Languages of Serbia

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Languages of Serbia
Serbia Language Map 2002.png
Linguistic map of Serbia according to settlements
Official Serbian
Regional Hungarian, Bosnian, Romani, Slovak, Albanian, Romanian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Rusyn
Signed Yugoslav Sign Language
Keyboard layout

Serbia has only one nationwide official language, which is Serbian. The largest other languages spoken in Serbia include Hungarian, Bosnian and Croatian. The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina has 6 official languages: Serbian, Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Rusyn; whilst Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, which Serbia claims as its own, has two: Albanian and Serbian.

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Serbian language

The Serbian language predominates in most of Serbia. The Bosnian and Croatian language, which are, according to census, spoken in some parts of Serbia are virtually identical to Serbian, while many speakers of the Bulgarian language from south-eastern Serbia speak in the Torlakian dialect, which is considered to be one of the transitional dialects between Bulgarian and Serbian languages.

The Serbian language spoken in Serbia has several dialects: Šumadija-Vojvodina, Smederevo-Vršac, Kosovo-Resava, Prizren South Morava, Svrljig-Zaplanje, Timok-Lužnica (Torlakian), Eastern Herzegovina, and Zeta-South Sandžak. The Šumadija-Vojvodina and Eastern Herzegovina dialects are the basis for modern standard Serbian.

Throughout part of southern Serbia, a dialect by the name of Torlakian is spoken. Although it has no standard form and continues to be spoken without any form of official status, Torlakian may be seen by some as constituting a separate language. It forms a part of the South Slavic dialect continuum, and is transitional between the eastern south Slavic languages (mainly Bulgarian and Macedonian) and the western south Slavic languages (of which Serbian is a part).

Minority languages

Street name sign, Marshal Tito Street, in Serbian, Slovak, and Hungarian languages, in the village of Belo Blato. Street name sign, Marshall Tito Street, in Serbian, Slovak, and Hungarian languages, in Belo Blato, part of Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia.JPG
Street name sign, Marshal Tito Street, in Serbian, Slovak, and Hungarian languages, in the village of Belo Blato.

Besides Serbian, which is the official language in the whole country, there are five minority languages in the official use by the provincial administration in Vojvodina: Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Rusyn, and Croatian. Serbian is the main language used by provincial administration and by all city and municipal administrations in Vojvodina. The other five languages are used by provincial administration and by selected city or municipal administrations. In practice, Serbian is a lingua franca of the region and number of declared native speakers of Serbian in the province exceeds the number of declared ethnic Serbs. Among other languages, Hungarian and Slovak are dominant in several municipalities, while other languages are dominant only in several villages.

In total there are 15 minority languages spoken in Serbia. [1] Those languages are Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Bunjevac, Croatian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Macedonian, Romani, Romanian, Pannonian Rusyn, Slovak, Ukrainian and "Vlach" (name under which the Romanian spoken in the Timok Valley is known). [1] The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was signed by Serbia and Montenegro in 2005. [2] Republic of Serbia as the successor of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro continue its legal obligations toward charter and it entered into force in 2006. [2] In municipalities where certain minority constitute more than 15% of total population introduction of a minority language in official use is compulsory. [2] Additionally, In province of Vojvodina, minority language and script which is not in official use on the entire territory of the municipality shall be introduced into official use in a settlements of that municipality if the percentage of given minority reaches 25% in that settlement. [2]

Constitution of the Republic of Serbia stipulates that Serbian language and Cyrillic script shall be in the official use, while official use of other languages and scripts shall be regulated by law. However in recent times the Latin alphabet has become increasingly popular, especially with the youth. [3] In addition, provision of Article 79 specifies the right of people belonging to minority national communities to preserve cultural identity, which shall also include the right to use their own languages and scripts. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slovak language</span> West Slavic language spoken primarily in Slovakia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serbian language</span> South Slavic language of the Balkans

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 Kosovo. It is a recognized minority language in Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rusyn language</span> East Slavic language

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vojvodina</span> Northernmost Autonomous province of Serbia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Slavic languages</span> Language family

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Vojvodina</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romanians in Serbia</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torlakian dialects</span> Group of South Slavic dialects

Torlakian, or Torlak, is a group of Eastern 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 area, which is part of the broader Balkan sprachbund. According to UNESCO's list of endangered languages, Torlakian is vulnerable.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Hungary</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Vojvodina</span>

Languages and dialects spoken in the Serbian province of Vojvodina include South Slavic languages, West Slavic languages (Slovak), East Slavic languages (Rusyn), Hungarian, Romanian, Romani, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romanian language in Serbia</span> Status of the Romanian language in Serbia

The Romanian language is widely spoken in Serbia. This country hosts large native Romanian-speaking populations, which can be divided into the ethnic Romanians in the autonomous region of Vojvodina and the Romanian/Vlachs of the Timok Valley, a geographical region in Central Serbia. The former speak the Banat Romanian, identify as Romanians and have full rights within the autonomous region. Romanian is one of the six officially recognized languages of Vojvodina. Romanian/Vlachs speak archaic varieties of the Banat and Oltenian Romanian. Some of the members of community do not identify as Romanians and their language is not recognized as Romanian within Serbia. A "Vlach language" has gone under attempted standardization in the country, using a Cyrillic alphabet. This has been criticized in Romania, and attempts to bring Romanian-language resources and education to the Timok Vlachs have been blocked by the Serbian authorities.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pannonian Rusyn</span> Dialect of Rusyn

Pannonian Rusyn, also historically referred to as Yugoslav Rusyn, is a variety of the Rusyn language, spoken by the Pannonian Rusyns, primarily in the regions of Vojvodina and Slavonia, and also in the Pannonian Rusyn diaspora in the United States and Canada. Since Rusyns are officially recognized as a national minority both in Serbia and Croatia, their language is also recognized as a minority language, and in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Serbia) it is employed as one of six official provincial languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dialects of Serbo-Croatian</span>

The dialects of Serbo-Croatian include the vernacular forms and standardized sub-dialect forms of Serbo-Croatian as a whole or as part of its standard varieties: Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian. They are part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that joins through the transitional Torlakian dialects the Macedonian dialects to the south, Bulgarian dialects to the southeast and Slovene dialects to the northwest.

The ethnic groups in Yugoslavia were grouped into constitutive peoples and minorities.

The various regional and minority languages in Europe encompass four categories:

References

  1. 1 2 "Latest Council of Europe report on regional or minority Languages in Serbia published". The Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES-APPLICATION OF THE CHARTER IN SERBIA, 2nd monitoring cycle" (PDF). Council of Europe . Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Official Use of Languages and Scripts in the AP Vojvodina". Pokrajinski sekretarijat za obrazovanje, propise, upravu i nacionalne manjine – nacionalne zajednice. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
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