I'm considering giving one of these languages a try... I understand that Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian are all mutually intelligible, but what about Slovenian? Is that mutually intelligible as well? What about Macedonian and Bulgarian?
Another on South Slavic languages
I was recently in Serbia visiting family.
According to my cousin, who is native Serbian, you are correct: Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian are mutually intelligible. As far as Serbian and Croatian are concerned, the only real difference is in pronunciation (and therefore spelling) of certain vowels (Coatian tends to use more glides--mleko [Serbian "milk"] vs mljeko/mljejko [Croatian "milk"], and some difference in primary vocabulary (similar to US and British English truck vs lorry, etc)
Slovenian and Macedonian on the other hand are not mutually intelligible, but are according to him, still closely related. There are some words that are the same or similar, but others that show divergence and others that are flat out different. He cannot understand either of them.
He did not comment on Bulgarian.
According to my cousin, who is native Serbian, you are correct: Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian are mutually intelligible. As far as Serbian and Croatian are concerned, the only real difference is in pronunciation (and therefore spelling) of certain vowels (Coatian tends to use more glides--mleko [Serbian "milk"] vs mljeko/mljejko [Croatian "milk"], and some difference in primary vocabulary (similar to US and British English truck vs lorry, etc)
Slovenian and Macedonian on the other hand are not mutually intelligible, but are according to him, still closely related. There are some words that are the same or similar, but others that show divergence and others that are flat out different. He cannot understand either of them.
He did not comment on Bulgarian.
What guest said about SCB is absolutely right. sic.
Macedonian and Bulgarian belong to another language group and are basically the same. Bulgarians claim that Macedonians do not even exist as ethnicity, but I'm not going to go there.
Slovenian is on the other hand closer to Slovak or Czech.
Anyway, anyone who lived in former Yugoslavia can understand each other to some degree, due to cultural exposure and such. Hell, we even know some Albanian.
Macedonian and Bulgarian belong to another language group and are basically the same. Bulgarians claim that Macedonians do not even exist as ethnicity, but I'm not going to go there.
Slovenian is on the other hand closer to Slovak or Czech.
Anyway, anyone who lived in former Yugoslavia can understand each other to some degree, due to cultural exposure and such. Hell, we even know some Albanian.
To sum it up, if you learn Serbian or Croatian you'll be understood in all exyu countries, but you will not be able to understand a lot of Slovenian, Macedonian and SCB dialects. However, they all speak little (or much) standard SCB so you'll communicate normally.
Problem is; if you learn C, you can have trouble with Serbians, and if you learn S, Croatians ... you get it. But, if you show good will and learn few local expressions and pronunciation peculiarities, they'll be nice to you.
Problem is; if you learn C, you can have trouble with Serbians, and if you learn S, Croatians ... you get it. But, if you show good will and learn few local expressions and pronunciation peculiarities, they'll be nice to you.
This is not entirely true. Serbian and Croatian have only 1 dialect in common (stokavski), but there are 2 more dialects of Croatian: kajkavski (close to Slovenian language, spoken in the North of Croatia, including Zagreb basilect) and cakavski (spoken on the West Coast and NorthCoast of Croatia). So, a person from Zagreb can perfectly understand Slovenian language, but a person from Belgrade cannot. Stokavski is almost a foreign language in most advanced parts of Croatia (it is spoken mostly in the backward parts of Croatia bordering Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro).
Duh. (not secret; fashionable)
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/albanian.htm
Not sure I agree about the fashionable part, but it's a good looking script.
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/albanian.htm
Not sure I agree about the fashionable part, but it's a good looking script.
<<a person from Zagreb can perfectly understand Slovenian language<<
A person from north Croatia can understand Slovenian better, but never perfectly, since it's very different from Croatian.
<<Stokavski is almost a foreign language in most advanced parts of Croatia (it is spoken mostly in the backward parts of Croatia bordering Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro).<<
Sorry, but you have no clue. Štokavski is standard Croatian. LOL
A person from north Croatia can understand Slovenian better, but never perfectly, since it's very different from Croatian.
<<Stokavski is almost a foreign language in most advanced parts of Croatia (it is spoken mostly in the backward parts of Croatia bordering Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro).<<
Sorry, but you have no clue. Štokavski is standard Croatian. LOL
Secret agent, lol. No, languages are my hobby-a hobby with a purpose and a transferable skill.
Secret Agent Skippy probably has another name in the world of intrigue.
Seriously, I wish I could learn Hungarian, so I'd be interested in learning about the progress of anyone who has studied this language. Regrettably, I can't devote time to a language I can't use on a regular basis.
I couldn't find any good resources for Bosnian, so I started Serbo-Croatian last year. A lady and a man I met could understand me even though I used Serbo-Croatian as a starting point. I still haven't sorted out which groups use which words, but it's a language I enjoy.
I find it has very regular pronunciation, so people who complain about English spelling or French should enjoy this "easy" aspect about Serbo-Croatian. It's not for everyone, though.
Secret Agent Skippy probably has another name in the world of intrigue.
Seriously, I wish I could learn Hungarian, so I'd be interested in learning about the progress of anyone who has studied this language. Regrettably, I can't devote time to a language I can't use on a regular basis.
I couldn't find any good resources for Bosnian, so I started Serbo-Croatian last year. A lady and a man I met could understand me even though I used Serbo-Croatian as a starting point. I still haven't sorted out which groups use which words, but it's a language I enjoy.
I find it has very regular pronunciation, so people who complain about English spelling or French should enjoy this "easy" aspect about Serbo-Croatian. It's not for everyone, though.
People choose languages for various reasons. I don't think that Xie, for example, would choose SCB. Xie is from Hong Kong, I believe.
From what I can discern, SCB is not a popular language to learn and there don't seem to be a lot of good resources for it. People have to really want to learn it.
In my case, there are opportunities to practice/use the language, so it's not a waste of time to learn it. I also find it to be an attractive language and some of the Russian I've learned helps me along with it.
From what I can discern, SCB is not a popular language to learn and there don't seem to be a lot of good resources for it. People have to really want to learn it.
In my case, there are opportunities to practice/use the language, so it's not a waste of time to learn it. I also find it to be an attractive language and some of the Russian I've learned helps me along with it.