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Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the
prestige dialect Prestige refers to a good reputation or high esteem; in earlier usage, ''prestige'' meant "showiness". (19th c.) Prestige may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films * ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett ...
of the
pluricentric A pluricentric language or polycentric language is a language with several interacting codified standard language, standard forms, often corresponding to different countries. Many examples of such languages can be found worldwide among the most-spo ...
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 ...
language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. It is a part of the South Slavic dialect continuum. Its name comes from the form for the interrogatory pronoun for "what" in Western Shtokavian, (it is in Eastern Shtokavian). This is in contrast to
Kajkavian Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and nort ...
and
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 ...
( and also meaning "what"). Shtokavian is spoken in
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 ...
,
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 ...
, much of
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 ...
, as well as the southern part of
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
's
Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...
. The primary subdivisions of Shtokavian are based on two principles: one is whether the subdialect is Old-Shtokavian or Neo-Shtokavian, and different accents according to the way the old Slavic phoneme ''
jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...
'' has changed. Modern dialectology generally recognises seven Shtokavian subdialects.


Early history of Shtokavian

The Proto-Shtokavian idiom appeared in the 12th century. In the following century or two, Shtokavian was divided into two zones: western, which covered the major part 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 ...
and
Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
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 ...
, and eastern, dominant in
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 ...
, easternmost
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 ...
and greater parts of
Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...
. Western Shtokavian was principally characterized by a three-accent system, whereas eastern Shtokavian was marked by a two-accent system. According to research of historical linguistics, Old-Shtokavian was well established by the mid-15th century. In this period it was still mixed with Church Slavonic to varying degrees. According to
Ivo Banac Ivo Banac (; 1 March 1947 – 30 June 2020) was a Croatian-American historian, a professor of European history at Yale University and a politician of the former Liberal Party in Croatia, known as the Great Bard of Croatian historiography. , Banac ...
in the area of today's
Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina (west of Brčko, Vlasenica and Neretva line) and on the littoral between
Bay of Kotor The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin and Serbian: , Italian: ), also known as the Boka, is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the hi ...
and
Cetina Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Naprijed ...
medieval Croats spoke old West Shtokavian dialect for which some believe that occurs from the
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 ...
while medieval Serbs spoke two dialects, old East Shtokavian and
Torlak Torlakian, or Torlak is a group of South Slavic dialects of southeastern Serbia, Kosovo, northeastern North Macedonia, and northwestern Bulgaria. Torlakian, together with Bulgarian and Macedonian, falls into the Balkan Slavic linguistic ar ...
. As can be seen from the image on the right, originally the Shtokavian dialect covered a significantly smaller area than it covers today, meaning that the Shtokavian speech has spread for the last five centuries, overwhelmingly at the expense of Chakavian and Kajkavian idioms. Modern areal distribution of these three dialects as well as their internal stratification (Shtokavian and Chakavian in particular) is primarily a result of the migrations resulting from the spread of
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
. Migratory waves were particularly strong in the 16th–18th century, bringing about large-scale linguistic and ethnic changes on the Central South Slavic area. (See:
Great Serb Migrations The Great Migrations of the Serbs ( sr, Велике сеобе Срба), also known as the Great Exoduses of the Serbs, refers mainly to two Human migrations, large migrations of Serbs from various territories under the rule of the Ottoman Em ...
). By far the most numerous, mobile and expansionist migrations were those of Ijekavian-Shtokavian speakers of eastern
Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...
, who have spread into most of Western Serbia, many areas of eastern and western
Bosnia 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 He ...
, large swathes of Croatia ( Banovina,
Kordun The Kordun () region is a part of central Croatia from the bottom of the Petrova Gora (Peter's mountain) mountain range, which extends along the rivers Korana and Slunjčica, and forms part of the border region to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within ...
, Lika, parts of Gorski kotar, continental parts of northern
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
, some places north of
Kupa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and t ...
, parts of
Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
, southeastern
Baranya Baranya or Baranja may refer to: * Baranya (region) or Baranja, a region in Hungary and Croatia * Baranya County, a county in modern Hungary * Baranya County (former), a county in the historic Kingdom of Hungary * Baranya, Hungarian name of villag ...
etc.). This is the reason Eastern Herzegovinian is the most spoken Serbo-Croatian dialect today, and why it bears the name that is only descriptive of its area of origin. These migrations also played the pivotal role in the spread of Neo-Shtokavian innovations. Shtokavian dialect spoken by Croats has more dialects, there are innovative new Shtokavian dialect ikavian as it is spoken in west Herzegovina, area of Dalmatian Zagora, Lika, parts of
Velebit Velebit (; it, Alpi Bebie) is the largest, though not the highest, mountain range in Croatia. The range forms a part of the Dinaric Alps and is located along the Adriatic coast, separating it from Lika in the interior. Velebit begins in the nor ...
area and in some places of Gorski kotar,
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
,
Bačka Bačka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska () is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hunga ...
and in neighboring Hungarian areas. New Shtokavian is spoken by Croats in eastern Herzegovina and more recently in the Dubrovnik area and in many places in the former
Military Frontier The Military Frontier (german: Militärgrenze, sh-Latn, Vojna krajina/Vojna granica, Војна крајина/Војна граница; hu, Katonai határőrvidék; ro, Graniță militară) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and l ...
.


Earliest texts of Shtokavian dialect

Proto-Shtokavian, or Church Slavic with ingredients of nascent Shtokavian, were recorded in legal documents like the
charter of Ban Kulin The Charter of Ban Kulin ( Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian: Povelja Kulina bana / Повеља Кулина бана) was a trade agreement between the Banate of Bosnia and the Republic of Ragusa that effectively regulated Ragusan trade rights in Bosnia, ...
, regulating the commerce between
Bosnia 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 He ...
and Dubrovnik in Croatia, dated 1189, and in liturgical texts like Gršković's and Mihanović's fragments, ca. 1150, in southern Bosnia or Herzegovina. Experts' opinions are divided with regard to the extent these texts, especially the Kulin ban parchment, contain contemporary Shtokavian vernacular. Mainly Shtokavian, with ingredients of Church Slavic, are numerous legal and commercial documents from pre-Ottoman
Bosnia 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 He ...
,
Hum Hum may refer to: Science * Hum (sound), a sound produced with closed lips, or by insects, or other periodic motion * Mains hum, an electric or electromagnetic phenomenon * The Hum, an acoustic phenomenon * Venous hum, a physiological sensation ...
,
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 ...
,
Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...
, and southern
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
, especially
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
. The first comprehensive vernacular Shtokavian text is the
Vatican Croatian Prayer Book The Vatican Croatian Prayer Book ( hr, Vatikanski hrvatski molitvenik) is the oldest Croatian vernacular prayer book and the finest example of early Shtokavian vernacular literary idiom. Written between 1380 and 1400 in Dubrovnik as a transcript ...
, written in
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
a decade or two before 1400. In the next two centuries Shtokavian vernacular texts had been written mainly in Dubrovnik, other Adriatic cities and islands influenced by Dubrovnik, as well as in Bosnia, by Bosnian Franciscans and Bosniak Muslim vernacular '' alhamiado'' literature – the first example being "Chirwat turkisi" or "Croatian song", dated 1589.


Relationship towards neighboring dialects

Shtokavian is characterized by a number of characteristic historical
sound change A sound change, in historical linguistics, is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chang ...
s, accentual changes, changes in
inflection In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defin ...
,
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...
and
syntax In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
. Some of these isoglosses are not exclusive and have also been shared by neighboring dialects, and some of them have mostly but not completely spread over the whole Shtokavian area. The differences between Shtokavian and the unrelated, neighboring
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
Macedonian dialects are clear-cut, whereas the differences with the related Serbo-Croatian dialects of Chakavian and Kajkavian are much more fluid, and the mutual influence of various subdialects plays a more prominent role. The main bundle of isoglosses separates Slovenian and Kajkavian on the one hand from Shtokavian and Chakavian on the other. These are: # long falling accent of newer origin (neocircumflex) # development of the consonant group ''rj'' (as opposed to consonant ''/r/'') from former soft ''/r'/'' before a vowel (e.g., , ) # reflexes of ''/o/'' or ''/ọ/'' of the old
Common Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...
nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the soft palate (or velum) so that the air flow escapes through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, as in the French vowel or Amoy []. By contrast, oral vowels are produced wit ...
''/ǫ/'', and not ''/u/'' # inflectional morpheme ''-o'' (as opposed to ''-ojo'') in the instrumental singular of a-declension Other characteristics distinguishing Kajkavian from Shtokavian, beside the demonstrative/interrogatory pronoun ''kaj'' (as opposed to ''što/šta'' used in Shtokavian), are:Cited after # a reflex of old
semivowels In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are the c ...
of ''/ẹ/'' (e.g. ''dẹn'' < Common Slavic *dьnь, ''pẹs'' < Common Slavic *pьsъ); closed ''/ẹ/'' appearing also as a ''
jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...
'' reflex # retention of word-final ''-l'' (e.g. , as opposed to Shtokavian ''došao'') # word-initial ''u-'' becoming ''v-'' (e.g. , , ) # dephonemicization of
affricate An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pair. ...
s /č/ and /ć/ to some form of middle value # genitive plural of masculine nouns has the morpheme ''-of'' / ''-ef'' # syncretized dative, locative and instrumental plural has the ending ''-ami'' # the ending ''-me'' in the first-person plural present (e.g. ''vidime'') # affix ''š'' in the formation of adjectival
comparative In general linguistics, the comparative is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two (or more) entities or groups of entities in quality or degree - see also comparison (grammar) for an overview of comparison, as wel ...
s (e.g. ''debleši'', ''slabeši'') #
supine In grammar, a supine is a form of verbal noun used in some languages. The term is most often used for Latin, where it is one of the four principal parts of a verb. The word refers to a position of lying on one's back (as opposed to 'prone', lyi ...
# future tense formation in the form of ''bom/bum došel, došla, došlo'' Characteristics distinguishing Chakavian from Shtokavian, beside the demonstrative/interrogatory pronoun ''ča'', are: # preservation of polytonic three-accent system # vocalization of weak jers in word-initial syllables (e.g. ''malin/melin'' < Common Slavic *mъlinъ; cf. Shtokavian ''mlin'') # vowel ''/a/'' as opposed to ''/e/'' after
palatal consonants Palatals are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex. Characteristic ...
''/j/'', ''/č/'', ''/ž/'' (e.g. Čk. ''jazik/zajik'' : Št. ''
jezik ''Jezik'' (lit. "Language") is a Croatian language literary magazine published in Croatia by the Croatian Philological Society since 1952. Its editors-in-chief have included Ljudevit Jonke and Stjepan Babić. The magazine is known for its an ...
'', Čk. ''počati'' : Št. '' početi'', Čk. ''žaja'' : Št. '' želja'') # the appearance of extremely palatal ''/t'/'' or ''/ć'/'' (< earlier ''/t'/'') and ''/j/'' (< earlier ''/d'/'') either in free positions or in groups ''št''', ''žd''' # depalatalization of ''/n'/'' and ''/l'/'' # ''/ž/'' instead of ''/dʒ/'' (c.f. Čk. ''žep'' : Št. ''
džep Džep ( sr, Џеп) is a village in Serbia located in the municipality of Vladičin Han Vladičin Han ( sr-cyrl, Владичин Хан, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. As of 2011, the population ...
'') # ''/č/'' > ''/š/'' before consonants (c.f. Čk. ''maška'' : Št. '' mačka'') # word-initial consonant groups ''čr-'', ''čri-'', ''čre-'' (c.f. Čk. ''črivo/črevo'' : Št. '' cr(ij)evo'', Čk. ''črn'' : Št. '' crn'') #
conditional mood The conditional mood (abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood used in conditional sentences to express a proposition whose validity is dependent on some condition, possibly counterfactual. It may refer to a distinct verb form that expresses the condit ...
with ''biš'' in the second-person singular # non- syncretized dative, locative and instrumental plural


General characteristics

General characteristics of Shtokavian are the following: # '' što'' or '' šta'' as the demonstrative/interrogative pronoun # differentiation between two short (in addition to two or three long) accents, rising and falling, though not in all Shtokavian speakers # preservation of unaccented length, but not consistently across all speeches # ''/u/'' as the reflex of Common Slavic back nasal vowel ''/ǫ/'' as well as the syllabic ''/l/'' (with the exception of central Bosnia where a diphthongal ''/uo/'' is also recorded as a reflex) # initial group of ''v-'' + weak semivowel yields ''u-'' (e.g. '' unuk'' < Common Slavic *vъnukъ) #
schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...
resulting from the ''jer'' merger yields ''/a/'', with the exception of the Zeta-Raška dialect # metathesis of ''vьse'' to ''sve'' # ''čr-'' > ''cr-'', with the exception of Slavonian, Molise and Vlachia (Gradišće) dialect # word-final ''-l'' changes to ''/o/'' or ''/a/''; the exception is verbal adjective in the Slavonian southwest # ''d''' > /dʑ/ () with numerous exceptions # ''cr'' > ''tr'' in the word '' trešnja'' "cherry"; some exceptions in Slavonia, Hungary and Romania # /ć/ and /đ/ from ''jt'', ''jd'' (e.g. '' poći'', ''pođem''); exceptions in Slavonian and Eastern Bosnian dialect # so-called "new iotation" of dentals and labials, with many exceptions, especially in Slavonia and Bosnia # general loss of phoneme ''/x/'', with many exceptions # ending ''-ā'' in genitive plural of masculine and feminine nouns, with many exceptions # ending ''-u'' in locative singular of masculine and neuter nouns (e.g. , ) # augment ''-ov-'' / ''-ev-'' in the plural of most monosyllabic masculine nouns, with many exceptions (e.g. in the area between Neretva and Dubrovnik) #
syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in t ...
of dative, locative and instrumental plural of nouns, with many exceptions # preservation of ending in genitive and accusative singular of masculine and neuter gender if pronominal-adjectival declension (e.g., ), with exceptions on the area of Dubrovnik and Livno # special form with the ending ''-a'' for the neuter gender in nominative plural of pronominal-adjectival declension (e.g. and no ) # preservation of
aorist Aorist (; abbreviated ) verb forms usually express perfective aspect and refer to past events, similar to a preterite. Ancient Greek grammar had the aorist form, and the grammars of other Indo-European languages and languages influenced by the I ...
, which is however missing in some areas (e.g., around Dubrovnik) # special constructs reflecting old dual for numerals 2–4 (''dva, tri, četiri stola'') # many so-called "Turkisms" (''turcizmi'') or "Orientalisms", i.e. words borrowed from
Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...
As can be seen from the list, many of this isoglosses are missing from particular Shtokavian idioms, just as many of them are shared with neighboring non-Shtokavian dialects.


Accentuation

The Shtokavian dialect is divided into Old-Shtokavian and Neo-Shtokavian subdialects. The primary distinction is the accentuation system: although there are variations, "old" dialects preserve the older accent system, which consists of two types of falling (
dynamic Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics) ** Aerodynamics, the study of the motion of air ** Analytical dynam ...
) accents, one long and one short, and unstressed syllables, which can be long and short. Both long and short unstressed syllables could precede the stressed syllables. Stress placement is free and mobile in paradigms. In the process known as "Neo-Shtokavian metatony" or "retraction", length of the old syllables was preserved, but their quality changed. Stress (intensity) on the inner syllables moved to the preceding syllable, but they kept the high pitch. That process produced the "rising" accents characteristic for Neo-Shtokavian, and yielded the modern four-tone system. Stress on the initial syllables remained the same in quality and pitch. Most speakers of Shtokavian, native or taught, from Serbia and Croatia do not distinguish between short rising and short falling tones. They also pronounce most unstressed long vowels as short, with some exceptions, such as genitive plural endings. The following notation is used for Shtokavian accents: The following table shows the examples of Neo-Shtokavian retraction: As result of this process, the following set of rules emerged, which are still in effect in all standard variants of Serbo-Croatian: * Falling accents may only occur word-initially (otherwise it would have been retracted). * Rising accents may occur anywhere except word-finally. ** thus, monosyllabic words may only have falling accent. * Unstressed length may only appear after a stressed syllable. In practice, influx of foreign words and formation of compound words have loosened these rules, especially in spoken idioms (e.g. ''paradȁjz'', ''asistȅnt'', ''poljoprȉvreda''), but they are maintained in standard language and dictionaries.


Classification


Old-Shtokavian dialects


Timok–Prizren (Torlakian)

The transitional dialects stretch southwest from the
Timok Valley The Timok Valley ( sr, Тимочка Крајина, Timočka Krajina; bg, Тимошко, Timoshko; ro, Valea Timocului) is a geographical region in east-central Serbia around the Timok River. The Timok Valley corresponds to parts of two Serbi ...
near the
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n border to
Prizren ) , settlement_type = Municipality and city , image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg , imagesize = 290px , image_caption = View of Prizren , image_alt = View of Prizren , image_flag ...
. There is disagreement among linguists whether these dialects belong to the Shtokavian area, because there are many other morphological characteristics apart from rendering of ''što'' (also, some dialects use ''kakvo'' or ''kvo'', typical for Bulgarian), which would place them into a "transitional" group between Shtokavian and Eastern South Slavic languages (
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
and Macedonian). The Timok-Prizren group falls to the Balkan language area: declension has all but disappeared, the
infinitive Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
has yielded to subjunctives ''da''-constructions, and adjectives are compared exclusively with prefixes. The accent in the dialect group is a stress accent, and it falls on any syllable in the word. The old semi-vowel has been retained throughout. The vocalic ''l'' has been retained (''vlk'' = ''vuk''), and some dialects don't distinguish ''ć/č'' and ''đ/dž'' by preferring the latter, postalveolar variants. Some subdialects preserve ''l'' at the end of words (where otherwise it has developed into a short o) – ''došl'', ''znal'', etc. (cf.
Kajkavian Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and nort ...
and
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
); in others, this ''l'' has become the syllable ''ja''. Torlakian is spoken in
Metohija Metohija ( sr-Cyrl, Метохија, ) or Dukagjin ( sq, Rrafshi i Dukagjinit, ) is a large basin and the name of the region covering the southwestern part of Kosovo. The region covers 35% (3,891 km2) of Kosovo's total area. According ...
, around
Prizren ) , settlement_type = Municipality and city , image_skyline = Prizren Collage.jpg , imagesize = 290px , image_caption = View of Prizren , image_alt = View of Prizren , image_flag ...
,
Gnjilane Gjilan, or Gnjilane ( sr-cyr, Гњилане) is the eighth largest city in Kosovo and seat of Gjilan Municipality and Gjilan District. Name Ottoman chronicler Evliya Çelebi mentions ''Morava'' as a settlement of the Sanjak of Vučitrn. ...
and
Štrpce Štrpce (Serbian Cyrillic: Штрпце) or Shtërpca ( sq-definite, Shtërpcë), is a town and municipality located in the Ferizaj District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 13,630 inhabitants. After the 2013 Brussels Ag ...
especially, in Southern Serbia around Bujanovac,
Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. The municipality of Vranje has a population of 83,524 and its urban area has 60,485 inhabitants. Vranje is the economical, polit ...
,
Leskovac Leskovac (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Лесковац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Jablanica District in Southern Serbia (Geographical Region), southern Serbia. According to the 202 ...
,
Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
,
Aleksinac Aleksinac ( sr-Cyrl, Алексинац) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a population of 17,978 inhabitants, while the municipality has 51,863 inhabitants. His ...
, in the part of
Toplica Valley Toplica may refer to: People * Milan Toplica (died 1389), Serbian knight * Toplica Spasojević (born 1956), Serbian football official Places ;Bosnia and Herzegovina * Toplica (Kiseljak), a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Toplica (Srebren ...
around
Prokuplje Prokuplje ( sr-cyrl, Прокупље, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Toplica District in southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the city urban area has a population of 27,333 inhabitants, while the administrative area has 4 ...
, in Eastern Serbia around
Pirot Pirot ( sr-cyr, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 38,785, while the population of the city administrative area ...
, Svrljig,
Soko Banja Sokobanja ( sr-cyr, Сокобања, ) is a spa town and municipality located in the Zaječar District of the eastern Serbia. As of 2011, the population of the town is 7,982, while population of the municipality is 16,021. Geography Sokobanja ...
,
Boljevac Boljevac ( sr-cyr, Бољевац, ; ro, Bulioț) is a town and municipality located in the Zaječar District of eastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the population of the town is 3,332, while population of the municipality is 12,865. Hist ...
,
Knjaževac Knjaževac ( sr-cyr, Књажевац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zaječar District of the eastern Serbia. As of 2011, the municipality has a population of 31,491 inhabitants, while the town has 18,404 inhabitants. The town is si ...
ending up with the area around
Zaječar Zaječar ( sr-Cyrl, Зајечар, ; ro, Zaicear or ) is a city and the administrative center of the Zaječar District in eastern Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the city administrative area has a population of 59,461 inhabitants. Zaječar ...
, where the Kosovo-Resava dialect becomes more dominant. It has been recorded several exclaves with Torlakian speeches inside Kosovo-Resava dialect area. One is the most prominent and preserved, like village Dublje near Svilajnac, where the majority of settlers came from Torlakian speaking village Veliki Izvor near Zajecar. Few centuries ago, before settlers from Kosovo and Metohija brought Kosovo-Resava speeches to Eastern Serbia (to Bor and Negotin area), Torlakian speech had been overwhelmingly represented in this region.


Slavonian

Also called the ''Archaic Šćakavian'', it is spoken by
Croat 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, Ge ...
s who live in some parts of
Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
,
Bačka Bačka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska () is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hunga ...
, Baranja,
Syrmia Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the exce ...
, in Croatia and Vojvodina, as well as in northern Bosnia. It is divided into two subdialects: southern (Posavian / ''posavski'') and northern (Podravian / ''podravski''). The Slavonian dialect has mixed Ikavian and Ekavian pronunciations. Ikavian accent is predominant in the Posavina, Baranja, Bačka, and in the Slavonian subdialect enclave of
Derventa Derventa ( sr-cyrl, Дервента) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the Posavina region, northwest of the city of Doboj. As of 2013, the town has a total of 11,631 inhabitants, whil ...
, whereas Ekavian accent is predominant in
Podravina ''Podravina'' (in Croatian) or ''Podravje'' (in Slovenian) are Slavic names for the Drava river basin in Croatia and Slovenia. History Between 1929 and 1941 a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia known as the '' Drava Banovina'' (Drava province ...
. There are enclaves of one accent in the territory of the other, as well as mixed Ekavian–Ikavian and Jekavian–Ikavian areas. In some villages in Hungary, the original ''yat'' is preserved. Local variants can widely differ in the degree of Neo-Shtokavian influences. In two villages in
Posavina Posavina ( sr-cyr, Посавина) is a geographical region that stretches along the Sava river, encompassing only the inner areas of the Sava river basin, that are adjacent or near to the Sava river itself, namely catch region spanning from t ...
, Siče and Magića Male, the ''l'', as in the verb ''nosil'', has been retained in place of the modern ''nosio''. In some villages in the Podravina, ''čr'' is preserved instead of the usual ''cr'', for example in ''črn'' instead of ''crn''. Both forms are usual in Kajkavian but very rare in Shtokavian.


East Bosnian

Also called ''Jekavian-Šćakavian'', it is a base for the
Bosnian language Bosnian (; / , ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by ethnic Bosniaks. Bosnian is one of three such varieties considered official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with Croatian and ...
. It has Jekavian pronunciations in the vast majority of local forms and it is spoken by the majority of Bosniaks living in that area, which includes the bigger Bosnian cities
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
,
Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, ed ...
, and
Zenica Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. Th ...
, and by most of Croats and Serbs that live in that area (
Vareš Vareš ( cyrl, Вареш) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is famous for the local m ...
, Usora, etc.). Together with basic Jekavian pronunciation, mixed pronunciations exist in
Tešanj Tešanj ( sr-cyrl, Тешањ) is a town and municipality located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 43,063 inhabitants, while the town ...
and
Maglaj Maglaj ( sr-cyrl, Маглај) is a town and municipality located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, south of Doboj. It ...
''dete–djeteta'' (Ekavian–Jekavian) and around
Žepče Žepče ( sr-cyrl, Жепче) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, between Doboj and Zenica. ...
and Jablanica ''djete–diteta'' (Jekavian–ikavian). In the central area of the subdialect, the
diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
''uo'' exists in some words instead of the archaic ''l'' and more common ''u'' like ''vuok'' or , instead of the standard modern ''vuk'' and ''stup''.


Zeta–Raška

Also known as ''Đekavian-Ijekavian'', it is spoken in eastern Montenegro, in
Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...
and
Cetinje Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital (''prijestonica'' / приjестоница) of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro ...
, around the city of
Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар, lit. "New Bazaar"; ) is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2011 census, the urban area has 66,527 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 100,410 inhabita ...
in eastern Raška in Serbia, and by descendants of Montenegrin settlers in the single village of
Peroj Peroj ( cnr, Перој) is a village in the Town of Vodnjan on the south-western coast of Istria, Croatia. Peroj originally dates back to the Copper Age of prehistory, as testified by a necropolis within the old walls of the town. The town has be ...
in
Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...
. The majority of its speakers are Serbs and Montenegrins and
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
from Serbia and Montenegro. Together with the dominant Jekavian pronunciation, mixed pronunciations like ''djete–deteta'' (Jekavian–Ekavian) around Novi Pazar and
Bijelo Polje Bijelo Polje ( cnr, Бијело Поље, ) is a town in northeastern Montenegro on the Lim (river), Lim River. It has an urban population of 15,400 (2011 census). It is the administrative, economic, cultural and educational centre of northern M ...
, ''dite–đeteta'' (Ikavian–Jekavian) around Podgorica and ''dete–đeteta'' (Ekavian–Jekavian) in the village of Mrkojevići in southern Montenegro. Mrkojevići are also characterised by retention of ''čr'' instead of ''cr'' as in the previously mentioned villages in Podravina. Some vernaculars have a very open /ɛ/ or /æ/ as their reflex of ь/ъ, very rare in other Shtokavian vernaculars (''sæn'' and ''dæn'' instead of ''san'' and ''dan''). Other phonetic features include sounds like in ''iʑesti'' instead of ''izjesti'', as in ''ɕekira'' instead of ''sjekira''. However these sounds are known also to many in East Herzegovina like those in
Konavle Konavle () is a municipality and a small region located southeast of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is administratively part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and the center of the municipality is Cavtat. Demographics The total municipality population wa ...
, and are not Zeta–Raška specific . There is a loss of the /v/ sound apparent, seen in ''čo'ek'' or ''đa'ola''. The loss of distinction between /ʎ/ and /l/ in some vernaculars is based on a
substratum In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...
. The word is a hypercorrection (instead of ) because many vernaculars have changed lj to j. All verbs in infinitive finish with "t" (example: 'sing'). This feature is also present in most vernaculars of East Herzegovinian, and actually almost all Serbian and Croatian vernaculars. The group ''a + o'' gave ''ā'' /aː/ (''kā'' instead of ''kao'', ''rekā'' for ''rekao''), like in other seaside vernaculars. Elsewhere, more common is ''ao'' > ''ō''.


Kosovo–Resava

Also called ''Older Ekavian'', is spoken by Serbs, mostly in western and northeastern Kosovo ( Kosovo Valley with
Kosovska Mitrovica Mitrovica ( sq-definite, Mitrovicë; sr-cyrl, Митровица) or Kosovska Mitrovica ( sr-cyrl, Косовска Митровица) is a city and municipality located in Kosovo. Settled on the banks of Ibar and Sitnica rivers, the city is ...
and also around
Peć Peja (Definiteness, Indefinite Albanian language, Albanian Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest List of cities and towns in Kosovo, city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipali ...
), in Ibar Valley with
Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...
, around
Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, t ...
, Trstenik and in Župa, in the part of Toplica Valley (
Kuršumlija Kuršumlija ( sr-Cyrl, Куршумлија, ) is a town and municipality located in the Toplica District of the southern Serbia. It is situated near the rivers Toplica, Kosanica and Banjska, southeast of Mount Kopaonik and northwest of Moun ...
) in the
Morava Valley The Morava Valley ( sr, Поморавље / ''Pomoravlje'', ), is a general term which in its widest sense marks valleys of any of three Morava rivers in Serbia: the West Morava (West Morava Valley), the South Morava ( South Morava Valley) and ...
(
Jagodina ) , image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png , image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png , map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...
,
Ćuprija Ćuprija (Serbian Cyrillic: Ћуприја, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 19,380, while the municipality has 30,645 inhabitants. History The Romans founded the ...
,
Paraćin Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is located in the valley of the Velika Morava river, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac. In 2011 the town had a p ...
,
Lapovo Lapovo ( sr-cyrl, Лапово) is a town and municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 7,837 according to the 2011 census. History The first mention of ''Lapovo'' dates from the 12th century ...
), in Resava Valley (
Svilajnac Svilajnac ( sr-cyr, Свилајнац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 9,131 inhabitants, while the municipality has 23,391 inhabitants. It is located south-east o ...
,
Despotovac Despotovac ( sr-cyr, Деспотовац) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. It is 130 kilometers southeast of Belgrade. Its name stems from Despot, a title of Serbian medieval prince Stefan Lazarevi ...
) and northeastern Serbia (
Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...
,
Požarevac Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čačalica (208m). As of 2011, ...
, Bor,
Majdanpek Majdanpek ( sr-cyr, Мајданпек; ro, Maidan) is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of the Southern and Eastern Serbia, eastern Serbia, and is not far from the border of Romania. According to 2011 census, the municipality ...
,
Negotin Negotin ( sr-cyrl, Неготин, ; ro, Negotin) is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of the eastern Serbia. It is situated near the borders between Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. It is the judicial center of the Bor District. ...
,
Velika Plana Velika Plana ( sr-Cyrl, Велика Плана, pronounced ) is a town and municipality located in the Podunavlje District of Serbia. As of 2011, the town has 16,088 inhabitants, while the municipality has 40,902. Velika Plana lies on the left b ...
) with one part of
Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...
(around
Kovin Kovin (, hu, Kevevára) is a town and municipality located in the South Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 13,515, while the municipality has 33,722 inhabitants. In Romanian, the tow ...
,
Bela Crkva Bela Crkva ( sr-cyrl, Бела Црква, ; german: Weißkirchen; hu, Fehértemplom; ro, Biserica Albă) is a town and municipality located in the South Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a populatio ...
and
Vršac Vršac ( sr-cyr, Вршац, ; hu, Versec; ro, Vârșeț) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the city urban area had a pop ...
). This dialect can be also found in parts of Banatska Klisura (Clisura Dunării) in Romania, in places where Romanian Serbs live (left bank of the Danube). Substitution of ''jat'' is predominantly Ekavian accent even on the end of datives (''žene'' instead of ''ženi''), in pronouns (''teh'' instead of ''tih''), in comparatives (''dobrej'' instead of ) in the negative of biti (''nesam'' instead of ''nisam''); in
Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...
Vršac Vršac ( sr-cyr, Вршац, ; hu, Versec; ro, Vârșeț) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the city urban area had a pop ...
dialects, Ikavian forms can be found (''di si'' instead of ''gde si?'').
Smederevo–Vršac dialect Smederevo–Vršac dialect (Serbo-Croatian: Gaj's Latin alphabet, Latin: ''Smederevsko-vršački dijalekat'', Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Cyrillic: Смедеревско-вршачки дијалекат) is a subdialect of the Shtokavian dialect o ...
(spoken in northeastern Šumadija, Lower Great Morava Valley and Banat) is sometimes classified as a subdialect of the Kosovo-Resava dialect but is also considered to be a separate dialect as it the represents mixed speech of Šumadija–Vojvodina and Kosovo–Resava dialects.


Neo-Shtokavian dialects


Bosnian–Dalmatian

Also called ''Bosnian–Dalmatian'' or ''Younger Ikavian''. The majority of its speakers are
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 ...
who live in Lika,
Kvarner The Kvarner Gulf (, or , la, Sinus Flanaticus or ), sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal ...
,
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
,
Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...
, and of north
Bačka Bačka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska () is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hunga ...
, around Subotica, in Serbia. The minority speakers of it include
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 ...
in western Bosnia, mostly around the city of
Bihać Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina ...
, and also in central Bosnia where Croats and Bosniaks (e.g.
Travnik Travnik is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, west of Sarajevo. As of 201 ...
,
Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, with ...
,
Bugojno Bugojno ( sr-cyrl, Бугојно) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on river Vrbas, to the northwest from Sarajevo. Acco ...
,
Vitez Vitez ( sr-cyrl, Витез) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 6,329 inhabitant ...
) used to speak this dialect. Exclusively Ikavian accent, Bosnian and Herzegovinian forms use ''o'' in verb participle, whereas those in Dalmatia and Lika use ''-ija'' or ''ia'' like in ''vidija/vidia''. Local form of
Bačka Bačka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка, ) or Bácska () is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hunga ...
was proposed as the base for the
Bunjevac dialect The Bunjevac dialect (), also known as Bunjevac speech (), is the Danubian branch of Shtokavian– Younger Ikavian dialect of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language, preserved among members of the Bunjevac community. Their accent is purel ...
of Bunjevac Croats (
Bunjevci Bunjevci ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Bunjevci, Буњевци, ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=, separator=" / ", Bunjevac, Буњевац, sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=, separator=" / ", Bunjevka, Буњевка) are a South Slavic sub-ethnic group living ...
) in
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...
, Serbia.


Dubrovnik

Also known as ''Western Ijekavian'', in earlier centuries, this subdialect was the independent subdialect of Western Shtokavian dialect. It is spoken by
Serb 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 ...
s and
Croat 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, Ge ...
s who live in some parts of
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
area. The Dubrovnik dialect has mixed Jekavian and Ikavian pronunciations or mixed Shtokavian and Chakavian vocabulary. Some vocabulary from Dalmatian, older Venetian and modern
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
are also present. It is a base for the
Croatian language Croatian (; ' ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language used by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina, and other neighboring countries. It is the official ...
. The dialect today is considered to be a part of East Herzegovina subdialect because it is similar to it. It retained certain unique features that distinguish it from the original East Herzegovina subdialect.


Šumadija–Vojvodina

Also known as ''Younger Ekavian'', is one of the bases for the standard
Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...
. It is spoken by Serbs across most of Vojvodina (excluding easternmost parts around Vršac), northern part of western Serbia, around
Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...
and
Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the administrative area of Valjevo had 90,312 inhabitants, 59,07 ...
in
Šumadija Šumadija (, sr-Cyrl, Шумадија) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of the ...
, in
Mačva Mačva ( sr-Cyrl, Мачва, ; hu, Macsó) is a geographical and historical region in the northwest of Central Serbia, on a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is name ...
around
Šabac Šabac (Serbian Cyrillic: Шабац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river Sava. , the city p ...
and
Bogatić Bogatić ( sr-cyr, Богатић, ) is a town and municipality located in the Mačva District of western Serbia. As of 2011 census, it has 28,843 residents. Geography Bogatić is located in the western part of Serbia. The nearest large settl ...
, in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
and in predominantly ethnically Serbian villages in eastern Croatia around the town of
Vukovar Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...
. It is predominately Ekavian (Ikavian forms are of morphophonological origin). In some parts of Vojvodina the old declension is preserved. Most Vojvodina dialects and some dialects in Šumadija have an open ''e'' and ''o''. However the vernaculars of western Serbia, and in past to them connected vernaculars of (old) Belgrade and southwestern Banat (Borča,
Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; german: Pantschowa; hu, Pancsova; ro, Panciova; sk, Pánčevo) is a city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on ...
, Bavanište) are as close to the standard as a vernacular can be. The dialect presents a base for the Ekavian variant of the Serbian standard language.


Eastern Herzegovinian

Also called ''Eastern Herzegovinian'' or ''Neo-Ijekavian''. It encompasses by far the largest area and the number of speakers of all Shtokavian dialects. It is the dialectal basis of the standard literary Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, and Montenegrin languages. Micro groups: * western
Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...
– spoken south Ijekavian variant. *
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 ...
western Ijekavian variant micro groups in region
Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...
, Banovina,
Kordun The Kordun () region is a part of central Croatia from the bottom of the Petrova Gora (Peter's mountain) mountain range, which extends along the rivers Korana and Slunjčica, and forms part of the border region to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within ...
, Žumberak,
Neretva The Neretva ( sr-cyrl, Неретва, ), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four HE power-plants with large dams (higher than 150,5 metres) provide flood protection, power and water s ...
,
East Herzegovina East Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Istočna Hercegovina, Источна Херцеговина) is the eastern part of the historical Herzegovina region in Bosnia and Herzegovina, east of the Neretva river, part of the Republika Srpska entity. Major ...
(
Ravno Ravno is a village and municipality located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ravno was a separate municipality until 1963, when it became a part of the Trebinje muni ...
,
Stolac Stolac is an ancient city located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the region of Herzegovina. Stolac is one of the oldest cities in Bosnia and Herzego ...
, Buna,
Neum Neum ( cyrl, Неум, ) is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the only town to be situated along the Bosnia and Herzegovina's coastline, m ...
), around of region
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
, and is the basis of the Croatian standard. City: (
Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
,
Bjelovar Bjelovar ( hu, Belovár, german: Bellowar, Kajkavian: ''Belovar'') is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2021 census, there were 36,433 inhabitants, of whom 93.06% were Croats. History ...
,
Daruvar Daruvar ( cz, Daruvar, german: Daruwar, hu, Daruvár, sr, Дарувар, la, Aquae Balissae) is a spa town and municipality in Slavonia, northeastern Croatia with a population of 8,567. The area including the surrounding villages (Dar. Vino ...
, Sisak,
Pakrac Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,842, total municipality population 8,460 (census 2011). Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina. Name In Croatian the town is known a ...
,
Petrinja Petrinja () is a town in central Croatia near Sisak in the historic region of Banovina. It is administratively located in Sisak-Moslavina County. On December 29, 2020, the town was hit by a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 , causing ...
,
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
,
Metković Metković () is a town in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics The total population of the city municipal ...
). *
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 ...
east Ijekavian variant groups; East Bosnia, East Herzegovina (
Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of Trebišnjica river in the re ...
,
Nevesinje Nevesinje ( sr-cyrl, Невесиње) is a town and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,162 inhabitants, while the municipality has 12,961 inhabitants. Geograp ...
, Bileća), Bosnian Krajina, western Serbia and Podrinje (
Užice Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 59,747. The Cit ...
,
Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley within the geographical region of Šumadija. , the city proper has 73,331 inhabitants, wh ...
,
Ivanjica ) , motto = , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Serbia##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , pushpin_map = Serbia#Europe , coo ...
,
Loznica Loznica ( sr-cyrl, Лозница, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city located in the Mačva District of western Serbia. It lies on the right bank of the Drina river. In 2011 the city had a total population of 19,572, while the administrative ar ...
,
Priboj Priboj ( sr-Cyrl, Прибој, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. The population of the town is 14,920, while the population of the municipality is 27,133. Geography The municipality of Priboj i ...
,
Prijepolje Prijepolje ( sr-cyr, Пријепоље, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. As of 2011 census, the town has 13,330 inhabitants, while the municipality has 37,059 inhabitants. Etymology One possibl ...
) and minority Croatian Serbs. City:
Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of Trebišnjica river in the re ...
,
Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. Administratively, Bijeljina is part of the Republika Srpska e ...
,
Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...
,
Nevesinje Nevesinje ( sr-cyrl, Невесиње) is a town and municipality located in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 5,162 inhabitants, while the municipality has 12,961 inhabitants. Geograp ...
,
Pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...
. * Its south-eastern form is characterised by the total lack of sound that is sometimes not only left out or replaced by more common or but is replaced as well by less common and (, imperfect of verb ''biti''). Local forms in the Žumberak enclave and around
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
or
Slunj Slunj ( Hungarian ''Szluin'', old German ''Sluin'', Latin ''Slovin'', archaic Croatian ''Slovin grad'') is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and ...
have some special Croatian features, influenced from
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 ...
and the western subdialect, whereas forms in
Bjelovar Bjelovar ( hu, Belovár, german: Bellowar, Kajkavian: ''Belovar'') is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2021 census, there were 36,433 inhabitants, of whom 93.06% were Croats. History ...
or
Pakrac Pakrac is a town in western Slavonia, Croatia, population 4,842, total municipality population 8,460 (census 2011). Pakrac is located on the road and railroad connecting the regions of Posavina and Podravina. Name In Croatian the town is known a ...
are influenced from
Kajkavian Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and nort ...
.


Yat reflexes

The Proto-Slavic vowel ''
jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...
'' (ѣ in
Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...
or ě in
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 ...
) has changed over time, coming to be pronounced differently in different areas. These different reflexes define three "pronunciations" () of Shtokavian: * In Ekavian pronunciation (''ekavski'' ), ''jat'' has conflated into the vowel ''e'' * in Ikavian pronunciation (''ikavski'' ), it has conflated into the vowel ''i'' * in Ijekavian or Jekavian pronunciation (''ijekavski'' or ''jekavski'' ), it has come to be pronounced ''ije'' or ''je'', depending on whether the vowel was long or short. In standard Croatian, pronunciation is always Jekavian: when yat is short then it is (written as ''je''), and when yat is long then it is (written as ''ije''). Historically, the yat reflexes had been inscribed in Church Slavic texts before the significant development of Shtokavian dialect, reflecting the beginnings of the formative period of the vernacular. In early documents it is predominantly Church Slavic of the Serbian or Croatian ''recension'' (variant). The first undoubted Ekavian reflex ( 'it was') is found in a document from Serbia dated 1289; the first Ikavian reflex ( 'witnesses') in Bosnia in 1331; and first Ijekavian reflex ( 'we wish', a "hyper-Ijekavism") in Croatia in 1399. Partial attestation can be found in earlier texts (for instance, Ikavian pronunciation is found in a few Bosnian documents from the latter half of the 13th century), but philologists generally accept the aforementioned dates. In the second half of the 20th century, many vernaculars with unsubstituted yat are found. The intrusion of the vernacular into Church Slavic grew in time, to be finally replaced by the vernacular idiom. This process took place for Croats, Serbs and
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 ...
independently and without mutual interference until the mid-19th century. Historical linguistics, textual analysis and dialectology have dispelled myths about allegedly "unspoilt" vernacular speech of rural areas: for instance, it is established that Bosniaks have retained phoneme "h" in numerous words (unlike Serbs and Croats), due to elementary religious education based on the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, where this phoneme is the carrier of specific semantic value. The Ekavian pronunciation, sometimes called Eastern, is spoken primarily in Serbia, and in small parts of Croatia. The Ikavian pronunciation, sometimes called Western, is spoken in western and central Bosnia, western Herzegovina, some of Slavonia and the major part of Dalmatia in Croatia. The Ijekavian pronunciation, sometimes called Southern, is spoken in central Croatia, most of Slavonia, southern Dalmatia, most of Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, as well as some parts of western Serbia. The following are some generic examples: Long ''ije'' is pronounced as a single syllable, , by many Ijekavian speakers, especially in Croatia. However, in Zeta dialect and most of East Herzegovina dialect, it is pronounced as two
syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...
s, , which is the Croatian official standard too, but seldom actually practiced. This distinction can be clearly heard in first verses of national anthems of Croatia and
Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...
—they're sung as "''L'je-pa wo syllablesna-ša do-mo-vi-no''" and "''Oj svi-je-tla hree syllablesmaj-ska zo-ro''" respectively. The Ikavian pronunciation is the only one that is not part of any standard variety of Serbo-Croatian today, though it was a variant used for a significant literary output between the 15th and 18th centuries. This has led to a reduction in its use and an increase in the use of Ijekavian in traditionally Ikavian areas since the standardization. For example, most people in formerly fully Ikavian
Split, Croatia )'' , settlement_type = List of cities and towns in Croatia, City , anthem = ''Marjane, Marjane'' , image_skyline = , imagesize = 267px , image_caption = Top: Nighttime view of ...
today use both Ikavian and Ijekavian words in everyday speech, without a clearly predictable pattern (usually more emotionally charged or intimate words are Ikavian and more academic, political, generally standardised words Ijekavian, but it is not a straight out rule). The
IETF language tag An IETF BCP 47 language tag is a standardized code or tag that is used to identify human languages in the Internet. The tag structure has been standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in ''Best Current Practice (BCP) 47''; the su ...
s have assigned the variants and to Ekavian and Ijekavian pronunciations, respectively.


Ethnic affiliation of native speakers of Shtokavian dialect

During the first half of the 19th century, protagonists of nascent Slavic philology were, as far as South Slavic dialects were concerned, embroiled in frequently bitter polemic about "ethnic affiliation" of native speakers of various dialects. This, from contemporary point of view, rather bizarre obsession was motivated primarily by political and national interests that prompted philologists-turned-ideologues to express their views on the subject. The most prominent contenders in the squabble, with conflicting agenda, were the Czech philologist
Josef Dobrovský Josef Dobrovský (17 August 1753 – 6 January 1829) was a Czech philologist and historian, one of the most important figures of the Czech National Revival along with Josef Jungmann. Life and work Dobrovský was born at Balassagyarmat, Nó ...
, the Slovak Pavel Šafárik, the Slovenes
Jernej Kopitar Jernej Kopitar, also known as Bartholomeus Kopitar (21 August 1780 – 11 August 1844), was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna. He is perhaps best known ...
and
Franz Miklosich Franz Miklosich (german: Franz Ritter von Miklosich, also known in Slovene as ; 20 November 1813 – 7 March 1891) was a Slovene philologist. Early life Miklosich was born in the small village of Radomerščak near the Lower Styrian town of Lju ...
, the Serb
Vuk Karadžić Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
, the Croat of Slovak origin Bogoslav Šulek, and the Croatians
Vatroslav Jagić Vatroslav Jagić (; July 6, 1838 – August 5, 1923) was a Croatian scholar of Slavic studies in the second half of the 19th century. Life Jagić was born in Varaždin (then known by its German name of ''Warasdin''), where he attended the el ...
and
Ante Starčević Ante Starčević (; 23 May 1823 – 28 February 1896) was a Croatian politician and writer. His policies centered around Croatian state law, the integrity of Croatian lands, and the right of his people to self-determination. As an important memb ...
. The dispute was primarily concerned with who can, philologically, be labelled as "Slovene", "Croat" and "Serb" with the aim of expanding one's national territory and influence. Born in the climate of romanticism and national awakening, these polemical "battles" led to increased tensions between the aforementioned nations, especially because the Shtokavian dialect cannot be split along ethnic lines in an unequivocal manner. However, contemporary native speakers, after process of national crystallization and identification had been completed, can be roughly identified as predominant speakers of various Shtokavian subdialects. Because standard languages propagated through media have strongly influenced and altered the situation in the 19th century, the following attribution must be treated with necessary caution. The distribution of Old-Shtokavian speakers along ethnic lines in present times is as follows: * Timok-Prizren (Ekavian accent) dialect: Serbian * Kosovo-Resava (Ekavian accent) dialect: Serbian * Zeta-Raška dialect (Ijekavian accent): Montenegrin, Bosniak and Serbian. * Slavonian dialect (fluctuating "yat": mainly Ikavian accent, also Ijekavian and Ekavian): vastly Croatian * Eastern Bosnian dialect (Ijekavian accent): Bosniak and Croatian Generally, the Neo-Shtokavian dialect is divided as follows with regard to the ethnicity of its native speakers: * Šumadija-Vojvodina dialect (Ekavian accent): Serbian * Dalmatian-Bosnian dialect (Ikavian accent): Croatian and Bosniak * Eastern Herzegovinian (Ijekavian accent): Serbian, Montenegrin, Croatian and Bosniak


Standard language

The standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian variants of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian
standard language A standard language (also standard variety, standard dialect, and standard) is a language variety that has undergone substantial codification of grammar and usage, although occasionally the term refers to the entirety of a language that includes ...
are all based on the Neo-Shtokavian dialect. However, it must be stressed that standard variants, irrespectively of their mutual differences, have been stylised in such manners that parts of the Neo-Shtokavian dialect have been retained—for instance, declension—but other features were purposely omitted or altered—for instance, the phoneme "h" was reinstated in the standard language. Croatian has had a long tradition of Shtokavian vernacular literacy and literature. It took almost four and half centuries for Shtokavian to prevail as the dialectal basis for the Croatian standard. In other periods, Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects, as well as hybrid Chakavian–Kajkavian–Shtokavian interdialects "contended" for the Croatian national koine – but eventually lost, mainly due to historical and political reasons. By the 1650s it was fairly obvious that Shtokavian would become the dialectal basis for the Croatian standard, but this process was finally completed in the 1850s, when Neo-Shtokavian Ijekavian, based mainly on Ragusan (Dubrovnik), Dalmatian, Bosnian, and Slavonian literary heritage became the national standard language. Serbian was much faster in standardisation. Although
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 ...
was present in the 18th century, it was Vuk Karadžić who, between 1818 and 1851, made a radical break with the past and established Serbian Neo-Shtokavian folklore idiom as the basis of standard Serbian (until then, educated Serbs had been using Serbian Slavic, Russian Slavic and hybrid Russian–Serbian language). Although he wrote in Serbian Ijekavian accent, the majority of Serbs have adopted Ekavian accent, which is dominant in Serbia. Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia, as well as Montenegrins, use the Ijekavian accent. Bosnian is only currently beginning to take shape. The Bosniak idiom can be seen as a transition between Serbian Ijekavian and Croatian varieties, with some specific traits. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, Bosniaks affirmed their wish to stylize their own standard language, based on the Neo-Shtokavian dialect, but reflecting their characteristics—from phonetics to semantics. Also, the contemporary situation is unstable with regard to the accentuation, because phoneticians have observed that the 4-accents speech has, in all likelihood, shown to be increasingly unstable, which resulted in proposals that a 3-accents norm be prescribed. This is particularly true for Croatian, where, contrary to all expectations, the influence of
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 ...
and
Kajkavian dialect Kajkavian (Kajkavian noun: ''kajkavščina''; Shtokavian adjective: ''kajkavski'' , noun: ''kajkavica'' or ''kajkavština'' ) is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats in much of Central Croatia, Gorski Kotar and nort ...
s on the standard language has been waxing, not waning, in the past 50–70 years. The Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian standard variants, although all based on the East Herzegovinian subdialect of Neo-Shtokavian and mutually intelligible, do differ slightly, as is the case with other pluricentric languages (English, Spanish,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and Portuguese, among others), but not to a degree which would justify considering them as different languages. Their structures are grammatically and phonologically almost identical, but have differences in vocabulary and semantics: "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." See Differences between standard Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. In 2017, numerous prominent writers, scientists, journalists, activists and other public figures from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia signed 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 ...
, which states that in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro a common polycentric standard language is used, consisting of several standard varieties, similar to the situation in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, English, or Spanish.


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 in ...
*
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 * Language secessionism in Serbo-Croatian *
pluricentric language A pluricentric language or polycentric language is a language with several interacting codified standard forms, often corresponding to different countries. Many examples of such languages can be found worldwide among the most-spoken languages, inc ...
*
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 ...


Notes


References

* * * * * *
Inhaltsverzeichnis
* * * * * *


Further reading

* *
(COBISS-Sr)
*
(ÖNB)
*
(ÖNB)
* * * Peco, Asim (1967). "Uticaj turskog jezika na fonetiku štokavskih govora". ''Naš jezik'', 16, 3. * *


External links


Map of Serbo-Croatian dialects according to Brabec, Kraste, and Živković
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shtokavian Dialect Serbo-Croatian language Dialects of Serbo-Croatian