# Serbo-Croatian (BCS): Dialects



## buonasara

I have just started learning Serbo-Croatian, but I would like to learn a dialect.  Does anybody have any suggestions?

Many thanks


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## alby

Hi
You can check thread about defferences between those two languages 
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=36982 

Im not sure about the dialect because Croatian dialects are different then Serbian (depends of a region), so maybe you can tell what are you interested in? 

Nataša


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## buonasara

I'm interested in learning Montenegrin dialects because I know a family very well who is from there.  However, I don't know the name of the dialect they speak (and neither do they), and I'd really like to find out to make my learning easier.
Are there any learning programs out there which focus on dialects instead of the "official" language?


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## Aldin

Well if you want to learn BHS language(Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian or Serbo-Croatian) you should try to learn Serbian variant.It's much easier and everyone understands Serbian because it has changed during the war period.In my opinion Montenegrin dialect is the worst choice,since it's not very nice for ears.You should definitely choose Serbian dialect,primary because,well I speak Bosnian and sometimes I can't tell is it IJE,JE, or E.In Serbian is always E so it's very easy to learn that.Don't bother learning dialects.Serbo-Croatian is a difficult language,try to learn the basics,and If you have someone from Bosnia,Croatia,Serbia,Montenegro ask that person to help you in pronounciation,because people who speak English as their native have great difficulties in pronouncing sounds like:
LJ,NJ,R,V, and vowels.Another tip,forget about English,when you learn a foreign language you need to forget about your own.There aren't much similarities between Serbo-Croatian and English.Phonetics are quite different and Morphology is very complicated in Serbo-Croatian,but Syntax is a bit easier than in English,because there isn't sequence of tenses in Serbo-Croatian.
Try to learn both alphabets,cyrillic is very easy.
And by numbers:
Bosnian- 2 millions
Croatian -5 millions
Serbian -9 millions
Montenegrin -less than a million

IJEKAVICA-Bosnian,Croatian,Montenegrin
EKAVICA-Serbian

Good luck with Serbo-Croatian!

Sretno ti i berićetno bilo!


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## alby

Hi
Official language in Montenegro was Serbian with IJEKAVICA dialect (that is used in Croatia and Bosnia as Aldin said), but since they separate from Serbia they will probably get official Montenegrin language (so you will have no problem with dialect )...Now you can just start learning serbian using Ijekavica ( Dijete (C/B/M) - Dete (Serbian) = child).
by the way Montenegrins are streetching words when they talk  and they have 33 letters http://www.montenegro.org/pictures/abeceda.gif ,not like Serbian and Croatian 30, so the are very recognizable because of this
Wish you all the best!

Nataša


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## natasha2000

I really think that you should start learning neutral variant, because the language is very difficult. When you start to dominate it, then you can go for dialects. It's just as if I told you I wanted to learn Irish English. I should start from neutral basis, and when my knowledge is good enough then I can start immersing into differences of dialects, and start distinguishing Irish English from Texas English or South Carolina English....

And until now, Montenegrian had 30 letters just like all other ex-Yugoslav languages. This adding of 3 letters more is just a political stuff, it has nothing to do with linguistics.

Whichever variant you choose to learn (Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian), you should learn the "official" variant first. It is hard enough you don't need to start with dialectal differences, because I am sure it will only confuse you and not help you, and learning the "official" variant, everyone can understand you.

If you are interested in the variant of the language that is spoken in Montenegro, you should try to find some books from that part of the country. Ask your friends from Montenegro to help you. the language variant is called: ŠTOKAVSKI, ijekavica.

Good luck!

PS: I do like to hear Montenegrin accent. I find it very unique. It is more harsh than anz other spoken in the ground of ex-yu countries, but it has it's own, wildish charm, just like the people.

but as Aladin said, it is just my opinion, and ... DE GUSTIBUS NON EST DISPUTANDUM.


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## buonasara

Thank you all--You've given me some helpful advice


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## Aldin

Well,If you go for official Bosnian there are words that don't exist neither in Croation nor in Serbian,the new words that suddenly appeared after the war in Bosnia.In official Bosnian grammars the 'new' words are:
ball=lopta,but in Bosnian you can say HLOPTA
widow=udovica,in Bosnian HUDOVICA
to yawn=zijevati,in Bosnian ZIJEHATI
And in Croatian there are new words that I can't tell what they mean
like ODKRAJ;NEVERIN(E)
I really think that you should start learning Serbian because it's understandable to all Croatians and Bosnians,at least I don't have any problems understanding them completely.It's much easier to learn EKAVICA than IJEKAVICA since speakers of IJEKAVICA have problems in writting IJE,JE or E.Believe me EKAVICA is the easiest variant of the same language.And you can call it Bosnian,officialy people in SANDŽAK speak Bosnian but they use EKAVICA,and people in REPUBLIKA SRPSKA speak Serbian but they use IJEKAVICA.


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## alby

Hi Aldin
I just wanted to say that Croatian word *NEVERIN *is not new word, It's a Dalmatian word that came from Italian (nevaia), and it means storm on the sea (strong wind and rain), and this word is in use since Venetian Republic. This term is used only for the weather at the sea. And I have never heard for word ODKRAJ ("from the end") in this form. 

Nataša


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## TonySanDiego

One thing that you have to remember, and that not many here will tell you because they are already either Croats, Serbs, Bosnians, Montenegrins, is that they will tell you the pros about their language. As I am neither of the aforementioned, but I speak Ijekavski and Ekavski fluently, I can say that you should speak the dialect of the place the people are with whom you are communicating. If you plan on going to Dalmatia on vacation, of course you should not learn Ekavski (Serbian) because you might be frowned upon. The war is not far away and there is still hatred in many parts of the ex-Yugoslavia. The same is if you are planning to make trips to only Belgrade. You would not want to learn Ijekavski (Croatian).

Tony
Srecno/sretshno/! (Serbian)
Sretno! (Croatian)
=good luck!


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## natasha2000

TonySanDiego said:
			
		

> The same is if you are planning to make trips to only Belgrade. You would not want to learn Ijekavski (Croatian).


 

Tony, please *speak for yourself*.
This is not true. There are so many people living in Belgrade who speak ijekavski.
 Instead of trying to help wonds heal, you keep them open. Good for you.

And if you did not read other posts, maybe you should do that. Aladin is from Bosnia, and he speaks ijekavski, and he recommends ekavski variant.


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## Mala

Hi, Buonasara!
If you want to learn the language that is the closest to your Montenegrin friends' dialect, then you should learn the IJEKAVSKi variant. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask your friends to send you some sort of Montenegrin textbook intended for foreigners who want to learn the Montenegrin language. I agree with the others that you should learn the standard language, and grasp the dialect through visits to Montenegro, or through talking and corresponding with your friends there. If you learn standard Croatian, or standard Serbian or Bosnian, in each case you will be understood by almost anyone coming from ex-Yugoslavia. It could be said that Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are variants of the same language, e.g. something like British English, American English or Australian English. (although the language history is quite different, but that's a completely different topic )
Good luck with your studies!


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## Mala

Oh, yes...there's something else I would like to point out - I don't think buonasara should worry about IJE, JE, Č, Ć.. these are things even some native speakers have problems with. And no one expects a foreigner to speak a newly acquired language perfectly, right?


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## Maja

Mala said:
			
		

> Hi, Buonasara!
> ... the Montenegrin language...



As far as I know, there is no such thing as "Montenegrin" language, at least not  YET (until politics intervenes again and creates one)! Respectively!


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## Mala

Yes, you're right. I was reffering to the language spoken in Montenegro. I find it easier to call it Montenegrin somehow. What's in a name, after all?  Let's leave it to linguists to decide upon that one..


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## Maja

Mala said:
			
		

> ...Let's leave it to linguists to decide upon that one...



Agreed... 

Pozdrav!


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## Setwale_Charm

For myself, I would like to learn the Bosnian variant particularly. I can more or less manage in Serbian but I have to work in Bosnia every year and, as I work with some touchy issues, I do not want to provoke still more negative reaction by speaking the decidedly Serbian way. But who could enlighten me what the exact differences are?


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## Setwale_Charm

Maja said:


> As far as I know, there is no such thing as "Montenegrin" language, at least not YET (until politics intervenes again and creates one)! Respectively!


 
 That`s a very apt observation, Maja!! That`s the way it happens.


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## lazarus78

On October 22nd Montenegrin Parliament passed the new Constitution. 

The official languages in the Republic are: Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Albanian. 

In any case, the state institutions (including TV and radio stations) obviously stress the Montengrin accent, including the "sj" as in _sjutra _

Regards, 

Lazarus


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## Petter

In my view & experience, the dialects doesn't differ that much, and whichever you chose you should have no problems communicating with people all around x-yugoslavia (except maybe in Macedonia, where younger people don't speak so well serbo-croatian, although they generally understand)


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## Petter

And I should add, contrary to what other people say in this thread, I don't find the language particularly difficult to learn. The best part, is that the written form is almost entirely phonetic, so that when you know how to spell a word, you know how to pronounce it, and the other way around.

Good luck!!


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## Tolovaj_Mataj

Mala said:


> I find it easier to call it Montenegrin somehow. What's in a name, after all?


According to Nadrealisti, there's not one language in MN but two, _crnski i gorski_. 

Have fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Ia15riHRw


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## lazarus78

Hahahaha! 

Great link!


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## Athaulf

Petter said:


> And I should add, contrary to what other people say in this thread, I don't find the language particularly difficult to learn. The best part, is that the written form is almost entirely phonetic, so that when you know how to spell a word, you know how to pronounce it, and the other way around.



Not if you want to get the stress right. You'll have a pretty hard time figuring out how to understandably pronounce sentences such as _"gore gore gore gore"_ or _"kose kose kose"_ just from their written form.


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## el_tigre

Aldin said:


> And you can call it Bosnian,officialy people in SANDŽAK speak Bosnian but they use EKAVICA



 I remember a  detail: A  month  ago I had a business appointment to a men who was working for some German company. He gave me a visit-card : isaw his name was *Kenan*. That made me (And my colleague) to believe that he was from Bosnia. but, after listening to hime just couple sentences I realized that his speech is tipycally Serbian.Nothing that would indicate that he was frm Bosnia.!!
Later listening to him I have heard him prononcing word  "prob*l*em" as "prob*lj*em" like people from Kosovo do. 
I asked him :-Are you from Kosova?
-No! What Kosovo... I am from Serbia!  From *Novi Pazar*!
-Ah ,you are Sandžakli (*Sandžaklija*)   ?! 
-Right, Sandžakli!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand%C5%BEak

Anyway , listening to him EVERYBODY  would say he is from Serbia. Nobody would connect   him to Bosnia on anyway.


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## Glitz

el_tigre said:


> I remember a detail: A month ago I had a business appointment to a men who was working for some German company. He gave me a visit-card : isaw his name was *Kenan*. That made me (And my colleague) to believe that he was from Bosnia. but, after listening to hime just couple sentences I realized that his speech is tipycally Serbian.Nothing that would indicate that he was frm Bosnia.!!
> Later listening to him I have heard him prononcing word "prob*l*em" as "prob*lj*em" like people from Kosovo do.
> I asked him :-Are you from Kosova?
> -No! What Kosovo... I am from Serbia! From *Novi Pazar*!
> -Ah ,you are Sandžakli (*Sandžaklija*) ?!
> -Right, Sandžakli!
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandžak
> 
> Anyway , listening to him EVERYBODY would say he is from Serbia. Nobody would connect him to Bosnia on anyway.


 
Can't he have just been a Bosnian - Serb?!


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## Athaulf

Glitz said:


> Can't he have just been a Bosnian - Serb?!



The dialect spoken by someone from Bosnia depends only on their place of origin, not ethnicity. Of course, a Croat or Serb might consciously strive to use more Croatian or Serbian words, but the natural language is the same across the ethnicities in any given place. (I guess if we're really going to split hairs, there might be some small differences in the parts of vocabulary strongly influenced by religion, but these would hardly be perceptible in a typical everyday conversation.)


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## tkekte

Tolovaj_Mataj said:


> According to Nadrealisti, there's not one language in MN but two, _crnski i gorski_.
> 
> Have fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Ia15riHRw


Hehehe.. Even I understood everything, and my language is Russian.  Though I've been learning some Bulgarian, which helped me understand some words, like "dali" and "momak".



			
				Athaulf said:
			
		

> Not if you want to get the stress right. You'll have a pretty hard time figuring out how to understandably pronounce sentences such as "gore gore gore gore" or "kose kose kose" just from their written form.


What do those mean?  I'm guessing the first one might be something like "the forest up there is burning".


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## Athaulf

tkekte said:


> What do those mean?  I'm guessing the first one might be something like "the forest up there is burning".



That's a pretty good guess:
_
Gore gore gore gore. = The mountains up there are burning worse.
__Kose kose kose. = The bent scythes are mowing. 

_ These are of course contrived examples, but they do show the importance of the lexical stress, which is not marked in writing. None of the above words are real homonyms -- all of them are stressed in different ways.


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## el_tigre

Glitz said:


> Can't he have just been a Bosnian - Serb?!



1.He said he was from Serbia-explicitely!
2.I mentioned that his name was *Kenan* because it is common amoung Bosnaian muslims which made me believe that he was from Bosnia.


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## Glitz

el_tigre said:


> 1.He said he was from Serbia-explicitely!
> 2.I mentioned that his name was *Kenan* because it is common amoung Bosnaian muslims which made me believe that he was from Bosnia.


 

I know but what I mean is he can be from Serbia but just be muslim, so therefore having a name like Kenan. He's not going to then speak the Bosnian variant just becuase he is Bosnian/muslim my ehtnicity/religion rather he'll just speak in the Serbia dialect because he is from Serbia, and that is the way he has learnt to speak. Also alot of 'Bosnians' from the area you mentioned he is from choose to refer to themselves as just Serbian- Muslims, as they themselves (and family) have never set foot in Bosnia, they are just muslim.


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## Petter

Athaulf said:


> Not if you want to get the stress right. You'll have a pretty hard time figuring out how to understandably pronounce sentences such as _"gore gore gore gore"_ or _"kose kose kose"_ just from their written form.



You are right of course, stress is not possible to get from the script, but still, it is much more phonetic than, say, english or french, where there is a huge gap between how it is written and how it is pronounced


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