Bosnian Language
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Bosnian (; / , ) is the
standardized Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...
variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of the
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...
pluricentric language mainly used by ethnic
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
. Bosnian is one of three such varieties considered official languages of
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
, along with Croatian and Serbian. It is also an officially recognized minority language in
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
,
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
,
Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...
,
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
and
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
. Bosnian uses both the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and
Cyrillic alphabets Numerous Cyrillic alphabets are based on the Cyrillic script. The early Cyrillic alphabet was developed in the 9th century AD and replaced the earlier Glagolitic script developed by the Byzantine theologians Cyril and Methodius. It is the b ...
, with Latin in everyday use. It is notable among the
varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of Serbo-Croatian for a number of
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
,
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and Turkish loanwords, largely due to the language's interaction with those cultures through Islamic ties. Bosnian is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian,
Shtokavian Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. It ...
, more specifically on Eastern Herzegovinian, which is also the basis of standard Croatian, Serbian and Montenegrin varieties. Therefore, the
Declaration on the Common Language The Declaration on the Common Language ( sh, Deklaracija o zajedničkom jeziku / ) was issued in 2017 by a group of intellectuals and NGOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia who were working under the banner of a projec ...
of Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins was issued in 2017 in Sarajevo. Until the 1990s, the common language was called Serbo-Croatian and that term is still used in English, along with "Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian" (BCMS), especially in diplomatic circles.


Alphabet

Table over the modern Bosnian alphabet in both Latin and Cyrillic, as well as with the IPA value:


History


Standardization

Although Bosnians are, at the level of vernacular idiom, linguistically more homogeneous than either Serbians or Croatians, unlike those nations they failed to codify a standard language in the 19th century, with at least two factors being decisive: *The Bosnian elite, as closely intertwined with Ottoman life, wrote predominantly in foreign (Arabic, Persian, Turkish) languages.
Vernacular literature Vernacular literature is literature written in the vernacular—the speech of the "common people". In the European tradition, this effectively means literature not written in Latin nor Koine Greek. In this context, vernacular literature appeared ...
written in Bosnian with the
Arebica Arebica () is a variant of the Arabic script used to write the Serbo-Croatian language. It was used mainly between the 15th and 19th centuries and is frequently categorized as part of Aljamiado literature. Before World War I there were unsuccess ...
script was relatively thin and sparse. *The Bosnians' national emancipation lagged behind that of the Serbs and Croats and because denominational rather than cultural or linguistic issues played the pivotal role, a Bosnian language project did not arouse much interest or support amongst the intelligentsia of the time. The modern Bosnian standard took shape in the 1990s and 2000s. Lexically, Islamic-Oriental loanwords are more frequent; phonetically: the phoneme /x/ (letter ''h'') is reinstated in many words as a distinct feature of
vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
Bosniak speech and language tradition; also, there are some changes in grammar, morphology and orthography that reflect the Bosniak pre-
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
literary tradition, mainly that of the Bosniak renaissance at the beginning of the 20th century.


Gallery

File:Nauk krstjanski za narod slovinski - Divković (1611).jpg, ''Nauk krstjanski za narod slovinski'', by
Matija Divković Matija Divković (1563 – 21 August 1631) was a Bosnian Franciscan and writer. He is considered to be the founder of Bosnia and Herzegovina literature. Life Divković was born in Jelaške near Olovo in the then-Eyalet of Bosnia. He probably joi ...
, the first Bosnian printed book. Published in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
, 1611 File:Bosnian dictionary by Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi in 1631.jpg, Bosnian dictionary by
Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi ( tr, Mehmet Hevayi Uskufi, born c. 1600 in Dobrnja near Tuzla, died after 1651) was a Bosnian poet and writer who used the Arebica script. Uskufi is noted as the author of the first " Bosnian- Turkish" dictionary ...
, 1631 File:Free Will and Acts of Faith WDL2986.pdf, The ''Free Will and Acts of Faith'', manuscript from the early 19th century File:Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct WDL7479.pdf, The ''Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct'' by ' Abdulvehab Žepčevi, 1831 File:Bosnian Grammar for High Schools. Parts 1 and 2, Study of Voice and Form WDL7482.pdf, Bosnian Grammar, 1890


Controversy and recognition

The name "Bosnian language" is a controversial issue for some
Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...
and
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
, who also refer to it as the "Bosniak" language ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bošnjački, бошњачки, ). Bosniak linguists however insist that the only legitimate name is "Bosnian" language () and that that is the name that both Croats and Serbs should use. The controversy arises because the name "Bosnian" may seem to imply that it is the language of all Bosnians, while Bosnian Croats and
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
reject that designation for their idioms. The language is called ''Bosnian language'' in the 1995
Dayton Accords The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски миро ...
and is concluded by observers to have received legitimacy and international recognition at the time. The
International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...
(ISO),
United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...
(BGN) and the
Permanent Committee on Geographical Names The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN) is an independent inter-departmental body in the United Kingdom established in 1919. Its function is to establish standard names for places outside the UK, for the use of the British governme ...
(PCGN) recognize the Bosnian language. Furthermore, the status of the Bosnian language is also recognized by bodies such as the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
,
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and translation and interpreting accreditation agencies, including internet translation services. Most English-speaking language encyclopedias (
Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
,
Glottolog ''Glottolog'' is a bibliographic database of the world's lesser-known languages, developed and maintained first at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany (between 2015 and 2020 at the Max Planck Institute for ...
, Ethnologue, etc.) register the language solely as "Bosnian" language. The
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
registered the language as "Bosnian" and gave it an ISO-number. The Slavic language institutes in English-speaking countries offer courses in "Bosnian" or "Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian" language, not in "Bosniak" language (e.g. Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, Washington, Kansas). The same is the case in German-speaking countries, where the language is taught under the name , not (e.g. Vienna, Graz, Trier) with very few exceptions. Some Croatian linguists (
Zvonko Kovač Zvonko ( sr-Cyrl, Звонко) is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Zvonko Bego (born 1940), former Croatian footballer * Zvonko Bogdan (born 1942), Serbian performer of traditional folk songs of Serbia, Croatia, Hung ...
, Ivo Pranjković, Josip Silić) support the name "Bosnian" language, whereas others (
Radoslav Katičić Radoslav Katičić (; 3 July 1930 – 10 August 2019) was a Croatian linguist, classical philologist, Indo-Europeanist, Slavist and Indologist, one of the most prominent Croatian scholars in the humanities. Biography Radoslav Katičić was born ...
,
Dalibor Brozović Dalibor Brozović (; 28 July 1927 – 19 June 2009) was a Croatian linguist, Slavist, dialectologist and politician. He studied the history of standard languages in the Slavic region, especially Croatian. He was an active Esperantist since ...
,
Tomislav Ladan Tomislav Ladan (25 June 1932 – 12 September 2008) was a Croatian essayist, critic, translator and novelist. Ladan was born in Ivanjica, Serbia, and spent his formative years in his native Bosnia and Herzegovina (Travnik, Bugojno), where he g ...
) hold that the term ''Bosnian language'' is the only one appropriate and that accordingly the terms Bosnian language and Bosniak language refer to two different things. The Croatian state institutions, such as the Central Bureau of Statistics, use both terms: "Bosniak" language was used in the 2001 census,Central Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Croatia
Census of 2001, Population by native language
while the census in 2011 used the term "Bosnian" language. The majority of Serbian linguists hold that the term ''Bosniak language'' is the only one appropriate, which was agreed as early as 1990. The original form of
The Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists ...
called the language "Bosniac language", until 2002 when it was changed in Amendment XXIX of the Constitution of the Federation by
Wolfgang Petritsch Wolfgang Petritsch (born 26 August 1947) is an Austrian diplomat of Slovene ethnicity. Between 1999 and 2002 Petritsch served as the international High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Early life and studies Petritsch was born to a C ...
. The original text of the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was agreed in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
and was signed by
Krešimir Zubak Krešimir Zubak (; born 25 January 1947) is a Bosnian Croat politician. At the beginning of the Bosnian War in 1992, he joined the Croatian Democratic Union. After Mate Boban left the position of president of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bo ...
and
Haris Silajdžić Haris Silajdžić (; born 1 October 1945) is a Bosnian politician and academic who served as the 5th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 to 2010. He was the 3rd Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzeg ...
on March 18, 1994. The constitution of , the Serb-dominated entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, did not recognize any language or ethnic group other than Serbian. Bosniaks were mostly expelled from the territory controlled by the Serbs from 1992, but immediately after the war they demanded the restoration of their civil rights in those territories. The Bosnian Serbs refused to make reference to the Bosnian language in their constitution and as a result had constitutional amendments imposed by
High Representative The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held b ...
Wolfgang Petritsch Wolfgang Petritsch (born 26 August 1947) is an Austrian diplomat of Slovene ethnicity. Between 1999 and 2002 Petritsch served as the international High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Early life and studies Petritsch was born to a C ...
. However, the constitution of refers to it as the ''Language spoken by Bosniaks'', because the Serbs were required to recognise the language officially, but wished to avoid recognition of its name. Serbia includes the Bosnian language as an elective subject in primary schools.
Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...
officially recognizes the Bosnian language: its 2007 Constitution specifically states that although Montenegrin is the official language, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian are also in official use. See Art. 13 of the Constitution of the Republic of Montenegro, adopted on 19 October 2007, available at the website of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Montenegro


Historical usage of the term

*In the work ''Skazanie izjavljenno o pismeneh'' that was written between 1423 and 1426, the Bulgarian chronicler Constantine the Philosopher, in parallel with the Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovenian, Czech and Croatian, he also mentions the Bosnian language. *The notary book of the town of Kotor from July 3, 1436, recounts a duke buying a girl that is described as a: "Bosnian woman, heretic and in the Bosnian language called Djevena". *The work ''Thesaurus Polyglottus'', published in
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
in 1603 by the German historian and linguist
Hieronymus Megiser Hieronymus Megiser (c.1554 in Stuttgart – 1618 or 1619 in Linz, Austria) was a German polymath, linguist and historian. Career From 1571 he studied at the University of Tübingen, and was a favourite student of the humanist and philologist N ...
, mentions the Bosnian dialect alongside the Dalmatian, Croatian and Serbian one. *The Bosnian Franciscan
Matija Divković Matija Divković (1563 – 21 August 1631) was a Bosnian Franciscan and writer. He is considered to be the founder of Bosnia and Herzegovina literature. Life Divković was born in Jelaške near Olovo in the then-Eyalet of Bosnia. He probably joi ...
, regarded as the founder of the modern literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina, asserts in his work ''Nauk krstjanski za narod slovinski'' ("The Christian doctrine for the Slavic peoples") from 1611 his "translation from Latin to the real and true Bosnian language" (''A privideh iz dijačkog u pravi i istinit jezik bosanski'') *Bosniak poet and
Aljamiado ''Aljamiado'' (; ; ar, عَجَمِيَة trans. ''ʿajamiyah'' ) or ''Aljamía'' texts are manuscripts that use the Arabic script for transcribing European languages, especially Romance languages such as Mozarabic, Aragonese, Portuguese, Sp ...
writer
Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi ( tr, Mehmet Hevayi Uskufi, born c. 1600 in Dobrnja near Tuzla, died after 1651) was a Bosnian poet and writer who used the Arebica script. Uskufi is noted as the author of the first " Bosnian- Turkish" dictionary ...
who refers to the language of his 1632 dictionary'' Magbuli-arif'' as Bosnian. *One of the first grammarians, the Jesuit clergyman Bartolomeo Cassio calls the language used in his work from 1640 ''Ritual rimski'' ('Roman Rite') as ''naški'' ('our language') or ''bosanski'' ('Bosnian'). He used the term "Bosnian" even though he was born in a
Chakavian Chakavian or Čakavian (, , , sh-Latn, čakavski proper name: or own name: ''čokovski, čakavski, čekavski'') is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats along the Adriatic coast, in the historical regions of Dalmat ...
region: instead he decided to adopt a "common language" () based on a version of
Shtokavian Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. It ...
Ikavian Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. ...
.Vatroslav Jagić, ''Iz prošlost hrvatskog jezika''. Izabrani kraći spisi. Zagreb, 1948, 49. *The Italian linguist Giacomo Micaglia (1601–1654) who states in his dictionary ''Blagu jezika slovinskoga'' (''Thesaurus lingue Illyricae'') from 1649 that he wants to include "the most beautiful words" adding that "of all Illyrian languages the Bosnian is the most beautiful", and that all Illyrian writers should try to write in that language. *18th century Bosniak chronicler
Mula Mustafa Bašeskija Mula Mustafa Bašeskija ( – 18 August 1809) was an 18th-century Bosnian chronicler, diarist, poet, calligrapher and retired Janissary in the Ottoman Empire. He chronicled the history and events in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Herzegovina and in the Ottoma ...
who argues in his yearbook of collected Bosnian poems that the "Bosnian language" is much richer than the Arabic, because there are 45 words for the verb "to go" in Bosnian. *The Venetian writer, naturalist and cartographer
Alberto Fortis Alberto Fortis (1741–1803) was a Venetian writer, naturalist and cartographer. Life His real name was Giovanni Battista Fortis (his religious name was ''Alberto'') and he was born in Padua on either 9 or 11 of November 1741. He journeyed exten ...
(1741–1803) calls in his work ''
Viaggio in Dalmazia ''Viaggio in Dalmazia'' ("Journey to Dalmatia"), also known by its full title ''Viaggio in Dalmazia dell'abate Alberto Fortis'' ("Journey to Dalmatia by Abbot Alberto Fortis"), is a 1774 book by the Venetian writer Alberto Fortis published in th ...
'' ("Journey to Dalmatia") the language of
Morlachs Morlachs ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Morlaci, Морлаци or , ; it, Morlacchi; ro, Morlaci) has been an exonym used for a rural Christian community in Herzegovina, Lika and the Dalmatian Hinterland. The term was initially used for a bilingual Vlach p ...
as Illyrian, Morlach and Bosnian. *The Croatian writer and lexicographer
Matija Petar Katančić Matija Petar Katančić ( la, Mathias Petrus Katancsich; 1750–1825) was a Croatian writer, professor of aesthetics and archaeology, lexicographer, and numismatist. Biography As a bootmaker's son from Valpovo, he received his initial education ...
published six volumes of biblical translations in 1831 described as being "transferred from Slavo-Illyrian to the pronunciation of the Bosnian language". *Croatian writer
Matija Mažuranić Matija Mažuranić (1817–April 17, 1881) was a Croatian writer. He was a travelogue writer, and the brother of more noted Ivan, the writer of the well-known epic '' Smrt Smail-age Čengića''. He was born in Novi Vinodolski and attended a Ger ...
refers in the work ''Pogled u Bosnu'' (1842) to the language of Bosnians as Illyrian (a 19th-century synonym to South Slavic languages) mixed with Turkish words, with a further statement that they are the speakers of the Bosniak language. *The Bosnian Franciscan
Ivan Franjo Jukić Ivan Franjo Jukić (8 July 1818 – 20 May 1857) was a Bosnian writer and Franciscan friar from Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose life and cultural and political legacy have left an indelible mark on the cultural history of the country, where he is re ...
states in his work ''Zemljopis i Poviestnica Bosne'' (1851) that Bosnia was the only Turkish land (i.e. under the control of the Ottoman Empire) that remained entirely pure without Turkish speakers, both in the villages and so on the highlands. Further he states " ..a language other than the Bosnian is not spoken n Bosnia the greatest Turkish .e. Muslimgentlemen only speak Turkish when they are at the
Vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
". *
Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski (29 May 1816 – 1 August 1889) was a Croatian historian, politician and writer, most famous for the first speech delivered in Croatian before the Parliament. Considered a renowned patriot, Kukuljević was a proponent of ...
, a 19th-century Croatian writer and historian, stated in his work ''Putovanje po Bosni (Travels into Bosnia)'' from 1858, how the 'Turkish' (i.e. Muslim) Bosniaks, despite converting to the Muslim faith, preserved their traditions and the Slavic mood, and that they speak the purest variant of the Bosnian language, by refusing to add Turkish words to their vocabulary.


Differences between Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian

The differences between the Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian literary standards are minimal. Although Bosnian employs more Turkish, Persian, and Arabic loanwords—commonly called orientalisms— mainly in its spoken variety due to the reason that most of Bosnian speakers are Muslims, but it is still very similar to both Serbian and Croatian in its written and spoken form. "Lexical differences between the ethnic variants are extremely limited, even when compared with those between closely related Slavic languages (such as standard Czech and Slovak, Bulgarian and Macedonian), and grammatical differences are even less pronounced. More importantly, complete understanding between the ethnic variants of the standard language makes translation and second language teaching impossible." The Bosnian language, as a new normative register of the Shtokavian dialect, was officially introduced in 1996 with the publication of ' in Sarajevo. According to that work, Bosnian differed from Serbian and Croatian on some main linguistic characteristics, such as: sound formats in some words, especially "h" ( versus Serbian ); substantial and deliberate usage of Oriental ("Turkish") words; spelling of future tense () as in Croatian but not Serbian () (both forms have the same pronunciation). 2018, in the new issue of , words without "h" are accepted due to their prevalence in language practice.


Sample text

Article 1 of the ''
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...
'' in Bosnian, written in the
Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, ...
: :''Сва људска бића рађају се слободна и једнака у достојанству и правима. Она су обдарена разумом и свијешћу и треба да једно према другоме поступају у духу братства.'' Article 1 of the ''Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' in Bosnian, written in the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...
: :''Sva ljudska bića rađaju se slobodna i jednaka u dostojanstvu i pravima. Ona su obdarena razumom i sviješću i treba da jedno prema drugome postupaju u duhu bratstva.'' Article 1 of the ''Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' in English: :''All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.''


See also

*
Abstand and ausbau languages In sociolinguistics, an abstand language is a language variety or cluster of varieties with significant linguistic distance from all others, while an ausbau language is a standard variety, possibly with related dependent varieties. Heinz Kloss i ...
*
Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry ...
* Dialects of Serbo-Croatian *
Humac tablet The Humac tablet ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Хумачка плоча, Хумска плоча, separator=" / ", Humačka ploča, Humska ploča) is an Old Slavic epigraph in Bosnian Cyrillic script in the form of a stone tablet, believed to be variously da ...
* Hval's Codex * Language secessionism in Serbo-Croatian *
Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi ( tr, Mehmet Hevayi Uskufi, born c. 1600 in Dobrnja near Tuzla, died after 1651) was a Bosnian poet and writer who used the Arebica script. Uskufi is noted as the author of the first " Bosnian- Turkish" dictionary ...
*
Mutual intelligibility In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
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Oriental Institute in Sarajevo The Oriental Institute in Sarajevo ( bs, Orijentalni institut u Sarajevu / Оријентални институт у Сарајеву) is an academic institute in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was founded in 1950 by the Socialist Republic ...
* Pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language *
Declaration on the Common Language The Declaration on the Common Language ( sh, Deklaracija o zajedničkom jeziku / ) was issued in 2017 by a group of intellectuals and NGOs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia who were working under the banner of a projec ...
2017


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Sources and further reading

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External links


Basic Bosnian Phrases

Learn Bosnian – List of Online Bosnian Courses

English–Bosnian dictionary
on Glosbe * * {{Authority control Bosniak culture Languages of Albania Languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina Languages of Croatia Languages of Serbia Languages of Montenegro Languages of Kosovo Languages of Turkey Articles containing video clips Slavic languages written in Latin script