Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary (Bácska), Montenegro (Bay of Kotor), Romania (Caraș-Severin County), Serbia (Vojvodina)[1]
Region
Southeast Europe
Ethnicity
Croats
Native speakers
L1: 5.1 million (including all dialects spoken by Croats) (2021)[1] L2: 1.3 million (2012)[1]
Language family
Indo-European
Balto-Slavic
Slavic
South
Western[2]
Serbo-Croatian[2]
Shtokavian
New Shtokavian
Eastern Herzegovinian
Croatian
Writing system
Latin (Gaj's alphabet) Yugoslav Braille Glagolitic (historical) Bosnian cyrillic (historical)
Official status
Official language in
Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina (co-official) Montenegro (co-official)[3] Serbia (in Vojvodina) Austria (in Burgenland) European Union
Recognised minority language in
Slovakia[4] Czech Republic[5] Hungary (in Baranya County)[6] Italy[7]
Regulated by
Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics
Language codes
ISO 639-1
hr
ISO 639-2
hrv
ISO 639-3
hrv
Glottolog
croa1245
Linguasphere
part of 53-AAA-g
States and regions which recognize Croatian as (co-)official (dark red) or minority language (light red).
Croatian is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
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Croats
Recognized
Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbia
Kosovo
Austria
Italy
Montenegro
Romania
Slovakia
Hungary
Czech Republic
Diaspora
Europe
Belgium
Germany
Macedonia
Sweden
Slovakia
Slovenia
Switzerland
North America
United States
Canada
Mexico
South America
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Peru
Venezuela
Oceania
Australia
New Zealand
Subgroups
Bunjevci
Šokci
Burgenland Croats
Janjevci
Molise Croats
Krašovani
Culture
Literature
Music
Art
Cinema
Cuisine
Dress
Sport
History
History of Croatia
Origins
Rulers
Language
Croatian
Chakavian
Shtokavian
Kajkavian
Burgenland
Molise
Related nations
South Slavs
v
t
e
South Slavic languages and dialects
Western South Slavic
Serbo-Croatian
Standard languages
Bosnian
Croatian
Montenegrin
Serbian (Slavonic-Serbian)
Dialects
Shtokavian
(Younger Ikavian
Bunjevac
Slavonian
Šokac
Dubrovnik
Eastern Herzegovinian
Užice
Zeta–Raška
Kosovo–Resava (Smederevo–Vršac)
Šumadija–Vojvodina
Prizren–Timok (Prizren–South Morava
Gorani
Janjevo–Letnica
Svrljig–Zaplanje
Timok–Lužnica))
Chakavian
(Burgenland
Molise)
Kajkavian
Torlakian
(Prizren–South Morava
Gorani
Janjevo–Letnica
Svrljig–Zaplanje
Timok–Lužnica)
Accents
Ekavian
Ijekavian
Ikavian
Comparison of standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian
Slovene
Dialects
(Prekmurje Slovene
Resian)
Eastern South Slavic
Church Slavonic (Old)
Bulgarian
Dialects
Banat
Torlakian
Meshterski
Macedonian
Dialects
(Western
Southeastern
Northern
Torlakian)
Spoken Macedonian
Standard Macedonian
Transitional dialects
Serbian–Bulgarian–Macedonian
Transitional Bulgarian dialects
Torlakian
Gorani
Croatian–Slovenian
Kajkavian
Bulgarian–Macedonian
Slavic dialects of Greece
Alphabets
Modern
Gaj's Latina
Serbian Cyrillic
Bulgarian Cyrillic
Macedonian Cyrillic
Montenegrin
Slovene
Historical
Bohoričica
Dajnčica
Metelčica
Arebica
Bosnian Cyrillic
Glagolitic
Early Cyrillic
a Includes Banat Bulgarian alphabet.
v
t
e
Croatian (/kroʊˈeɪʃən/ⓘ; hrvatski[xř̩ʋaːtskiː]) is the standardised variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language[8][9][10][11][12][13] mainly used by Croats.[14] It is the national official language and literary standard of Croatia, one of the official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Serbian province of Vojvodina, the European Union and a recognized minority language elsewhere in Serbia and other neighbouring countries.
In the mid-18th century, the first attempts to provide a Croatian literary standard began on the basis of the Neo-Shtokavian dialect that served as a supraregional lingua franca – pushing back regional Chakavian, Kajkavian, and Shtokavian vernaculars.[15] The decisive role was played by Croatian Vukovians, who cemented the usage of Ijekavian Neo-Shtokavian as the literary standard in the late 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, in addition to designing a phonological orthography.[16] Croatian is written in Gaj's Latin alphabet.[17]
Besides the Shtokavian dialect, on which Standard Croatian is based, there are two other main supradialects spoken on the territory of Croatia, Chakavian and Kajkavian. These supradialects, and the four national standards, are usually subsumed under the term "Serbo-Croatian" in English; this term is controversial for native speakers,[18] and names such as "Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian" (BCMS) are used by linguists and philologists in the 21st century.[19]
In 1997, the Croatian Parliament established the Days of the Croatian Language from March 11 to 17.[20] Since 2013, the Institute of Croatian language has been celebrating the Month of the Croatian Language, from February 21 (International Mother Language Day) to March 17 (the day of signing the Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian Literary Language).[20]
^ abcCroatian at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ ab"Croatia: Language Situation". Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (2nd ed.). The official language of Croatia is Croatian (Serbo-Croatian). [...] The same language is referred to by different names, Serbian (srpski), Serbo-Croat (in Croatia: hrvatsko-srpski), Bosnian (bosanski), based on political and ethnic grounds. [...] the language that used to be officially called Serbo-Croat has gotten several new ethnically and politically based names. Thus, the names Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian are politically determined and refer to the same language with possible slight variations.
^"Language and alphabet Article 13". Constitution of Montenegro. WIPO. 19 October 2007. Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian shall also be in the official use.
^Slovenskej Republiky, Národná Rada (1999). "Zákon 184/1999 Z. z. o používaní jazykov národnostných menšín" (in Slovak). Zbierka zákonov. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^"Národnostní menšiny v České republice a jejich jazyky" [National Minorities in Czech Republic and Their Language] (PDF) (in Czech). Government of Czech Republic. p. 2. Podle čl. 3 odst. 2 Statutu Rady je jejich počet 12 a jsou uživateli těchto menšinových jazyků: [...], srbština a ukrajinština
^"2011. évi CLXXIX. törvény a nemzetiségek jogairól" [Act CLXXIX/2011 on the Rights of Nationalities] (in Hungarian). Government of Hungary. 22. § (1) E törvény értelmében nemzetiségek által használt nyelvnek számít [...] a horvát
^"Legge 15 Dicembre 1999, n. 482 "Norme in materia di tutela delle minoranze linguistiche storiche" pubblicata nella Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 297 del 20 dicembre 1999". Italian Parliament. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
^Dalby, David (1999). Linguasphere. 53-AAA-g. Srpski+Hrvatski, Serbo-Croatian. Linguasphere Observatory. p. 445.
^Benjamin W. Fortson IV (2010). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Blackwell. p. 431. Because of their mutual intelligibility, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian are usually thought of as constituting one language called Serbo-Croatian.
^Blažek, Václav. On the Internal Classification of Indo-European Languages: Survey(PDF). pp. 15–16. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
^Šipka, Danko (2019). Lexical layers of identity: words, meaning, and culture in the Slavic languages. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 206. doi:10.1017/9781108685795. ISBN 978-953-313-086-6. LCCN 2018048005. OCLC 1061308790. S2CID 150383965. Serbo-Croatian, which features four ethnic variants: Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin
^Ćalić, Jelena (2021). "Pluricentricity in the classroom: the Serbo-Croatian language issue for foreign language teaching at higher education institutions worldwide". Sociolinguistica: European Journal of Sociolinguistics. 35 (1). De Gruyter: 113–140. doi:10.1515/soci-2021-0007. ISSN 0933-1883. S2CID 244134335. The debate about the status of the Serbo-Croatian language and its varieties has recently shifted (again) towards a position which looks at the internal variation within Serbo-Croatian through the prism of linguistic pluricentricity
^Kordić, Snježana (2024). "Ideology Against Language: The Current Situation in South Slavic Countries" (PDF). In Nomachi, Motoki; Kamusella, Tomasz (eds.). Languages and Nationalism Instead of Empires. Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe. London: Routledge. pp. 168–169. doi:10.4324/9781003034025-11. ISBN 978-0-367-47191-0. OCLC 1390118985. S2CID 259576119. SSRN 4680766. COBISS.SR 125229577. COBISS 171014403. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
^E.C. Hawkesworth (2006). "Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian Linguistic Complex". Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (2nd ed.).
^Bičanić et al. (2013:55)
^Bičanić et al. (2013:84)
^"Croatia: Themes, Authors, Books". Yale University Library Slavic and East European Collection. 2009-11-16. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
^Cvetkovic, Ljudmila (2010). "Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Or Montenegrin? Or Just 'Our Language'? – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty". Rferl.org. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
^"Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian language (BCMS)". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
^ ab"Mjesec hrvatskog jezika" [Croatian language Month]. ihjj.hr (in Croatian). Institute of Croatian language. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
Croatian (/kroʊˈeɪʃən/ ; hrvatski [xř̩ʋaːtskiː]) is the standardised variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by Croats. It is the...
Croatia (/kroʊˈeɪʃə/ , kroh-AY-shə; Croatian: Hrvatska, pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska listen)...
dialect of Croatian spoken in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Burgenland Croatian is recognized as a minority language in the Austrian...
црногорски) is a normative variety of the Serbo-Croatianlanguage mainly used by Montenegrins and is the official language of Montenegro. Montenegrin is based on...
official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with Croatian and Serbian. It is also an officially recognized minority language in Croatia, Serbia...
the Serbo-Croatianlanguage mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and...
Institute for the CroatianLanguage (Croatian: Institut za hrvatski jezik, IHJ), formerly known as the Institute for the CroatianLanguage and Linguistics...
support of five national minority MPs, two MPs from the Croatian Social Liberal Party and Croatian Demochristian Party, and one independent MP, Silvano Hrelja...
Look up croatian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Croatian may refer to: CroatiaCroatianlanguageCroatian people Croatians (demonym) All pages with...
Māoridom". Croats are mostly Catholics. The Croatianlanguage is official in Croatia, the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatian is a recognized...
last speaker died in 1898. Croatian replaced Latin as the official language of the Croatian government in 1847. The Croatian lect is generally viewed as...
Italian and a large percentage of Croatians speak Italian, in addition to Croatian. As of 2009, the Italian language is officially used in twenty cities...
celebrates the Croatianlanguage. It is held from March 11 to March 17. It was first held upon Croatian independence in 1991. In 1997 the Croatian Parliament...
Serbian Language secessionism in Serbo-Croatian Mutual intelligibility Outline of Slavic history and culture Pluricentric Serbo-Croatianlanguage South...
The Croatian Sovereignists (Croatian: Hrvatski suverenisti) are a conservative and Christian right-wing political party in Croatia. The party was founded...
lipa. It was issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins were minted by the Croatian Mint. In the Croatianlanguage, the word kuna means "marten"...
The Croatian Parliament (Croatian: Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution...
des langues" [Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Serbian): from the study of a language to the identity of languages]. Revue des études slaves...
of Croatia (Croatian: Demokratska zajednica Mađara Hrvatske, DZMH; Hungarian: Horvátországi Magyarok Demokratikus Közössége, HMDK) is a Croatian non-governmental...
Croatian sign language (Hrvatski znakovni jezik, HZJ) is a sign language of the deaf community in Croatia. It has in the past been regarded as a dialect...
Slavic or Molise Croatian (Croatian: Moliški hrvatski; Italian: croata molisana), is a variety of Shtokavian Croatian spoken by Italian Croats in three villages...
Eastern Bulgarian Macedonian Old Church Slavonic Western Serbo-Croatian Serbian Croatian Bosnian Montenegrin Slovene West Slavic Czech–Slovak Czech Slovak...
The Serbs of Croatia (Serbo-Croatian: Срби у Хрватској / Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs (Serbo-Croatian: Хрватски Срби / Hrvatski Srbi) constitute...
Our Croatia (Croatian: Naša Hrvatska) is a Croatian political alliance that was created on 7 October 2023, initially by the Social Democrats and the Croatian...