What is the difference between croatian and serbian

Today, largely because of the connection between language and national identity, there has been an effort to have Serbian and Croatian recognized as separate languages.

There certainly is some basis for this position. There are certain differences between the two languages in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Moreover, they have separate writing systems: Serbian uses both the Cyrillic and the Roman alphabets, while Croatian uses the Roman alphabet exclusively. Indeed, there are more significant differences between different strands of German Switzerland, Germany, Austria than amongst the languages of former Yugoslavia.

Going forward, the Balkan research could provide an important framework for understanding other polycentric languages, such as English or Spanish. These conflicts fractured the territory into several ethnic-based states. The political situation in the area has historically been a strong example of ethnic-based division that it coined a term to describe similar conflicts: Balkanization. Predictably, nationalists—in all of the countries involved—are already criticizing this idea.

By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy. Skip to navigation Skip to content. Discover Membership. Using infinitives is a feature typical for Slavic languages, while double conjugating is considered a Balkan languages common feature.

Conclusion: For a Romance, Germanic and even Slavic language speaker, using infinitives will be very convenient and probably easier to pick up. However, double conjugation is an excellent brain-empowering exercise. Especially when you have to combine two verbs from different groups , such as:.

There is a slight difference only in the verbs with infinitive ending in —ti. In some parts of Croatia including Zagreb , under the influence of the Kajkavian dialect, they use the Slavic future tense. Conclusion: The future tense is quite complex.

For your speaking, one form will suffice. Learn to use the basic standard form and only recognize the other forms in the beginning. The word order can also be tricky here, especially in elaborate sentences. Focus on noticing the parts of it, as they can be scattered around the sentence. Even though the vast majority of the words are exactly the same or slightly different, there are quite a few differences in vocabulary. Nonetheless, they are understood by both sides.

We all mostly know all the variants, and we just use the one normally used in our region. Still, they are used. Meseci u srpskom: januar, februar, mart, april, maj, jun, jul, avgust, septembar, oktobar, novembar, decembar. Conclusion: If you prefer an easier way, then your choice here will definitely be Serbian, because it has more international loanwords.

That allows you to quickly enrich your vocabulary and your ability to express yourself. Both languages still use many loan words, and derive verbs from them. This applies to the Latin and Greek international heritage and also to the new technology-related English terms, that have flooded every language.

Generally speaking, the suffix -irati essentially Latin borrowed through German seems to be the most productive i. On the other hand, the Slavic suffix -ovati and the suffix -isati of Greek origin are preferred in Serbia. However, there are words that come only in -ovati pattern. Please refer to the table bellow for the examples.

In rows with only one word, it is the only form and used in both countries. Conclusion: If you prefer an easy way, then your choice here will definitely be Croatian. By Ljudmila Cvetkovic Goran Vezic. See comments Print. In the Balkans, language and politics are closely intertwined, and a region that was once seen as speaking a single common language now argues that it has as many as four native tongues -- Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin.

Never mind that a Serb from Banja Luka and a Croat from Dubrovnik can carry on a conversation and understand each other perfectly. If asked in each other's company what language they are speaking, they'd be likely to answer: "our language" -- the nation-neutral answer that has become a form of courtesy in the ethnically divided region.

Privately, however, everyone acknowledges the differences. As the former Yugoslavia has broken down into individual, ethnically based countries, federations, and districts, the single composite language once known as Serbo-Croatian has broken down into what its speakers say are individual, ethnically based languages.

The distinctions sometimes reach extremes even locals find absurd.