Croatian language

(in English)

 

Croatian, hrvatski

Spoken natively in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia (Vojvodina), Montenegro, Romania (Caraş-Severin County), Slovenia, and diaspora.

Native speakers - 5.55 million  (2001).

Language family -  Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, South Slavic,  Western Serbo-Croatian, Croatian.

Standard forms - Standard Croatian, Burgenland Croatian.

Writing system – Latin.

Official language in Croatia,  Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro.

Croatian (hrvatski jezik) is the Serbo-Croatian language as spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries.

Standard and literary Croatian is a register of the central dialect, Shtokavian (Štokavian), more specifically on Eastern Herzegovinian, which is also the basis of standard Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. The other dialects spoken by Croats are Chakavian (Čakavian), Kajkavian, and Torlakian (by the Krashovani). These four dialects, and the four national standards, are sometimes subsumed under the term "Serbo-Croatian" in English, though this term is controversial for native speakers and paraphrases such as "Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian" are therefore sometimes used instead, especially in diplomatic circles.

Macedonian language

(in English)

Macedonian, Македонски јазик, Makedonski jazik.

Spoken natively in Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Macedonian diaspora.

Region - Balkans.

Ethnicity -  Macedonians

Native speakers 1.6 – 3.0 million.  (1985–1998)

Language family - Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, South Slavic, Eastern South Slavic, Macedonian.

Writing system Cyrillic (Macedonian alphabet).

Macedonian (македонски јазик, makedonski jazik)  spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia and the Macedonian diaspora. It is the official language of the Republic of Macedonia and an official minority language in parts of Albania, Romania and Serbia.

Standard Macedonian was implemented as the official language of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia in 1945 and has since developed a thriving literary tradition. Most of the codification was formalized during the same period.

Macedonian dialects form a continuum with Bulgarian dialects; together in turn they form a broader continuum with Serbo-Croatian through the transitional Torlakian dialects.

The name of the Macedonian language is a matter of political controversy in Greece as is its distinctiveness in Bulgaria.

Bosnian language

(in English)

Bosnian, bosanski/босански.

Spoken natively in Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Croatia.

Native speakers - 2.5 - 3.5 million  (2008) (number is ambiguous).

Language family - Indo-European, Balto-Slavic,  Slavic, South Slavic, Western, Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian.

Writing system - Latin, Cyrillic

Official language in Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Montenegro.

Bosnian (bosanski / босански ) is a standardized register of the Serbo-Croatian language, a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Montenegrin language

(in English)

Montenegrin, Crnogorski, Црногорски.

Spoken natively in Montenegro.

Language family -  Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, South Slavic, Western Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian, Montenegrin.

Official language in Montenegro.

Montenegrin (Crnogorski jezik, Црногорски језик) is an incipient standardized register of the Serbo-Croatian language as spoken by Montenegrins used as the official language of Montenegro. The same subdialect of Shtokavian is also the basis of standard Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, so all are mutually intelligible and are a single language by that criterion despite being distinct national standards.

The idea of a Montenegrin standard language separate from Serbian appeared in 1990s and gained traction in 2000s via proponents of Montenegrin independence. Montenegrin became the official language of Montenegro with the ratification of a new constitution on 22 October 2007. The Montenegrin standard is still emerging. Its orthography was established 10 July 2009 with the addition of two letters to the alphabet, though grammar and a school curriculum are yet to be approved.

Serbian language

(in English)

Serbian, српски srpski.

Spoken natively in Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, and neighbouring regions.

Native speakers 12 million  (2006).

Language family - Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, South Slavic, Western Serbo-Croatian, Serbian.

Writing system - Serbian Cyrillic alphabet/Gaj's Latin alphabet.

Serbian (Serbian Cyrillic: српски , Latin: srpski,) is a standardized register of the Serbo-Croatian language spoken by Serbs, mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and Macedonia. It is official in Serbia and one of the official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the principal language of the Serbs.

The dialect serving as the basis for the main literary and standard language is Shtokavian, which is also the basis of standard Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. In particular, Serbian is standardized around Šumadija-Vojvodina and Eastern Herzegovinian subdialects of Shtokavian. The Torlakian dialect of Serbian is spoken in southeast Serbia, and is not standardized, as it represents transitional form to Macedonian and Bulgarian.

Bulgarian language

                                                                (in English)

Bulgarian, български език, bălgarski ezik

Spoken natively in Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Greece, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Albania, Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia and among emigrant communities worldwide.

Region - The Balkans.

Native speakers - 9.1 million  (1986).

Language family - Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, South Slavic, Eastern South Slavic, Bulgarian.

Writing system – Cyrillic.

Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Southern branch of the Slavic language family.

Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language (collectively forming the East South Slavic languages), has several characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages: changes include the elimination of case declension, the development of a suffixed definite article (see Balkan language area) and the lack of a verb infinitive; but it retains and has further developed the Proto-Slavic verb system. Various evidential verb forms exist to express unwitnessed, retold, and doubtful action.

Lower Sorbian language

(in English)

Lower Sorbian, Dolnoserbski, Dolnoserbšćina

Spoken natively in Germany.

Region Brandenburg.

Native speakers - 7,000  (1995).

Language family - Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, West Slavic, Sorbian, Lower Sorbian.

Writing system - Latin (Sorbian alphabet).

Lower Sorbian (Dolnoserbski) is a Slavic minority language spoken in eastern Germany in the historical province of Lower Lusatia, today part of Brandenburg. It is one of the two literary Sorbian languages, the other being Upper Sorbian.

Lower Sorbian is spoken in and around the city of Cottbus in Brandenburg. Signs in this region are usually bilingual, and Cottbus has a Gymnasium where one language of instruction is Lower Sorbian. It is a heavily endangered language. Most native speakers are in the oldest generation today.

Upper Sorbian language

(in English)

Upper Sorbian, Hornjoserbšćina

Spoken natively in Germany.

Region - Saxony, Brandenburg.

Native speakers -18,000  (1995).

Language family - Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, West Slavic, Sorbian, Upper Sorbian.

Writing system - Latin (Sorbian alphabet).

Official language in regional language in Germany (Brandenburg and Saxony).

Upper Sorbian (Hornjoserbšćina) is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in Germany in the historical province of Upper Lusatia (Hornja Łužica in Sorbian), which is today part of Saxony. It is grouped in the West Slavic language branch, together with Lower Sorbian, Czech, Polish, Slovak and Kashubian.

Sorbian languages

(in English)

Sorbian, Wendish, Lusatian

Geographic distribution: Lusatia, the Sorbian-speaking region in Germany.

Linguistic classification: Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, West Slavic, Sorbian.

Subdivisions: Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian.

The Sorbian languages (Serbsce, Serbski) are classified under the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. They are the native languages of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in the Lusatia region of eastern Germany. Historically the language has also been known as Wendish or Lusatian. Their collective ISO 639-2 code is wen. It is closely related to Polish, Kashubian, Czech and Slovak.

Polish language

(in English)

Spoken natively in Poland. Minorities: Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Czech Republic, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, France, Australia, Ireland, Iceland, Israel.

Native speakers 40 million  (2009).

Language family Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, West Slavic, Lechitic,  Polish.

Writing system Latin (Polish alphabet).

Polish (język polski, polszczyzna) is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland (being that country's official language) and by Polish minorities in other countries. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet, which has several additions to the letters of the basic Latin script.

Despite the pressure of non-Polish administrations in Poland, who have often attempted to suppress the Polish language, a rich literature has developed over the centuries, and the language is currently the largest, in terms of speakers, of the West Slavic group. It is also the second most widely spoken Slavic language, after Russian and ahead of Ukrainian.