use there, and Arabic and Glagolitic persisted so far partly in religious liturgies.

The [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet]] ({{lang|sh|Vukovica}}) was revised by [[Vuk Stefanović Karadžić]] in the 19th century.

The Croatian Latin alphabet ({{lang|sh|[[Gaj's Latin alphabet|Gajica]]}}) followed suit shortly afterwards, when [[Ljudevit Gaj]] defined it as standard [[Latin]] with five extra letters that had [[diacritic]]s, apparently borrowing much from [[Czech language|Czech]], but also from [[Polish language|Polish]], and inventing the unique [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] {{angbr|lj}}, {{angbr|nj}} and {{angbr|dž}}. These digraphs are represented as {{angbr|[[cedilla|ļ]]}}, {{angbr|[[ń]]}} and {{angbr|[[ǵ]]}} respectively in the {{lang|sh|Rječnik hrvatskog ili srpskog jezika}}, published by the former [[Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts]] in [[Zagreb]].<ref>{{in lang|sh}} Gramatika hrvatskosrpskoga jezika, Group of Authors (Ivan Brabec, Mate Hraste and Sreten Živković), Zagreb, 1968.</ref> The latter digraphs, however, are unused in the literary standard of the language. All in all, this makes Serbo-Croatian the only Slavic language to officially use both the Latin and Cyrillic scripts, albeit the Latin version is more commonly used.

In both cases, spelling is phonetic and spellings in the two alphabets map to each other one-to-one:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Latin to Cyrillic
| A || a || B || b || C || c || Č || č || Ć || ć || D || d || Dž || dž || Đ || đ || E || e || F || f || G || g || H || h || I || i || J || j || K || k
|-
| А || а || Б || б || Ц || ц || Ч || ч || Ћ || ћ || Д || д || Џ || џ || Ђ || ђ || Е || е || Ф || ф || Г || г || Х || х || И || и || Ј || ј || К || к
|-
| colspan="30" style="height: 2px;" |
|-
| L || l || Lj || lj || M || m || N || n || Nj || nj || O || o || P || p || R || r || S || s || Š || š || T || t || U || u || V || v || Z || z || Ž || ž
|-
| Л || л || Љ || љ || М || м || Н || н || Њ || њ || О || о || П || п || Р || р || С || с || Ш || ш || Т || т || У || у || В || в || З || з || Ж || ж
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Cyrillic to Latin
| А || а || Б || б || В || в || Г || г || Д || д || Ђ || ђ || Е || е || Ж || ж || З || з || И || и || Ј || ј || К || к || Л || л || Љ || љ || М || м
|-
| A || a || B || b || V || v || G || g || D || d || Đ || đ || E || e || Ž || ž || Z || z || I || i || J || j || K || k || L || l || Lj || lj || M || m
|-
| colspan="30" style="height: 2px;" |
|-
| Н || н || Њ || њ || О || о || П || п || Р || р || С || с || Т || т || Ћ || ћ || У || у || Ф || ф || Х || х || Ц || ц || Ч || ч || Џ || џ || Ш || ш
|-
| N || n || Nj || nj || O || o || P || p || R || r || S || s || T || t || Ć || ć || U || u || F || f || H || h || C || c || Č || č || Dž || dž || Š || š
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:1em;"
|+ Sample collation
! colspan="2" | Latin collation order
! rowspan="2" | Cyrillic<br />collation<br />order
|-
! Latin 
! <span style="color:#606060;">Cyrillic<br />equivalent</span>
|-
| Ina
| <span style="color:#606060;">Ина</span>
| Ина
|-
| Injekcija
| <span style="color:#606060;">И'''нј'''екција</span>
| Инјекција
|-
| Inverzija
| <span style="color:#606060;">Инверзија</span>
| Инверзија
|-
| Inje
| <span style="color:#606060;">И'''њ'''е</span>
| Иње
|}

The [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] ''Lj'', ''Nj'' and ''Dž'' represent distinct [[phoneme]]s and are considered to be single letters. In crosswords, they are put into a single square, and in [[sorting]], lj follows l and nj follows n, except in a few words where the individual letters are pronounced separately. For instance, {{lang|sh-Latn|nadživ(j)eti}} "to outlive" is composed of the prefix {{lang|sh-Latn|nad-}} "out, over" and the verb {{lang|sh-Latn|živ(j)eti}} "to live". The Cyrillic alphabet avoids such ambiguity by providing a single letter for each phoneme: {{lang|sh-Cyrl|наджив(ј)ети}}.

''Đ'' used to be commonly written as ''Dj'' on typewriters, but that practice led to too many ambiguities. It is also used on car [[license plate]]s. Today ''Dj'' is often used again in place of ''Đ'' on the Internet as a replacement due to the lack of installed Serbo-Croat keyboard layouts.

Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards officially use both alphabets, while Croatian uses the Latin only.

Latin script has been [[Romanization of Serbian|rising in popularity]] in Serbia with the advent of the [[digital age]] and [[Internet in Serbia]],<ref name="martinovic">{{cite news |last1=Crosby |first1=Alan |last2=Martinović |first2=Iva |title=In The Age Of The Internet, Serbia Aims To Keep Its Cyrillic Alive |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/in-the-age-of-the-internet-serbia-aims-to-keep-its-cyrillic-alive/29458055.html |access-date=5 September 2018 |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |date=August 28, 2018}}</ref> whether due to restraints (Cyrillic letters use up twice the space and therefore cost on [[SMS]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.021.rs/story/Info/Srbija/36720/SMS-poruke-na-cirilici-skuplje.html |title=SMS poruke na ćirilici skuplje |trans-title=SMS messages in Cyrillic are more expensive |language=sh |publisher=021.rs |date=29 December 2011 |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref>), accessibility (intention to be readable internationally, as the Latin alphabet is taught in all four countries speaking the language) or ease of use. This has been perceived by Serbian government officials as a suppression and threat for existence of the national script that is Cyrillic, with the [[Ministry of Culture and Information (Serbia)|Ministry of Culture and Information]] of Serbia pushing for more tight language laws on top of those stipulated by the existing [[Constitution of Serbia|Constitution]].<ref name="martinovic"/>

[[Montenegrin alphabet]], adopted in 2009, provides replacements of {{lang|sh|sj}} and {{lang|sh|zj}} with an addition of [[acute accent]] on {{lang|sh|s}} and {{lang|sh|z}}, forming {{angbr|[[ś]]}} and {{angbr|[[ź]]}} in both Latin and Cyrillic, but they remain largely unused, even by the [[Parliament of Montenegro]] which introduced them.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/crna-gora-crnogorski-jezik/28275483.html |title=Crnogorski se govori i bez ś |trans-title=Montenegrin is also spoken without ś |quote=Slova ś i ź odnedavno ne koristi ni Skupština Crne Gore, prva i jedina državna institucija koja ih je nakon reforme crnogorskog jezika koristila u zvaničnoj komunikaciji. |trans-quote=The letters ś and ź have recently not been used even by the Parliament of Montenegro, the first and only state institution that used them in official communication after the reform of the Montenegrin language. |date=2 February 2017 |access-date=29 October 2022 |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] |first=Lela |last=Šćepanović |newspaper=Radio Slobodna Evropa |language=sh}}</ref>

An experimental alphabet called '{{ill|Slavica alphabet|sh|Slavica (pismo)|lt=Slavica}}' fusing Latin and Cyrillic was devised by linguistic amateur [[Rajko Igić]] in 1986 and published in his 1987 book {{lang|sh|Nova slovarica}} in a quixotic attempt to mend the linguistic differences and ambiguities between the two alphabets, carefully avoiding [[grapheme]]s that look alike and following the principle of 'one [[Phone (phonetics)|sound]], one [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]]' already accomplished by the Cyrillic alphabet.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hansen-Löve |first=Aage Ansgar |author-link=:de:Aage A. Hansen-Löve |journal=Wiener Slawistischer Almanach |trans-journal=Vienna Slavic Almanac |title=Slavica |volume=46 |year=2000 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |page=265 |oclc=4668662 |issn=0258-6819}}</ref><ref>{{Cite periodical |last=Igić |first=Rajko |title=Dva susreta sa Stipom Šuvarom |trans-title=Two meetings with [[Stipe Šuvar]] |url=https://pregled.unsa.ba/index.php/pregled/article/view/105 |periodical=Pregled: časopis za društvena pitanja |trans-periodical=Pregled: periodical for social issues |number=3–4 |year=2005 |page=138 |publisher=[[University of Sarajevo]] |issn=0032-7271}}</ref>

[[Unicode]] has separate characters for the digraphs lj (Ǉ, ǈ, ǉ), nj (Ǌ, ǋ, ǌ) and dž (Ǆ, ǅ, ǆ).

== Dialectology ==
{{Main|Dialects of Serbo-Croatian}}
{{See also|Dialect continuum#South Slavic continuum|label1=South Slavic dialect continuum}}
South Slavic historically formed a [[Dialect continuum#South Slavic continuum|dialect continuum]], i.e. each dialect has some similarities with the neighboring one, and differences grow with distance. However, migrations from the 16th to 18th centuries resulting from the spread of [[Ottoman Empire]] on the Balkans have caused large-scale population displacement that broke the dialect continuum into many geographical pockets. Migrations in the 20th century, primarily caused by [[urbanization]] and wars, also contributed to the reduction of dialectal differences.

The primary dialects are named after the most common question word for ''what'': [[Shtokavian dialect|Shtokavian]] uses the pronoun ''što'' or ''šta'', [[Chakavian dialect|Chakavian]] uses ''ča'' or ''ca'', [[Kajkavian dialect|Kajkavian (''kajkavski'')]], ''kaj'' or ''kej''. In native terminology they are referred to as ''nar(j)ečje'', which would be equivalent of "group of dialects", whereas their many subdialects are referred to as ''dijalekti ''"dialects" or ''govori ''"speeches".

The pluricentric Serbo-Croatian standard language and all four contemporary standard variants [[Abstand and ausbau languages#Distance between ausbau languages|are based]] on the [[Eastern Herzegovinian dialect|Eastern Herzegovinian]] subdialect of Neo-Shtokavian. Other dialects are not taught in schools or used by the state media. The [[Torlakian dialect]] is often added to the list, though sources usually note that it is a transitional dialect between Shtokavian and the Bulgaro-Macedonian dialects.

{|
|[[File:Serbo croatian dialects historical distribution 2.png|thumb|Likely distribution of major dialects prior to the 16th-century migrations]]
|[[File:Shtokavian subdialects1988 incl Slovenia.png|thumb|Shtokavian subdialects (Pavle Ivić, 1988). Yellow is the widespread Eastern Herzegovinian subdialect that forms the basis of all national standards, though it is not spoken natively in any of the capital cities.]]
|[[File:Croatian dialects.PNG|thumb|Mid-20th-century distribution of dialects in Croatia]]
|}

The Serbo-Croatian dialects differ not only in the question word they are named after, but also heavily in phonology, accentuation and intonation, case endings and tense system (morphology) and basic vocabulary. In the past, Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects were spoken on a much larger territory, but have been replaced by Štokavian during the period of migrations caused by Ottoman Turkish conquest of the Balkans in the 15th and the 16th centuries. These migrations caused the koinéisation of the Shtokavian dialects, that used to form the West Shtokavian (more closer and transitional towards the neighbouring Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects) and East Shtokavian (transitional towards the Torlakian and the whole Bulgaro-Macedonian area) dialect bundles, and their subsequent spread at the expense of Chakavian and Kajkavian. As a result, Štokavian now covers an area larger than all the other dialects combined, and continues to make its progress in the enclaves where non-literary dialects are still being spoken.<ref>E.g., big coastal Croatian cities [[Rijeka]] and [[Split (city)|Split]] together with their hinterland become basically completely Štokavianised during the 20th century, which had been Čakavian-speaking urban centres.</ref>

The differences among the dialects can be illustrated on the example of [[Schleicher's fable]]. Diacritic signs are used to show the difference in accents and prosody, which are often quite significant, but which are not reflected in the usual orthography.

{{Clear}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-5}}
:'''Neo-Štokavian Ijekavian/Ekavian'''

: Óvca i kònji

:Óvca koja níje ìmala vȕnē vȉd(j)ela je kònje na br(ij)égu. Jèdan je òd njīh vȗkao téška kȍla, drȕgī je nòsio vèliku vrȅću, a trȅćī je nòsio čòv(j)eka.

:Óvca rȅče kònjima: «Sȑce me bòlī glȅdajūći čòv(j)eka kako jȁšē na kònju».

:A kònji rȅkoše: «Slȕšāj, ȏvco, nȃs sȑca bòlē kada vȉdīmo da čòv(j)ek, gospòdār, rȃdī vȕnu od ovácā i prȁvī òd(j)eću zá se. I ȍndā óvca nȇmā vȉše vȕnē.»

:Čȗvši tō, óvca pȍb(j)eže ȕ polje.
{{col-5}}

: '''Old Štokavian ([[Orubica]], [[Posavina]])''':

:Óvca i kònji

:Óvca kòjā nî ìmala vȕnē vȉdla kònje na brîgu. Jèdān od njȉjū vũkō tȇška kȍla, drȕgī nosȉjo vȅlikū vrȅću, a trȅćī nosȉjo čovȉka.

: Óvca kȃza kȍnjima: «Sȑce me bolĩ kad glȅdām kako čòvik na kònju jȁšī».

:A kònji kāzȁše: «Slȕšāj, ȏvco, nãs sȑca bolũ kad vȉdīmo da čòvik, gȁzda, prȁvī vȕnu od ovãc i prȁvī rȍbu zá se od njẽ. I ȍndā ōvcȁ néma vȉšē vȕnē.»

:Kad tȏ čȕ ōvcȁ, ȕteče ȕ polje.
{{col-5}}

: '''Čakavian ([[Matulji]] near Rijeka)''':

:Ovcȁ i konjı̏

:Ovcȁ kȃ ni imȅla vȕni vȉdela je konjȉ na brȇge. Jedȃn je vȗkal tȇški vȏz, drȕgi je nosîl vȅlu vrȅt'u, a trȅt'i je nosîl čovȅka.

:Ovcȁ je reklȁ konjȇn: «Sȑce me bolĩ dok glȅdan čovȅka kako jȁše na konjȅ».

:A konjȉ su reklȉ: «Poslȕšaj, ovcȁ, nȃs sȑca bolẽ kad vȉdimo da čovȅk, gospodãr dȅla vȕnu od ovãc i dȅla rȍbu zȃ se. I ȍnda ovcȁ nĩma vȉše vȕni.»

:Kad je tȏ čȕla, ovcȁ je pobȅgla va pȍje.
{{col-5}}

: '''Kajkavian ([[Marija Bistrica]])''':

:Õfca i kȍjni

:Õfca tera nı̃je imȅ̩la vȕne vȉdla je kȍjne na briẽgu. Jȇn od nîh je vlẽ̩ke̩l tẽška kȍla, drȕgi je nȍsil vȅliku vrȅ̩ču, a trẽjti je nȍsil čovȅ̩ka.

:Õfca je rȇkla kȍjnem: «Sȑce me bolĩ kad vîdim čovȅka kak jȃše na kȍjnu.»

:A kȍjni su rȇkli: «Poslȕhni, õfca, nȃs sȑca bolĩju kad vîdime da čȍve̩k, gospodãr, dȇ̩la vȕnu ot õfci i dȇ̩la oblȅ̩ku zȃ se. I ȏnda õfca nȇma vȉše vȕne.»

:Kad je to čȗla, õfca je pobȇ̩gla f pȍlje.
{{col-5}}

: '''English language'''

: The Sheep and the Horses

:[On a hill,] a sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly.

: The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses."

: The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool."

: Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.

{{col-5}}

{{col-end}}

=== Classification by ''jat'' reflex ===
{{Main|yat}}

A series of [[isogloss]]es crosscuts the main dialects. The modern reflexes of the long [[Proto-Slavic language|Common Slavic]] vowel ''[[yat|jat]]'', usually transcribed *ě, vary by location as /i/, /e/, and /ije/ or /je/. Local varieties of the dialects are labeled Ikavian, Ekavian, and Ijekavian, respectively, depending on the reflex. The long and short ''jat'' is reflected as long or short */i/ and /e/ in Ikavian and Ekavian, but Ijekavian dialects introduce a ''ije''/''je'' alternation to retain a distinction.

Standard Croatian and Bosnian are based on Ijekavian, whereas Serbian uses both Ekavian and Ijekavian forms (Ijekavian for Bosnian Serbs, Ekavian for most of Serbia). Influence of standard language through state media and education has caused non-standard varieties to lose ground to the literary forms.

The jat-reflex rules are not without exception. For example, when short ''jat'' is preceded by ''r'', in most Ijekavian dialects developed into /re/ or, occasionally, /ri/. The prefix ''prě-'' ("trans-, over-") when long became ''pre-'' in eastern Ijekavian dialects but to ''prije-'' in western dialects; in Ikavian pronunciation, it also evolved into ''pre-'' or ''prije-'' due to potential ambiguity with ''pri-'' ("approach, come close to"). For verbs that had ''-ěti'' in their infinitive, the past participle ending ''-ěl'' evolved into ''-io'' in Ijekavian Neo-Štokavian.

The following are some examples:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Predecessor
!Ekavian
!Ikavian
!Ijekavian
!Ijekavian development
|-
|beautiful
|*lěp
|lep
|lip
|lijep
| rowspan="2"| long ''ě'' → ''ije''
|-
|time
|*vrěme
|vreme
|vrime
|vrijeme
|-
|faith
|*věra
|vera
|vira
|vjera
|short ''ě'' → ''je''
|-
|crossing
|*prělaz
|prelaz
|prilaz
|prеlaz ''or''<br />prijelaz
|''pr'' + long ''ě'' → ''prije''<!--Does the /p/ really matter?-->
|-
|times
|*vrěmena
|vremena
|vrimena
|vremena
| rowspan="2"| ''r'' + short ''ě'' → ''re''
|-
|need
|*trěbati
|trebati
|tribat(i)
|trebati
|-
|heat
|*grějati
|grejati
|grijati
|grijati
|''r'' + short ''ě'' → ''ri''
|-
|saw
|*viděl
|video
|vidio
|vidio
|''ěl'' → ''io''
|-
|village
|*selo
|selo
|selo
|selo
|''e'' in root, not ''ě''
|}

== Sociolinguistic debate ==
The nature and classification of Serbo-Croatian has been the subject of long-standing [[Sociolinguistics|sociolinguistic]] debate.{{sfn|Ćalić|2021|loc=The debate about the status of the Serbo-Croatian language and its varieties has recently shifted (again) towards a position which looks at the internal variation within Serbo-Croatian through the prism of linguistic pluricentricity [...]}} The question is whether Serbo-Croatian should be called a single language or a cluster of closely related languages.{{sfn|Greenberg|2004|p=13}}{{sfn|Alexander|2006|p=XVII}}{{sfn|Alexander|2013|p=341}}<ref name="britannica.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Serbo-Croatian-language|title=Serbo-Croatian language|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>

=== Views of linguists in the former Yugoslavia ===
==== Views of Croatian linguists ====
A prevailing view among Croatian linguists is that there has never been a Serbo-Croatian language, but two different standard languages that overlapped sometime in the course of history. However, Croatian linguist [[Snježana Kordić]] has been leading an academic discussion on this issue in the Croatian journal ''Književna republika''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bib.irb.hr/lista-radova?autor=173535#zncasopis |title=Kordić's publications in ''Književna republika'' |publisher=Bib.irb.hr |access-date=2013-09-01 |archive-date=2013-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055814/http://bib.irb.hr/lista-radova?autor=173535#zncasopis |url-status=dead }} {{ZDB|2122129-7}}.</ref> from 2001 to 2010.<ref>{{cite news |first=Nikola |last=Petković |title=Mrsko zrcalo pred licima jezikoslovaca |trans-title=A nasty mirror reflects back at linguists |url=http://www.snjezana-kordic.de/Prikaz_Petkovic_tekst.doc |publisher=[[Novi list]] |location=Rijeka |issn=1334-1545 |date=5 September 2010 |url-status=dead |page = 7 in the arts section ''Mediteran'' |language=sh |archive-date=15 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315175329/http://www.snjezana-kordic.de/Prikaz_Petkovic_tekst.doc |access-date=18 July 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Slobodan |last=Šnajder |author-link=Slobodan Šnajder |title=Lingvistička bojna |trans-title=Linguistic battle |url=http://www.snjezana-kordic.de/Prikaz_Snajder.doc |publisher=[[Novi list]] |location=Rijeka |issn=1334-1545 |date=10 October 2010 |url-status=dead |page=6 in the arts section ''Mediteran'' |language=sh |archive-date=13 March 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120313145554/http://www.snjezana-kordic.de/Prikaz_Snajder.doc |access-date=6 July 2012 }}</ref> In the discussion, she shows that linguistic criteria such as mutual intelligibility, the huge overlap in the linguistic system, and the same dialect basis of the standard language are evidence that Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin are four national variants of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kordić |first = Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |title=Demagogija umjesto znanosti (odgovor Daliboru Brozoviću) |trans-title=Demagogy instead of science (response to Dalibor Brozović) |url = http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/430252.DEMAGOGIJA_UMJESTO_ZNANOSTI.PDF |language=sh |journal=Književna Republika |volume=1 |issue=7–8 |pages=176–202 |year=2003 |issn=1334-1057 |s2cid=171739712 |ssrn=3433060 |id={{CROSBI|430252}}. {{ZDB|2122129-7}} |url-status=live |archive-date=1 June 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120601173923/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/430252.DEMAGOGIJA_UMJESTO_ZNANOSTI.PDF |access-date=8 April 2022}} [http://opak.crolib.hr/cgi-bin/unicat.cgi?form=D1440910057 (CROLIB)].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Kordić |first = Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |title=Autizam hrvatske filologije (odgovor Ivi Pranjkoviću) |trans-title=The autism of Croatian philology (response to Ivo Pranjković) |url = http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/430121.AUTIZAM_HRVATSKE_FILOLOGIJE.PDF |language=sh |journal=Književna Republika |volume=2 |issue=7–8 |pages=254–280 |year=2004 |issn=1334-1057 |ssrn=3433015 |id={{CROSBI|430121}}. {{ZDB|2122129-7}} |url-status=live |archive-date=29 May 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120529002217/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/430121.AUTIZAM_HRVATSKE_FILOLOGIJE.PDF |access-date=1 March 2015 }} [http://katalog.nsk.hr/F/?func=direct&doc_number=000572375 (NSK)].</ref> In 2010, Croatian writer [[Igor Mandić]] described the debate as "the longest, the most serious and most acrid (...) in 21st-century Croatian culture".<ref>{{cite news |first=Igor |last=Mandić |author-link=Igor Mandić |title = Svojom polemikom možda pokušava izbrisati naš identitet... Što, zapravo, hoće ta žena? |trans-title = She is perhaps trying to destroy our identity by polemicising... What does that woman really want? |url = http://www.jutarnji.hr/igor-mandic--svojom-polemikom-mozda-pokusava-izbrisati-nas-identitet---sto--zapravo--hoce-ta-zena-/905607/ |newspaper=[[Jutarnji list]] |location=Zagreb |issn=1331-5692 |date=21 November 2010 |page=19 |language=sh |archive-date=29 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120929042255/http://www.jutarnji.hr/igor-mandic--svojom-polemikom-mozda-pokusava-izbrisati-nas-identitet---sto--zapravo--hoce-ta-zena-/905607/ |access-date=12 August 2013 }}</ref> Inspired by that discussion, a [[Croatian language and nationalism|monograph on language and nationalism]] has been published.{{sfn|Kordić|2010}}

Some Croatian linguists, like Kordić, continue to argue that Serbo-Croatian is a single language. They argue that the Serbo-Croatian standard varieties—Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian—are completely mutually intelligible.<ref>{{cite book |last=Trudgill |first=Peter |year=2003 |title = A glossary of sociolinguistics |url = https://archive.org/details/glossarysociolin00trud |url-access=limited |location=Oxford & New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/glossarysociolin00trud/page/n125 119] |isbn=9780748616237 |oclc=50768041 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |title=Les langues des Balkans |author-link=Snježana Kordić |editor-last=Madelain |editor-first=Anne |series = Au sud de l'Est |volume=3 |publisher=Non Lieu |page=74 |language=fr |chapter=La langue croate, serbe, bosniaque et monténégrine |trans-chapter=The Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin Language |chapter-url = http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/429734.LA_LANGUE_CROATE_SERBE.PDF |location=Paris |year=2007 |isbn=978-2-35270-036-4 |oclc=182916790 |ssrn=3439662 |id={{CROSBI|429734}} |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120601174651/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/429734.LA_LANGUE_CROATE_SERBE.PDF |url-status=live |archive-date = 1 June 2012 }}</ref> In addition, [[Gaj's Latin alphabet|Gaj's Latin]] and [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet]]s perfectly match each other due to the work of [[Ljudevit Gaj]] and [[Vuk Karadžić]]. Linguists supporting this perspective often cite the [[Swadesh list]] of 100 basic vocabulary items, which are identical across all four Serbo-Croatian varieties.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brozović |first=Dalibor |author-link=Dalibor Brozović |year=2002 |title=Europske integracije i hrvatski jezik |trans-title=European integration and the Croatian language |journal=Jezik |language=sh |volume=49 |issue=4 |page=124 |issn=0021-6925}}</ref> According to Swadesh's criteria, an 81% overlap is sufficient to classify varieties as a single language.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kloss |first=Heinz |author-link=Heinz Kloss |editor1-last=Göschel |editor1-first=Joachim |editor2-last=Nail |editor2-first=Norbert |editor3-last=van der Els |editor3-first=Gaston |title=Zur Theorie des Dialekts: Aufsätze aus 100 Jahren Forschung |publisher=F. Steiner |page=303 |chapter=Abstandsprachen und Ausbausprachen |trans-chapter=Abstand-languages and Ausbau-languages |series=Zeitschrift für Dialektologie and Linguistik, Beihefte, n.F., Heft 16 |location=Wiesbaden |year=1976 |oclc=2598722 }}</ref> Furthermore, the standard varieties are typologically and structurally nearly identical in terms of grammar, including morphology and syntax.{{sfn|Pohl|1996|p=214}}<ref>{{cite journal |last = Kordić |first = Snježana |author-link = Snježana Kordić |title = Le serbo-croate aujourd'hui: entre aspirations politiques et faits linguistiques |trans-title=Serbo-Croatian today: Between political aspirations and linguistic facts |language = fr |journal=Revue des études slaves |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=34–36 |year=2004 |issn=0080-2557 |oclc=754207802 |s2cid=228222009 |ssrn=3433041 |id={{CROSBI|430127}}. {{ZDB|208723-6}} |doi=10.3406/slave.2004.6860}} [http://data.onb.ac.at/rec/AC07248653 (ÖNB)].</ref> Serbo-Croatian was standardized in the mid-19th century, and subsequent efforts to dissolve its linguistic unity are seen by some scholars as politically motivated. According to [[phonology]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], and [[syntax]], these standard varieties are considered part of the single language as they are all based on the [[Shtokavian|Štokavian]] dialect.{{Sfn|Blum|2002|p=134}}

On the other hand, a number of Croatian linguists argue against the view that Serbo-Croatian constitutes a single language. They acknowledge that similar arguments are made for other official standards derived from nearly identical material bases, such as [[Malaysian Malay]] and [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] (together called [[Malay language|Malay]]),<ref>{{cite book |last=Haji Omar |first=Asmah |editor-last=Clyne |editor-first=Michael G. |editor-link=Michael Clyne |title=Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations |publisher=[[De Gruyter|Mouton de Gruyter]] |pages=401–419 |chapter=Malay as a pluricentric language |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wawGFWNuHiwC&pg=PA401 |series=Contributions to the sociology of language 62 |location=Berlin & New York |year=1992 |isbn=978-3-11-012855-0 |oclc=24668375 }}</ref> or [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] (together called [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]).<ref>{{cite book |last= Dua |first=Hans Raj |editor-last=Clyne |editor-first=Michael G. |editor-link=Michael Clyne |title= Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations |publisher=[[De Gruyter|Mouton de Gruyter]] |pages=381–400 |chapter=Hindi-Urdu as a pluricentric language |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wawGFWNuHiwC&q=hindi+urdu+pluricentric&pg=PA381 |series=Contributions to the sociology of language 62 |location=Berlin & New York |year=1992 |isbn=978-3-11-012855-0 |oclc=24668375 }}</ref> However, they argue that these arguments have flaws, as phonology, morphology, and syntax are not the only defining features of a language. Other fields—semantics, pragmatics, stylistics, and [[lexicology]]—also exhibit differences. However, that is the case with other pluricentric languages.{{Sfn | Ammon | 1995 | pp = 154–174}} Some comparisons are drawn to the closely related [[North Germanic languages]], although these languages are not fully mutually intelligible as the Serbo-Croatian standard varieties are.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |title=Languages and Nationalism Instead of Empires |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-0-367-47191-0 |editor-last1=Nomachi |editor-first1=Motoki |editor-link1=Motoki Nomachi |series=Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe |location=London |pages=167{{hyphen}}179 |chapter=Ideology Against Language: The Current Situation in South Slavic Countries |doi=10.4324/9781003034025-11 |lccn= |oclc=1390118985 |ssrn=4680766 |id={{COBISS.SR|125229577}}. {{COBISS|171014403}} |quote=the mutual intelligibility between the standard varieties spoken in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia is at the highest level, meaning that it is significantly higher than between spoken standard Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Research conducted by the Nordic Culture Fund (Nordiska kulturfonden) and the Nordic Council of Ministers (Nordiska ministerrådet) from 2002 to 2005 with native speakers of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish under the age of twenty-five showed that Copenhagen’s youth understand only 36 percent of spoken Swedish and 41 percent of spoken Norwegian; Oslo’s youth understand 71 percent of spoken Swedish and 65 percent of spoken Danish; Stockholm’s youth understand 55 percent of spoken Norwegian and 34 percent of spoken Danish. |access-date=23 January 2024 |editor-last2=Kamusella |editor-first2=Tomasz |editor-link2=Tomasz Kamusella |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372202077 |chapter-format=PDF |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/kordic-ideology-against-language |archive-date=10 January 2024 |url-status=live |doi-access= |s2cid=259576119 |s2cid-access= |ssrn-access=free |quote-page=168–169}}</ref>

Additionally, it is argued that the standardization of the Croatian language was a gradual process spanning several centuries. Croatian drew on Chakavian and Kajkavian influences, on the [[Dubrovnik subdialect]]—a specific western idiom of the [[Eastern Herzegovinian dialect]] rooted in Western Shtokavian—and on Western Shtokavian more generally. By contrast, Serbian draws primarily from Eastern Shtokavian, which includes the Eastern Herzegovinian dialect.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Grčević|first=Mario|year=1999|title=Ponovno o »istočnohercegovačkoj štokavštini« i kroatističkim stranputicama|journal=[[Jezik]]|volume=47|issue=1|pages=18–32|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/113654|language=hr}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Brozović|first=Dalibor|author-link=Dalibor Brozović|year=2005|title=O početku hrvatskoga jezičnog standarda|journal=[[Jezik]]|volume=52|issue=5|pages=186–192|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/24212|language=hr}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Brozović|first=Dalibor|author-link=Dalibor Brozović|year=2008|title=Hrvatski štokavski dijalekti – razvoj i stanje|journal=Hrvatski dijalektološki zbornik|publisher=HAZU|issue=14|pages=3–12|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/217440|language=hr}}</ref> Since the Croatian used in early [[Ragusan literature]] (e.g., in the works of [[Marin Držić|Držić]] and [[Ivan Gundulić|Gundulić]] in the 16th and 17th centuries) is virtually the same as the contemporary standard Croatian, aside from archaisms, the 19th-century formal standardization is considered by Croatian linguists as the final step in a process that had already lasted for over three centuries.<ref name="Brozovic2007">{{cite book |last=Brozović |first=Dalibor |author-link=Dalibor Brozović |title=Neka bitna pitanja hrvatskoga jezičnog standarda |publisher=[[Školska knjiga]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-953-0-50840-8 |pages=155–278 |language=hr |chapter=Hrvatski jezik, njegovo mjesto unutar južnoslavenskih i drugih slavenskih jezika, njegove povijesne mijene kao jezika hrvatske književnosti}}</ref>

==== Views of Serbian linguists ====
In 2021, the [[Board for Standardization of the Serbian Language]] issued an opinion that Serbo-Croatian is one language, and that it should be referred to as "Serbian language", while "Croatian", "Bosnian" and "Montenegrin" are to be considered merely local names for Serbian language. This opinion was widely criticized by [[Croatian government]] and representatives of the [[Croats of Serbia|Croatian minority in Serbia]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.danas.rs/vesti/drustvo/bura-u-javnosti-zbog-sadrzaja-u-udzbenicima-za-srpski-hrvatski-nije-juznoslovenski-jezik/ | title=Bura u javnosti zbog sadržaja u udžbenicima za srpski: Hrvatski (ni)je južnoslovenski jezik | publisher=Danas | date=7 October 2021 | access-date=30 October 2021}}</ref> Serbian linguist [[Ranko Bugarski]] called this opinion "absurd" and "legacy of the 19th century linguistics". He said that Serbo-Croatian should be considered one language in a scientific sense under the "Serbo-Croatian" label, but four different languages in an administrative sense.<ref name="Bugarski o jezicima">{{cite web | url=https://www.danas.rs/nedelja/o-juznoslovenskim-jezicima/ | title=O južnoslovenskim jezicima | publisher=Danas | date=17 October 2021 | access-date=30 October 2021 | author=Bugarski, Ranko}}</ref> Legally, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin are all officially recognized minority languages in Serbia.<ref name="Bugarski o jezicima"/> The [[Serbian Government]] also officially recognized [[Bunjevac speech|Bunjevac language]] as a standard minority language in 2018<ref>{{Cite web |title=Odluka o utvrđivanju standarda bunjevačkog jezika: 18/2018-192 |script-title=sr:Одлука о утврђивању стандарда буњевачког језика: 18/2018-192 |trans-title=Decision of the National Council of Bunjevci no. 18/2018-192 |url=http://www.pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/SlGlasnikPortal/eli/rep/sgrs/drugeorganizacije/odluka/2018/18/1/reg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902180124/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans:300,400,600,700,800&display=swap&subset=cyrillic,cyrillic-ext,latin-ext |archive-date=2021-09-02 |access-date=2020-07-30 |language=sr |via=Pravno-informacioni sistem RS}}</ref> and was approved by the [[Ministry of Education (Serbia)|Serbian Ministry of Education]] for learning in schools.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Šolaja |first=Dragan |date=2007-10-25 |title=Bunjevački jezik u školskom programu |language=sr |work=Blic |url=http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Vojvodina/17383/Bunjevacki-jezik-u-skolskom-programu |url-status=live |access-date=2011-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008015751/http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Vojvodina/17383/Bunjevacki-jezik-u-skolskom-programu |archive-date=2012-10-08}}</ref>

==== Views within nationalist linguistics ====
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2010}}
In nationalist linguistics exist conflicting views on shared or related linguistical heritage. Those nationalists among the Croats conflictingly claim either that they speak an entirely separate language from Serbs and Bosniaks or that these two peoples have, due to the longer literary and lexicographic tradition of popular language among Croats, somehow "borrowed" their standard languages from them (e.g. [[Serbian literature]] until early-19th century was primarily written in Serbian recension of [[Church Slavonic]] and [[Slavonic-Serbian]]<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Auburger|first=Leopold|year=2012|title=Položaj hrvatskoga književnog jezika i njegova pravopisa – jučer, danas i sutra|url=https://www.matica.hr/kolo/374/polozaj-hrvatskoga-knjizevnog-jezika-i-njegova-pravopisa-jucer-danas-i-sutra-21630/|journal=[[Kolo (magazine)|Kolo]]|publisher=[[Matica hrvatska]]|language=hr}}</ref>). There's a common debate about positive or negative influence of the [[Croatian Vukovians]], and perception that [[Vuk Karadžić]] invented the [[Greater Serbia]]n linguistic ideology which is culturally appropriating Croatian language/dialects and literary tradition (although a great part of the criticism should be directed to the early Slavists instead).<ref name="Grcevic1998">{{cite journal |last=Grčević |first=Mario |year=1998 |title=Zablude o istočnohercegovačkim govorima kao dijalekatnoj osnovici hrvatskoga književnoga jezika |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/324379 |journal=[[Jezik]] |language=hr |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=41–56}}</ref> Bosniak nationalists claim that both Croats and Serbs have "appropriated" the [[Bosnian language]], since Ljudevit Gaj and Vuk Karadžić preferred the Neo-Štokavian Ijekavian dialect, widely spoken in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], as the basis for language standardization. Whereas the nationalists among the Serbs claim either that any divergence in the standard language is artificial, and that the whole Shtokavian dialect is Serbian (and hence the Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standard languages are variations of the Serbian language), and only the Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects are Croatian, in more extreme formulations accusing the Croats to have "taken" or "stolen" their language from the Serbs.<ref name="Grcevic1998"/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Babić|first=Stjepan|author-link=Stjepan Babić|year=2005|title=Hrvati Srbima uzeli ili čak ukrali književni jezik|journal=[[Jezik]]|volume=52|issue=3|pages=112–113|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/en/15979|language=hr}}</ref>

=== Views of international linguists ===
Linguist Enisa Kafadar<!-- linguist dr. Enisa Kafadar Pliska, lecturer at the University of Passau --> argues that there is only one Serbo-Croatian language with several varieties.<ref name="Kafadar">{{cite book |last=Kafadar |first=Enisa |editor1-last=Henn-Memmesheimer |editor1-first=Beate |editor2-last=Franz |editor2-first=Joachim |title=Die Ordnung des Standard und die Differenzierung der Diskurse; Teil 1 |publisher=Peter Lang |page=103 |language=de |chapter=Bosnisch, Kroatisch, Serbisch – Wie spricht man eigentlich in Bosnien-Herzegowina? |trans-chapter=Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian – How do people really speak in Bosnia-Herzegovina? |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=63hKaFGtTDAC&pg=PA95 |location=Frankfurt am Main |year=2009 |isbn=9783631599174 |oclc=699514676 }}</ref> This has made it possible to include all four varieties in new grammars of the language.<ref name=ThomasOsipov>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Paul-Louis |last2=Osipov |first2=Vladimir |year=2012 |title=Grammaire du bosniaque, croate, monténégrin, serbe |trans-title=Grammar of Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian |language=fr |series = Collection de grammaires de l'Institut d'études slaves |volume = 8 |location=Paris |publisher=Institut d'études slaves |page=624 |isbn=9782720404900 |oclc=805026664}}</ref><ref>Ronelle Alexander, ''Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian: A Grammar with Sociolinguistic Commentary'' (2006, The University of Wisconsin Press)</ref> Daniel Bunčić<!-- linguist dr. Daniel Bunčić, Professor of Slavic Studies at the University of Cologne --> concludes that it is a pluricentric language, with four standard variants spoken in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.<ref name="Buncic">{{cite book |last=Bunčić |first=Daniel |editor-last=Kempgen |editor-first=Sebastian |title = Deutsche Beiträge zum 14. Internationalen Slavistenkongress, Ohrid, 2008 |series=Welt der Slaven |publisher=Otto Sagner |page=93 |language=de |chapter=Die (Re-)Nationalisierung der serbokroatischen Standards |trans-chapter=The (Re-)Nationalisation of Serbo-Croatian Standards |location=Munich |year=2008 |oclc=238795822 }}</ref> The mutual intelligibility between their speakers "exceeds that between the standard variants of English, French, German, or Spanish".{{sfn|Thomas|2003|p=325}} "There is no doubt of the near 100% mutual intelligibility of (standard) Croatian and (standard) Serbian, as is obvious from the ability of all groups to enjoy each others' films, TV and sports broadcasts, newspapers, rock lyrics etc."<ref name="Bailyn">{{cite journal|title=To what degree are Croatian and Serbian the same language? Evidence from a Translation Study|last=Bailyn|first=John Frederick|journal=Journal of Slavic Linguistics|year=2010|volume=18|issue=2|pages=181–219|url=https://linguistics.stonybrook.edu/people/_bios/_linguistics-faculty/_faculty-files/bailyn/publications/JSLBCS2.pdf|access-date=9 October 2019|issn=1068-2090|archive-date=9 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009113158/https://linguistics.stonybrook.edu/people/_bios/_linguistics-faculty/_faculty-files/bailyn/publications/JSLBCS2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other linguists have argued that the differences between the variants of Serbo-Croatian are less significant than those between the variants of English,<ref>{{cite journal|author=McLennan, Sean |title=Sociolinguistic Analysis of "Serbo-Croatian" |trans-title=Sociolinguistic Analysis of 'Serbo-Croatian' |url = http://www.shaav.com/professional/linguistics/serbocroation.pdf |journal=Calgary Working Papers in Linguistics |volume=18 |page=107 |year=1996 |issn=0823-0579 |access-date=10 August 2014 }}</ref> German,{{Sfn | Pohl | 1996 | p = 219}} Dutch,{{Sfn | Gröschel | 2003 | pp = 180–181}} and [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]].{{Sfn | Blum | 2002 | pp = 125–126}}

Among pluricentric languages,<ref>{{cite book |last=Brozović |first=Dalibor |author-link=Dalibor Brozović |editor-last=Clyne |editor-first=Michael G. |editor-link=Michael Clyne |title=Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations |publisher=[[De Gruyter|Mouton de Gruyter]] |pages=347–380 |chapter=Serbo-Croatian as a pluricentric language |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wawGFWNuHiwC&q=serbo-croatian+pluricentric&pg=PA347 |series=Contributions to the sociology of language |volume = 62 |location=Berlin & New York |year=1992 |isbn=9783110128550 |oclc=24668375 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |editor1-last=Badurina |editor1-first=Lada |editor2-last=Pranjković |editor2-first=Ivo |editor2-link=Ivo Pranjković |editor3-last=Silić |editor3-first=Josip |title=Jezični varijeteti i nacionalni identiteti |publisher=Disput |pages=85–89 |language=sh |chapter=Policentrični standardni jezik |trans-chapter=Polycentric Standard Language |chapter-url = http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/426269.POLICENTRICNI_STANDARDNI.PDF |location=Zagreb |year=2009 |isbn=978-953-260-054-4 |oclc=437306433 |ssrn=3438216 |id={{CROSBI|426269}} |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120529002544/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/426269.POLICENTRICNI_STANDARDNI.PDF |url-status=live |archive-date = 29 May 2012 |url = http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/426269.POLICENTRICNI_STANDARDNI.PDF }} [http://data.onb.ac.at/rec/AC07252152 (ÖNB)].</ref> Serbo-Croatian was the only one with a pluricentric standardisation within one state.{{Sfn | Ammon | 1995 | p = 46}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |editor1-last=Krause |editor1-first=Marion |editor2-last=Sappok |editor2-first=Christian |title=Slavistische Linguistik 2002: Referate des XXVIII. Konstanzer Slavistischen Arbeitstreffens, Bochum 10.-12. September 2002 |series=Slavistishe Beiträge |volume = 434 |publisher=Otto Sagner |page=141 |language=de |chapter = Pro und kontra: "Serbokroatisch" heute |trans-chapter = Pro and con: "Serbo-Croatian" nowadays |chapter-url = http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/430499.PRO_UND_KONTRA_SERBOKROATISCH.PDF |location=Munich |year=2004 |isbn=978-3-87690-885-4 |oclc=56198470 |ssrn=3434516 |id={{CROSBI|430499}} |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120601174051/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/430499.PRO_UND_KONTRA_SERBOKROATISCH.PDF |url-status=live |archive-date=1 June 2012 |url = http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/430499.PRO_UND_KONTRA_SERBOKROATISCH.PDF }} [http://data.onb.ac.at/rec/AC05094207 (ÖNB)].</ref> The dissolution of Yugoslavia has made Serbo-Croatian even more of a typical pluricentric language, since the variants of other pluricentric languages are also spoken in different states.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |editor1-last=Golubović |editor1-first=Biljana |editor2-last=Raecke |editor2-first=Jochen |title = Bosnisch – Kroatisch – Serbisch als Fremdsprachen an den Universitäten der Welt |publisher=Otto Sagner |page=95 |language=de |chapter=Nationale Varietäten der serbokroatischen Sprache |trans-chapter=National Varieties of Serbo-Croatian |chapter-url = http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/426566.NATIONALE_VARIETATEN_DER.PDF |series=Die Welt der Slaven, Sammelbände – Sborniki; vol. 31 |location=Munich |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-86688-032-0 |oclc=244788988 |ssrn=3434432 |id={{CROSBI|426566}} |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110919045407/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/426566.NATIONALE_VARIETATEN_DER.PDF|url-status=live |archive-date=19 September 2011|url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/426566.NATIONALE_VARIETATEN_DER.PDF}} [http://data.onb.ac.at/rec/AC07155292 (ÖNB)].</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Kordić, Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |title=Plurizentrische Sprachen, Ausbausprachen, Abstandsprachen und die Serbokroatistik |trans-title=Pluricentric languages, Ausbau languages, Abstand languages and Serbo-Croatian studies |url = http://www.zeitschrift-fuer-balkanologie.de/index.php/zfb/article/view/203/203 |language=de |journal=Zeitschrift für Balkanologie |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=213–214 |year=2009 |issn=0044-2356 |oclc=680567046 |ssrn=3439240 |id={{CROSBI|436361}}. {{ZDB|201058-6}} |archive-date=29 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529002037/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/436361.AUSBAU-ABSTAND-PLURIZENTRISCH.PDF |access-date=21 January 2019 }}</ref>

As in other pluricentric languages, all Serbo-Croatian standard varieties are based on the same dialect (the [[Eastern Herzegovinian dialect|Eastern Herzegovinian subdialect]] of the [[Shtokavian]] dialect) and consequently, according to the sociolinguistic definitions, constitute a single pluricentric language (and not, for example, several [[Ausbau languages]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Mader Skender|first=Mia|title=Die kroatische Standardsprache auf dem Weg zur Ausbausprache|language=German|trans-title=The Croatian standard language on the way to ausbau language|chapter=Schlussbemerkung|trans-chapter=Summary|url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/215815/|format=PDF|publisher=University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts, Institute of Slavonic Studies|series=UZH Dissertations|pages=196–197|location=Zurich|year=2022|doi=10.5167/uzh-215815 |access-date=8 June 2022|type=Dissertation |quote=Obwohl das Kroatische sich in den letzten Jahren in einigen Gebieten, vor allem jedoch auf lexikalischer Ebene, verändert hat, sind diese Änderungen noch nicht bedeutend genug, dass der Terminus Ausbausprache gerechtfertigt wäre. Ausserdem können sich Serben, Kroaten, Bosnier und Montenegriner immer noch auf ihren jeweiligen Nationalsprachen unterhalten und problemlos verständigen. Nur schon diese Tatsache zeigt, dass es sich immer noch um eine polyzentrische Sprache mit verschiedenen Varietäten handelt.}}</ref>).<ref>{{cite book |last=Zanelli|first=Aldo|year=2018|title=Eine Analyse der Metaphern in der kroatischen Linguistikfachzeitschrift Jezik von 1991 bis 1997|trans-title=Analysis of Metaphors in Croatian Linguistic Journal ''Language'' from 1991 to 1997|language=de |series=Studien zur Slavistik; 41|location=Hamburg|publisher=Kovač|pages=21|isbn=978-3-8300-9773-0|oclc=1023608613}} [http://katalog.nsk.hr/F/?func=direct&doc_number=001013945 (NSK)]. [https://koha.ffzg.hr/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=385977 (FFZG)]</ref> According to linguist John Bailyn, "An examination of all the major 'levels' of language shows that BCS is clearly a single language with a single grammatical system."<ref name="Bailyn" />

The prevailing view among Croatian linguists—that there is no single Serbo-Croatian language but rather several different standard languages—has been criticized by German linguist [[Bernhard Gröschel]] in his monograph ''Serbo-Croatian Between Linguistics and Politics''.{{sfn|Gröschel|2009}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |year=2009 |title=Svijet o nama: Bernhard Gröschel, ''Das Serbokroatische zwischen Linguistik und Politik'' |trans-title=About us – World point of view: Bernhard Gröschel, ''Serbo-Croatian Between Linguistics and Politics'' |url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/445818.rec_GROSCHEL_u_KR.PDF |url-status=live |journal=Književna Republika |language=sh |volume=7 |issue=10–12 |pages=316–330 |issn=1334-1057 |ssrn=3441854 |id={{CROSBI|445818}}. {{CEEOL|29944}}. {{ZDB|2122129-7}} |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601175459/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/445818.rec_GROSCHEL_u_KR.PDF |archive-date=1 June 2012 |access-date=6 October 2013}} [http://katalog.nsk.hr/F/?func=direct&doc_number=000742298 (NSK)].</ref>

The use of ''Serbo-Croatian'' as a linguistic label has been the subject of long-standing controversy. Linguist [[Wayles Browne]] calls it a "term of convenience" and notes the difference of opinion as to whether it comprises a single language or a cluster of languages.<ref name="britannica.com"/> Ronelle Alexander refers to the national standards as three separate languages, but also notes that the reasons for this are complex and generally non-linguistic. She calls BCS (her term for Serbo-Croatian) a single language for communicative linguistic purposes, but three separate languages for symbolic non-linguistic purposes.{{sfn|Alexander|2006|p=424–426}}{{sfn|Alexander|2013|p=341}}

=== Views of international organizations ===
While it operated, the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] translated court proceedings and documents into what it referred to as "Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian", usually abbreviated as BCS. Translators were employed from all regions of the former Yugoslavia and all national and regional variations were accepted, regardless of the nationality of the person on trial (sometimes against a defendant's objections), on the grounds of mutual intelligibility.<ref name="Prosecutor">Decision of 23 June 1997, [https://www.icty.org/x/cases/mucic/tord/en/70623MS2.htm ''Prosecutor v. Delalic and Delic'']</ref>

Since 18 February 2000, the [[ISO 639]] classification has recognized Serbo-Croatian as a [[ISO 639 macrolanguage|macrolanguage]], deprecating its original [[ISO 639-1]] code {{Code|sh}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_changes_bycode.php?code_ID=513|title=Codes for the representation of names of languages |website=Library of Congress }}</ref> In [[ISO 639-3]], Serbo-Croatian is assigned the code {{Code|hbs}}, which has no equivalent in [[ISO 639-2]].<ref>{{cite web |title=hbs – ISO 639-3 |url=https://iso639-3.sil.org/code/hbs |website=iso639-3.sil.org}}</ref>

Although the ISO 639‑1 code {{Code|sh}} has been deprecated, it remains recognized as an [[IETF language tag]] under BCP 47.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Language subtag registry |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry |website=iana.org}}</ref>

The [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO) has also defined a [[Universal Decimal Classification]] (UDC) number for the Serbo-Croatian language group (811.163.4), with subdivisions for Serbian (811.163.41) and Croatian (811.163.42).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Serbian and Croatian languages |url=https://udcsummary.info/php/index.php?id=77083 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250503132803/https://udcsummary.info/php/index.php?id=77083 |archive-date=2025-05-03 |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=UDC Summary}}</ref>

== Derived words in English ==
{{wiktionary category 2|English terms derived from Serbo-Croatian}}
*''[[Cravat (early)|Cravat]]'', from French {{Lang|fr|cravate}} "Croat", by analogy with Flemish ''Krawaat'' and German {{Lang|de|Krabate}}, from Serbo-Croatian ''Hrvat'',<ref>{{OED|cravat}}</ref> as cravats were characteristic of Croatian dress
*''[[Polje]]'', from Serbo-Croatian ''polje'' "field"<ref>{{OED|polje}}</ref>
*''[[Slivovitz]]'', from German {{Lang|de|Slibowitz}}, from Bulgarian {{Lang|bg-Latn|slivovitza}} or Serbo-Croatian ''šljivovica'' "plum brandy", from Old Slavic *sliva "plum" (cognate with English [[sloe]])<ref>{{OED|slovovitz}}</ref>
*''[[Tamburitza]]'', Serbo-Croatian diminutive of ''tambura'', from Turkish, from Persian {{Lang|fa-Latn|ṭambūr}} "[[tanbur]]"<ref>{{OED|tamburitza}}</ref>
*''[[Uvala (landform)|Uvala]]'', from Serbo-Croatian ''uvala'' "hollow"<ref>{{OED|uvala}}</ref>
*''[[Vampire]]'', from Serbo-Croatian ''vampir'' via German {{Lang|de|Vampir}} or French {{Lang|fr|Vampire}}<ref>{{Dictionary.com|vampire|access-date=2022-11-01}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Language|Linguistics|Bosnia and Herzegovina|Croatia|Serbia}}
* [[Comparison of Serbo-Croatian standard varieties]]
* {{Section link|Relative clause|Serbo-Croatian}}
* [[Serbo-Croatian kinship]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book |last=Alexander |first=Ronelle |title=Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar: With Sociolinguistic Commentary |year=2006 |location=Madison |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HTdZ5rxJ-cC |isbn=9780299211936 }}
* {{cite book |last=Alexander |first=Ronelle |chapter=Language and Identity: The Fate of Serbo-Croatian |title=Entangled Histories of the Balkans |year=2013 |volume=1 |location=Leiden, South Holland; Boston, MA |publisher=Brill |pages=341–417 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGmJqMflYgoC |isbn=9789004250765 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ammon |first=Ulrich |year=1995 |language = de |title = Die deutsche Sprache in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz: das Problem der nationalen Varietäten |trans-title=German Language in Germany, Austria and Switzerland: The Problem of National Varieties |location=Berlin & New York |publisher=[[De Gruyter|Walter de Gruyter]] |page=575 |oclc=33981055 }}
* {{cite book |last=Blum |first=Daniel |year=2002 |language = de |title = Sprache und Politik : Sprachpolitik und Sprachnationalismus in der Republik Indien und dem sozialistischen Jugoslawien (1945–1991) |trans-title = Language and Policy: Language Policy and Linguistic Nationalism in the Republic of India and the Socialist Yugoslavia (1945–1991) |series = Beiträge zur Südasienforschung |volume =192 |location=Würzburg |publisher=Ergon |page=200 |isbn=978-3-89913-253-3 |oclc=51961066 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Edward Keith |editor2-last=Anderson |editor2-first=Anne |title = Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |oclc=3945869 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Bugarski |editor1-first=Ranko |editor1-link=Ranko Bugarski |editor2-last=Hawkesworth |editor2-first=Celia |title = Language in the Former Yugoslav Lands |publisher=Slavica Publishers |page=325 |location=Bloomington |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-89357-298-3 |oclc=52858529 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Jelena |last=Ćalić |title=Pluricentricity in the classroom: the Serbo-Croatian language issue for foreign language teaching at higher education institutions worldwide |journal=Sociolinguistica: European Journal of Sociolinguistics |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |issn=0933-1883 |doi=10.1515/soci-2021-0007 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=113–140 |year=2021 |s2cid=244134335 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last=Greenberg |first=Robert D. |title=Language and Identity in the Balkans: Serbo-Croatian and its Disintegration |year=2004 |edition=1st |location=New York, NY |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_lNjHgr3QioC |isbn=9780191514555 }}
* {{cite book |last=Greenberg |first=Robert D. |title=Language and Identity in the Balkans: Serbo-Croatian and its Disintegration |year=2008 |edition=2nd updated |location=New York, NY |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31ELAQAAMAAJ |isbn=9780199208753 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Gröschel |first=Bernhard |author-link=Bernhard Gröschel |title=Postjugoslavische Amtssprachenregelungen – Soziolinguistische Argumente gegen die Einheitlichkeit des Serbokroatischen? |trans-title=Post-Yugoslav Official Languages Regulations – Sociolinguistic Arguments Against Consistency of Serbo-Croatian? |url=https://archive.org/details/Postjugoslavische_Amtssprachenregelungen_Bernhard_Groeschel_2003 |language=de |journal=Srpski Jezik |volume=8 |issue=1–2 |pages=135–196 |year=2003 |issn=0354-9259 |access-date=18 May 2015 }} <small>[http://www.vbs.rs/scripts/cobiss?command=DISPLAY&base=99999&rid=121971724&fmt=11&lani=sr (COBISS-Sr)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928211826/http://www.vbs.rs/scripts/cobiss?command=DISPLAY&base=99999&rid=121971724&fmt=11&lani=sr |date=2018-09-28 }}</small>.
* {{cite book |last=Gröschel |first=Bernhard |year=2009 |language = de |title = Das Serbokroatische zwischen Linguistik und Politik: mit einer Bibliographie zum postjugoslavischen Sprachenstreit |trans-title=Serbo-Croatian Between Linguistics and Politics: With a Bibliography of the Post-Yugoslav Language Dispute |series = Lincom Studies in Slavic Linguistics |volume = 34 |location=Munich |publisher=Lincom Europa |page=451 |isbn=978-3-929075-79-3 |oclc=428012015 |lccn=2009473660 |ol=15295665W |id ={{COBISS|43144034}}}} [http://d-nb.info/994941226/04 Contents].
* {{citation |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |title=Serbo-Croatian |year=2006 |series = Languages of the World/Materials |volume = 148 |location=Munich & Newcastle |publisher=Lincom Europa |isbn=978-3-89586-161-1 |oclc=37959860 |ol=2863538W |id={{CROSBI|426503}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |year=2010 |language=sh |title=Jezik i nacionalizam |trans-title=Language and Nationalism |url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/475567.Jezik_i_nacionalizam.pdf |series=Rotulus Universitas |url-status=live |location=Zagreb |publisher=Durieux |page=430 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3467646 |isbn=978-953-188-311-5 |lccn=2011520778 |oclc=729837512 |s2cid=220918333 |ol=15270636W |id={{CROSBI|475567}} |archive-date=1 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601175359/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/475567.Jezik_i_nacionalizam.pdf |access-date=21 April 2022 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Lencek |first=Rado |title = A few remarks for the history of the term 'Serbocroatian' language |journal=Zbornik Za Filologiju I Lingvistiku |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=45–53 |year=1976 |issn=0514-6143 }}
* {{cite book |last=Mappes-Niediek |first=Norbert |year=2005 |language = de |title = Die Ethno-Falle: der Balkan-Konflikt und was Europa daraus lernen kann |trans-title=The Ethnic Trap: the Balkan conflict and what Europe can learn from it |location=Berlin |publisher=Ch. Links Verlag |page=224 |isbn=978-3-86153-367-2 |oclc=61665869 }}
* {{cite book |last=Pohl |first=Hans-Dieter |editor-last=Ohnheiser |editor-first=Ingeborg |title = Wechselbeziehungen zwischen slawischen Sprachen, Literaturen und Kulturen in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart : Akten der Tagung aus Anlaß des 25jährigen Bestehens des Instituts für Slawistik an der Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, 25. – 27. Mai 1995 |series = Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Kulturwissenschaft, Slavica aenipontan |volume = 4 |publisher = Non Lieu |pages=205–219 |language = de |chapter = Serbokroatisch – Rückblick und Ausblick |trans-chapter = Serbo-Croatian – Looking backward and forward |location=Innsbruck |year=1996 |oclc=243829127 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Paul-Louis |title=Le serbo-croate (bosniaque, croate, monténégrin, serbe): de l'étude d'une langue à l'identité des langues |trans-title = Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Serbian): from the study of a language to the identity of languages |language=fr |journal=Revue des études slaves |volume=74 |issue=2–3 |pages=311–325 |year=2003 |issn=0080-2557 |oclc=754204160 |id = {{ZDB|208723-6}} |doi=10.3406/slave.2002.6801 }}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* Banac, Ivo: ''Main Trends in the Croatian Language Question''. Yale University Press, 1984.
* Bunčić, D., 2016. Serbo-Croatian/Serbian: Cyrillic and Latin. Biscriptality: A Sociolinguistic Typology, pp.&nbsp;231–246.
* Franolić, Branko: ''A Historical Survey of Literary Croatian''. Nouvelles éditions Latines, Paris, 1984.
* Franolić, B., 1983. The development of literary Croatian and Serbian. Buske Verlag.
* {{cite book |last=Franolić |first=Branko |year=1988 |title = Language Policy in Yugoslavia with special reference to Croatian |publisher=Nouvelles Editions Latines |location=Paris }}
* {{cite book |last1=Franolić |first1=Branko |last2=Žagar |first2=Mateo |year=2008 |title = A Historical Outline of Literary Croatian & The Glagolitic Heritage of Croatian Culture |publisher=Erasmus & CSYPN |location=London & Zagreb |isbn=978-953-6132-80-5 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Greenberg|first=Robert D. |title=In the Aftermath of Yugoslavia's Collapse: The Politics of Language Death and Language Birth |journal=International Politics|year=1999|volume=36|issue=2|pages=141–158 }}
* {{cite book |last=Greenberg |first=Robert D. |chapter=Language, Religion, and Nationalism: The Case of the Former Serbo-Croatian |title=Typen slavischer Standardsprachen: Theoretische, methodische und empirische Zugaenge |year=2013 |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |pages=217–231 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGUFngEACAAJ |isbn=9783447100281 }}
* Ivić, Pavle: ''Die serbokroatischen Dialekte''. the Hague, 1958.
* {{cite book |last=Jakobsen |first=Per |editor-last=Ostojić |editor-first=Branislav |title = Jezička situacija u Crnoj Gori – norma i standardizacija |publisher=Crnogorska akademija nauka i umjetnosti |pages=25–34 |language=sh |chapter=O strukturalno-lingvističkim konstantama srpskohrvatskog jezika (inventar fonema i fonotaktička struktura) |trans-chapter=Serbocroatian structural-linguistic constants (inventory of phonemes and phonotactic structure) |location=Podgorica |year=2008 |isbn=978-86-7215-207-4}} <small>[http://vbcg.vbcg.me/scripts/cobiss?ukaz=DISP&id=0446469545391868&rec=8&sid=9 (COBISS-CG)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005181043/http://vbcg.vbcg.me/scripts/cobiss?ukaz=DISP&id=0446469545391868&rec=8&sid=9 |date=2018-10-05 }}</small>.
* {{cite journal |last=Kristophson |first = Jürgen |title=Vom Widersinn der Dialektologie: Gedanken zum Štokavischen |trans-title=Dialectological Nonsense: Thoughts on Shtokavian |language=de |journal=Zeitschrift für Balkanologie |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=178–186 |year=2000 |issn=0044-2356 }} {{ZDB|201058-6}}.
* Magner, Thomas F.: ''Zagreb Kajkavian dialect''. Pennsylvania State University, 1966.
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* Murray Despalatović, Elinor: ''Ljudevit Gaj and the Illyrian Movement''. Columbia University Press, 1975.
* Spalatin, C., 1966. Serbo-Croatian or Serbian and Croatian?: Considerations on the Croatian Declaration and Serbian Proposal of March 1967. Journal of Croatian Studies, 7, pp.&nbsp;3–13.
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* Vergunova, Ludmila: ''The geographic distribution of Proto-Slavic dialectisms and the genesis of the South Slavic languages.'' 1996. (UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LIBRARY)
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* Zekovic, Sreten & Cimeša, Boro: ''Elementa montenegrina'', Chrestomatia 1/90. CIP, Zagreb 1991.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{interWiki|code=sh}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Serbo-Croatian language}}
* ''[[Ethnologue]]''{{spaced ndash}}the 15th edition of ''Ethnologue'' (released 2005) shows changes in this area:
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20131005004814/http://archive.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=SRC Previous ''Ethnologue'' entry for Serbo-Croatian]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20131005010950/http://archive.ethnologue.com/15/show_family.asp?subid=90675 ''Ethnologue'' 15th Edition report on western South Slavic languages]
* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/serbo-croat.htm Serbian and Croatian alphabets] at Omniglot.
* [https://www.rferl.org/a/Serbian_Croatian_Bosnian_or_Montenegrin_Many_In_Balkans_Just_Call_It_Our_Language_/1497105.html "Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Or Montenegrin? Or Just 'Our Language'?"], [[Radio Free Europe]], February 21, 2009
* {{Citation |last1=Browne |first1=Wayles |author1-link=Wayles Browne |last2=Alt |first2=Theresa |year=2004 |url=http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/compgrammar_bcs.pdf |title=A Handbook of Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian |publisher=SEELRC}}

{{Serbo-Croatian language}}
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