One language, three egos
The languages referred to as "Bosnian" "Croatian" and "Serbian" are one common language, albeit with different dialects. Perhaps the best classification for these languages would be "Shtokavski (Stokavian)", but this would leave out other dialects in Croatia, like kajkavski, ikavski. Still, it is more realistic than to make up languages as borders are drawn. No one is advocating that these nations have to merge into what we have seen in the past (Yugoslavia), but we simply ask them to respect linguistics - the science of language. The truth is, despite Dalmatian being so different even to Croats in Zagreb, a Sarajevan can perfectly understand them. I would like to reaffirm that Hochdeutsch (High German) and Plattdeutsch (Low German) differ even more so than the "different" languages of Croatia, Bosnia-Herz., Montenegro, Serbia. A German from North Rhine-Westphalia will have a very difficult time understanding a Bavarian, as opposed to a Serb from Belgrade who will sense only minute differences when traveling to Croatia. The moral of this story? Don't invent languages because of political strifes. I understand that after the war, genocide and forced immigration abroad have created bitterness between the nations of former Yugoslavia, but this does not give them the right to twist linguistics for their own nationalistic ambitions. Croats want to re-affirm their differences, Bosniaks (the Muslim Slavs of Bosnia-Herz.) want to have their own sense of identity, while Serbs still cling to their own nationalism through the Cyrillic alphabet (which is mentioned as the key difference); many forget to mention that Serbs also use the Latin script. Remove politics (as should be done in a normal world) from linguistics, and we have one language in four neighbouring countries ready to embark on a peaceful entry into the European Union.
Sent by: Bernard
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Ja sam Srbin, veliki poz za sve (Hrvate, Bosance, Crnogorce) ako ste me perfektno razumeli sta sam ovde napisao ili bar jedno 90%, onda vise nemam sta da kazem ... :)
Marijana
I have to take issue with your claim that speakers of Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese can perfectly understand each other. Without prolonged exposure to one of the other languages and a degree of effort they maybe able to understand the gist of what is being said but not with any degree of accuracy or certainty.
Few years ago I was observing my children (then about 5 years old) watching children show in Serbian language on TV.
I have asked them if they know what language is that - they replied - "they speak Croatian very weird".
Bottom line - they understood it perfectly.
For political reasons people in Croatia or Serbia will try to prove all existent differences between these two languages - while there are so many more similarities than differences.
I am not a linguist - and can not define - what makes a language - but simple fact is - that I can travel all around former Yugoslavia and speak Croatian without the worry that someone will not understand me.
Therefore I would be more in favour of defining Croatian or Serbian variants or standards of the same language (like American and British English) than calling them separate languages.
This view at the same time does not make my identity any less Croatian.
No one would dare to underestimate the closeness of the languages (or call them dialects if you like). More so, the Croatian standard was chosen to be the most similar version to Serbian as it was supposed to serve Belgrade's (political South-Slav) unification purpose.
If there are Slovak and Czech, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian, Danish and Norwegian, Spanish and Catalan... then there is no reason to make a fuss about Croatian and Serbian.
Plus, there have been rules and standards for well over a century. You cannot speak both at the same time (unless you've been consuming illegal substances)...
Saying that the use of Cyrillic alphabet is nationalistic is a total stupidity. It is as foolish as to say that Greeks, Russians or Armenians should write in Latin script as well.
Yes, my language is Croatian and I call it that way not 'Serbo-Croatian' or 'Croato-Serbian'. Why? Cause it has own grammar, vocabulary and history. Yes if I go to Serbia, Bosnia or Montenegro I can perfectly understand what are they saying. That is because we share some parts of our histories like the invasion of the Turks or Austrian, Italian, Hungarian dominance over our countries that had a great influence on our languages... for example my native dialect is ''kajkavski''(well not pure because Zagreb practically has some sort of his subdialect that is a mixture of the shtokavian and kajkavski) and when I talk with my parents I use words derivated from Turkish and German.
When I started learning English my teacher told me that I should use one or another not mix them together. So it sould be the same with Croatian and Serbian. We want people to understand that we are two different nations and therefore we say that we have two different languages. It is not as simple as one language, there are many differences!!!
Marijana, if they can all understand each other, and I know this is true, then they are all speaking one language. No linguists, unless bribed, would laugh at Bernard's comments.
I have to comment on this, as this is completely incorrect. We are talking about three languages, that existed for a very long time. They are similar because we are all neighbouring countries, but to say that they are the same is ridiculous. Any linguist would laugh at this statement. This is like saying that Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese are the same language. Are they? Saying this would cause a political incident ... because it is absolutely not correct. They can all understand each other, but they are three different languages. Each language mentioned here has its reasons, rules, history and most important - identity.
Marijana is totally wrong. And as she said, it would cause a political incident. It is simple as that. We understand each other perfectly, so that is one language. I dont need a subtitle if I watch Croatian movie. Of course, if I would go to Zagreb everyone will know I am not from Croatia, but that is logical difference of pronunciation like in every other language. Plus, Serbian uses both cyrillic and latin, maybe latin even more. Same language definetely. Politics s...s .
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