Editing Serbo-Croatian (section)

== Sociolinguistic debate ==
[[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]]
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 international linguists and organizations ===
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 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}}

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>

=== Views of linguists in the former Yugoslavia ===

==== Croatian linguists ====
A common opinion of the 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}} {{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, [[Igor Mandić]] stated: "During the last ten years, it has been the longest, the most serious and most acrid discussion (…) 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}}

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

A more detailed overview, incorporating arguments from Croatian philology and contemporary linguistics, would be as follows:

: ''Serbo-Croatian is a language''
: One still finds many references to Serbo-Croatian, and proponents of Serbo-Croatian who deny that Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins speak different languages. The usual argument generally goes along the following lines:
:* Standard Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin 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, they use two alphabets that perfectly match each other ([[Gaj's Latin alphabet|Latin]] and [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]]), thanks to Ljudevit Gaj and Vuk Karadžić. Croats exclusively use Latin script and Serbs equally use both Cyrillic and Latin. Although Cyrillic is taught in Bosnia, most [[Bosnians]], especially non-[[Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Serbs]] ([[Bosniaks]] and [[Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Croats]]), favor Latin.
:*The list of 100 words of the basic Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin vocabulary, as set out by Morris Swadesh, shows that all 100 words are identical.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brozović |first = Dalibor |author-link=Dalibor Brozović |title=Europske integracije i hrvatski jezik |trans-title=European integration and the Croatian language |journal=Jezik |volume=49 |issue=4 |page=124 |year=2002 |language=sh |issn=0021-6925 }}</ref> According to Swadesh, 81 per cent are sufficient to be considered 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>
:* Typologically and structurally, these standard variants have virtually the same grammar, i.e. 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 standardised in the mid-19th century, and all subsequent attempts to dissolve its basic unity have not succeeded.
:* The affirmation of distinct [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]], [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]], and [[Montenegrin language|Montenegrin]] languages is ''politically'' motivated.
:* According to [[phonology]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] and [[syntax]], these standard variants are essentially one language because they are based on the same, [[Shtokavian dialect|Štokavian dialect]].{{Sfn | Blum | 2002 | p = 134}}

: ''Serbo-Croatian is not a language''
:* Similar arguments are made for other official standards which are drawn from identical or nearly identical material bases and which therefore constitute pluricentric languages, such as [[Malaysian language|Malaysian]] (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 [[Standard Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] (together called [[Hindustani language|Hindustani or Hindi-Urdu]]).<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, some argue that these arguments have flaws. Phonology, morphology, and syntax are not the only dimensions of a language: other fields (semantics, pragmatics, stylistics, [[lexicology]], etc.) also differ slightly. However, it is the case with other pluricentric languages.{{Sfn | Ammon | 1995 | pp = 154–174}} A comparison is made to the closely related [[North Germanic languages]] (or dialects, if one prefers), though these are not fully mutually intelligible<ref>{{cite book|last=Kordić|first=Snježana|author-link=Snježana Kordić|editor-last1=Nomachi|editor-first1=Motoki|editor-link1=Motoki Nomachi|editor-last2=Kamusella|editor-first2=Tomasz|editor-link2=Tomasz Kamusella|title=Languages and Nationalism Instead of Empires|publisher=[[Routledge]]|series=Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe|pages=167{{hyphen}}179|chapter=Ideology Against Language: The Current Situation in South Slavic Countries|chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372202077|chapter-format=PDF|location=London|year=2024|doi=10.4324/9781003034025-11|doi-access=|isbn=978-0-367-47191-0|lccn=|oclc=1390118985|s2cid=259576119|s2cid-access=|ssrn=4680766|ssrn-access=free|id={{COBISS.SR|125229577}}. {{COBISS|171014403}}|archive-url=https://archive.org/details/kordic-ideology-against-language |archive-date=10 January 2024|access-date=23 January 2024|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.|quote-page=168–169|url-status=live}}</ref> as the Serbo-Croatian standards are. A closer comparison may be [[General American]] and [[Received Pronunciation]] in English, which are closer to each other than the latter is to other dialects which are subsumed under "[[British English]]".
:* That the standardization of the Croatian language was a long process spanning several centuries, and that it was mostly based, aside Chakavian and Kajkavian influences, on the [[Dubrovnik subdialect]] which as a specific western idiom of the [[Eastern Herzegovinian]]  dialect has linguistic origin in Western Shtokavian and is significantly different to the general Eastern Herzegovinian itself, and on Western Shtokavian (alike Serbian which is based only on Eastern Shtokavian which includes Eastern Herzegovinian).<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]]|volume=46|issue=2|pages=41–56|language=hr}}</ref><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><ref name="Brozovic2007">{{cite book|last=Brozović|first=Dalibor|author-link=Dalibor Brozović|year=2007|chapter=Hrvatski jezik, njegovo mjesto unutar južnoslavenskih i drugih slavenskih jezika, njegove povijesne mijene kao jezika hrvatske književnosti|title=Neka bitna pitanja hrvatskoga jezičnog standarda|language=hr|publisher=[[Školska knjiga]]|pages=155–278|isbn=978-953-0-50840-8}}</ref> Since the Croatian as recorded in old [[Croatian literature]] from [[Dubrovnik]] which would gain a prestige status (e.g. [[Marin Držić|Držić]] and [[Ivan Gundulić|Gundulić]]'s works in the 16th and 17th centuries) is virtually the same as the contemporary standard Croatian (understandable archaisms apart), it is evident that the 19th-century formal standardization was just the final touch in the process that, as far as Croatian is concerned, had lasted more than three centuries.<ref name="Brozovic2007"/>

==== 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>

=== Political connotations ===
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>).{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} 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"/> 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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} 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>

=== ISO classification ===
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>