Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian Language - Britannica

Home » What Language Does Bosnians Speak » Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian Language - Britannica

Maybe your like

Groupings, geography, and religion

Among the South Slavs, “Serb” and “Croat” are ancient tribal names. “Bosnia” and “Montenegro” are geographical names attested in the Middle Ages. Most South Slavic areas were under the Turkish Ottoman Empire from the 1400s to the 1800s. During that time the Serb community crystallized around the Serbian Orthodox Church, while Roman Catholic believers in the Turkish lands and adjoining Austro-Hungarian possessions came more and more to use the name “Croatian.” Montenegrins also mostly upheld Serbian Orthodoxy and used both the names Montenegrin and Serb. The Ottomans, themselves Muslim, divided and ruled the population according to religious communities, resulting in the strengthening of national identities. Many inhabitants of what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted Islam, while others adhered to Serbian Orthodoxy or Roman Catholicism and came to identify themselves as “Serb” or “Croat.”

In regard to dialects, the area has three main groups, named Kajkavian, Chakavian, and Shtokavian after the pronoun meaning “what” (kaj, ča, and što or šta, respectively), though the three dialects also differ in vowels, consonants, word forms, and vocabulary. Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are entirely Shtokavian. Croatia uses Chakavian along the seacoast, Kajkavian in the northwest around the capital Zagreb, and Shtokavian inland.

Buddhist engravings on wall in Thailand. Hands on wall. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, science and technology, geography and travel, explore discovery Britannica Quiz Languages & Alphabets

Tag » What Language Does Bosnians Speak