Editing Serbo-Croatian (section)

{{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|18.167506|2}} million
| date = 2011–2021
| 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]])
}}
| 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
| glottorefname = Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian
| 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
}}
{{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'''.}} ({{lang|sh-Latn|srpskohrvatski}} / {{lang|sh-Cyrl|српскохрватски}}),{{efn|Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: {{IPA|sh|sr̩pskoxř̩ʋaːtskiː|}}}} 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 }}</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}}: {{quote inline|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 [...]}}