Serbo-Croatian dialects

The primary dialects of Serbo-Croatian language are named after the word for what. Čakavian (čakavski) uses the word ča; Kajkavian (kajkavski), kaj; and Štokavian (štokavski), što or šta. However, outside of this classification are Burgenland Croatian and Torlakian (torlački).

Furthermore, there are three ways of rendering the Proto-Slavic vowel jat. Čakavian mainly uses i, Kajkavian mainly uses e while the Štokavian dialect is broken down into a secondary subdivision based on whether ije or e is used.

Each of these primary and secondary dialectical units break down into subdialects and accents by region. In the past, it was not uncommon for individual villages to have some of their own words and phrases. However, throughout the twentieth century the various dialects have been strongly influenced by the Štokavian standards through mass media and public education, and much of the "local color" has been lost.

With the breakup of Yugoslavia, nationalism has also caused many, especially in Bosnia and Hercegovina, to modify their speech, or even attempt to change dialects entirely. The various wars have also caused mass migrations, and changed the ethnic makeup of some areas, especially in Bosnia, but also in Croatia and Serbia, especially in Vojvodina. In some areas it is unclear whether location or ethnicity is now the dominant factor in the dialect of the speaker.

Because of these forces, the speech patterns of some communities and regions are in a state of flux, and it is difficult to determine which dialects will die out entirely. Further research over the next few decades will be necessary to determine the changes made in the dialectical distribution of the language.

Although most linguists nowadays consider Štokavian, Čakavian, and Kajkavian as three dialects of one common language, there is a basis for considering the three as distinct tongues. However, since there are no clear-cut criteria for distinguishing a language from a dialect, and dialects are usually described in reference to standard languages, the notion of a diasystem is frequently used instead of Serbo-Croatian.

The example sentence in the following sections means approximately "What is, is; it's how it always was, what will be, will be, and it'll be somehow!"

Rendering of yat

The Proto-Slavic vowel jat has changed over time and is now being rendered in three different ways:

• In Ekavian (ekavski), jat has morphed into the vowel e.
• in Ikavian (ikavski), the vowel i.
• in Ijekavian or Jekavian (ijekavski or jekavski), the diphthong ije or je, depending on whether the vowel was long or short.

The following are some examples:

The first two examples involve long vowels. For instance, the first e in vreme and the i in vrime are long, so the long diphthong ije is found in the Ijekavian form. In the third and fourth examples, the corresponding ekavian and ikavian vowels are short, so the short diphthong je is found in the Ijekavian form.

However, there are some cases where that pattern of correspondence is altered. The fifth example, selo, is there as an example of a word in which the e did not derive from jat, and hence the word is the same in all three dialects. In other cases, especially when the jat follows an r, Ijekavian also formed out an e, as we see in the sixth example, or an i as in the seventh example.

Štokavian

Main article: Štokavian dialect

The Štokavian dialect is spoken in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and the greater part of Croatia. The Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian standard languages are all based on the štokavian dialect.

The primary subdivisions of Štokavian are based on the different ways the jat vowel has been changed. There are other differences between the standard dialects, including vocabulary, some syntax, and orthography. See Differences in official languages in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia.

Example: Što jest, jest; tako je uv(ij)ek bilo, što će biti, (biće|bit će), a nekako već će biti!
(The first option in the middle of the sentence is a difference between ekavian and ijekavian. The second option in the middle is an orthographic difference between Serbian and Croatian norms, respectively.)

Kajkavian

Main article: Kajkavian dialect

Kajkavian is mostly spoken in northern Croatia, in and around Zagreb and near the Hungarian and Slovenian borders. It renders jat mostly as e, but note that this rendering cannot be equated to that of the ekavian štokavian dialects, as many kajkavian dialects distinguish a closed e (from jat) and an open e (from original e).

It also lacks several phonemes found in other dialects and has loanwords from the nearby Slovenian dialects as well as Russian.

Example: Kak je, tak je; tak je navek bilo, kak bu tak bu, a bu vre nekak kak bu!

Čakavian

Main article: Čakavian dialect

Čakavian is spoken in the western and southern parts of Croatia, mainly in Istria and Dalmatia. The Čakavian renders jat as i as well as as e, or even mixed Ekavian-Ikavian. Many dialects of Čakavian have a lot of loan words from Venetian and Italian.

Example: Ča je, je, tako je navik bilo, ča će bit, će bit, a nekako već će bit!

Dialects and official languages

The Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian standard languages are all mainly based on the Štokavian dialect, although if they are considered as systems of dialects, one might observe that:

• Serbian is a system of two dialects: štokavian and torlak.
• Croatian is a system of three dialects: čakavian, štokavian and kajkavian.
• Bosnian is based solely on štokavian dialect.

Although most linguists nowadays consider the štokavian, čakavian and kajkavian as three dialects of one common language, there is basis for considering the three as distinct tongues. However, since there is no clear-cut criterion for distinguishing a language from a dialect, and dialects are usually described in reference to standard languages, the notion of a diasystem is frequently used instead of Serbo-Croatian.

Minor and/or transitional dialects

Torlakian

There also exists a fourth dialect, called torlački or torlak, which is spoken in southern and eastern parts of Serbia, and it is often referred to as a transitional phase between štokavian and Macedonian.

It is even thought to fit into the so-called Balkan Sprachbund, an area of linguistic convergence among languages due to long-term contact rather than being related.

Burgenland Croatian

This dialect is spoken primarily in the federal state of Burgenland in Austria, but also in nearby areas in Vienna, Slovakia, and Hungary by descendants of Croats who migrated there in the 16th century. Because they were separated from other Croats for so long, this dialect or possibly family of dialects is quite different from standard Croatian. It has been heavily influenced by German and also Hungarian. In addition, it has some properties from all three of the major dialectical groups in Croatia, as the migrants did not all come from the same areas of Croatia.

At most 100,000 people speak Burgenland Croatian and almost all are bilingual in German. Its future is uncertain, but there is some movement to preserve it. It has official status in six districts of Burgenland, and is used in some schools in Burgenland and neighboring western parts of Hungary.

Molise Croatian

Main article: Molise Slavic language

The so-called Molise Slavic language is a dialect spoken in three villages of the Italian region of Molise by the descendants of South Slavs who migrated there from the eastern Adriatic coast in the 15th century. Because these people have migrated away from the rest of their kinsmen so long ago, their diaspora language is rather distinct from the standard language, and rather influenced by Italian.

In addition, they have not been influenced by romantic nationalism of the 19th century (unlike the people in Burgenland, who were separated but still within the same empire) so they have come to refer to their language merely as "Slavic". There has been some controversy as to whether they are Molise Croats or Molise Serbs. Currently they are generally considered to be Croatian rather than Serbian.

External links

• Burgenland Croat Center (in English, German and Croatian)