Bosnian language

 ( Languages Of Albania ) 

Bosnian (; bosanski / босански; ), sometimes referred to as Bosniak (bošnjački / бошњачки; ),

is the standard variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Bosniaks.

Danko Šipka (2025). 9789533130866, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9789533130866

Snježana Kordić (2025). 9780367471910, Routledge. ISBN 9780367471910

Bosnian is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina,See Art. 6 of the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, available at the official website of Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina alongside Croatian and Serbian language, all of which are mutually intelligible. It is also an officially recognized minority language in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo.

Driton Muharremi and Samedin Mehmeti (2025). 9781461467205, Springer. . ISBN 9781461467205

Bosnian uses both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, with Latin in everyday use.

Tomasz Kamusella (2009). 9780230550704, Palgrave Macmillan. . ISBN 9780230550704

It is notable among the varieties of Serbo-Croatian for a number of Arabic, Persian language and Ottoman Turkish loanwords, largely due to the language's interaction with those cultures through Islamic ties.

Bosnian is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian, more specifically on Eastern Herzegovinian, which is also the basis of standard Croatian, Serbian and Montenegrin varieties. Therefore, the Declaration on the Common Language of Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins was issued in 2017 in Sarajevo.

Aldo Zanelli (2025). 9783830097730, Kovač. ISBN 9783830097730

(NSK). (FFZG) Although the common name for the common language remains 'Serbo-Croatian', newer alternatives such as 'Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian' and 'Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian' have been increasingly utilised since the 1990s, Radio Free Europe – Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Or Montenegrin? Or Just 'Our Language'? Živko Bjelanović: Similar, But Different, Feb 21, 2009, accessed Oct 8, 2010 especially within diplomatic circles.

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Alphabet Table of the modern Bosnian alphabet in both Latin and Cyrillic, as well as with the IPA value, sorted according to Cyrilic:

{ class="wikitable" !Cyrillic script !Latin alphabet !IPA value
А а	A a
Б б	B b
В в	V v
Г г	G g
Д д	D d
Dje	Đ đ
Е е	E e
Ж ж	Ž ž
З з	Z z
И и	I i
Ј ј	J j
К к	K k
Л л	L l
Lje	Lj lj
М м	M m

|

Н н	N n
Nje	Nj nj
О о	O o
П п	P p
Р р	R r
С с	S s
Т т	T t
Tshe	Ć ć
У у	U u
Ф ф	F f
Х х	H h
Ц ц	C c
Ч ч	Č č
Dzhe	Dž dž
Ш ш	Š š

|}

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History

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Standardization Although Bosnians are, at the level of vernacular, linguistically more homogeneous than either Serbians or Croatians, unlike those nations they failed to codify a standard language in the 19th century, with at least two factors being decisive:

• The Bosnian elite, as closely intertwined with Ottoman life, wrote predominantly in foreign (Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish) languages. Vernacular literature written in Bosnian with the Arebica script was relatively thin and sparse.
• The Bosnians' national emancipation lagged behind that of the Serbs and Croats and because denominational rather than cultural or linguistic issues played the pivotal role, a Bosnian language project did not arouse much interest or support amongst the intelligentsia of the time.

The modern Bosnian standard took shape in the 1990s and 2000s. Lexically, Islamic-Oriental loanwords are more frequent; phonetically: the phoneme /x/ (letter h) is reinstated in many words as a distinct feature of vernacular Bosniak speech and language tradition; also, there are some changes in grammar, morphology and orthography that reflect the Bosniak pre-World War I literary tradition, mainly that of the Bosniak renaissance at the beginning of the 20th century.

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Gallery

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Controversy and recognition The name "Bosnian language" is a controversial issue for some Croats and Serbs, who also refer to it as the "Bosniak" language (бошњачки, ). Bosniak linguists however insist that the only legitimate name is "Bosnian" language (bosanski) and that that is the name that both Croats and Serbs should use. The controversy arises because the name "Bosnian" may seem to imply that it is the language of all Bosnians, while Bosnian Croats and Serbs reject that designation for their idioms.

The language is called Bosnian language in the 1995 Dayton Agreement and is concluded by observers to have received legitimacy and international recognition at the time.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN) recognize the Bosnian language. Furthermore, the status of the Bosnian language is also recognized by bodies such as the United Nations, UNESCO and translation and interpreting accreditation agencies,

Roland Sussex (2025). 9780521223157, Cambridge University Press. . ISBN 9780521223157

including internet translation services.

Most English-speaking language encyclopedias (Routledge, Glottolog, Ethnologue, etc.)Bernard Comrie (ed.): The World's Major Languages. Second Edition. Routledge, New York/London, 2009 register the language solely as "Bosnian" language. The Library of Congress registered the language as "Bosnian" and gave it an ISO-number. The Slavic language institutes in English-speaking countries offer courses in "Bosnian" or "Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian" language, not in "Bosniak" language (e.g. Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, Washington, Kansas). The same is the case in German-speaking countries, where the language is taught under the name Bosnisch, not Bosniakisch (e.g. Vienna, Graz, Trier) with very few exceptions.

Some Croatian linguists (Zvonko Kovač, Ivo Pranjković, Josip Silić) support the name "Bosnian" language, whereas others (Radoslav Katičić, Dalibor Brozović, Tomislav Ladan) hold that the term Bosnian language is the only one appropriate and that accordingly the terms Bosnian language and Bosniak language refer to two different things. The Croatian state institutions, such as the Central Bureau of Statistics, use both terms: "Bosniak" language was used in the 2001 census, while the census in 2011 used the term "Bosnian" language.

The majority of Serbian linguists hold that the term Bosniak language is the only one appropriate, which was agreed as early as 1990.Svein Mønnesland, »Language Policy in Bosnia-Herzegovina« (pp 135–155). In: Language : Competence–Change–Contact = Sprache : Kompetenz – Kontakt – Wandel, edited by: Annikki Koskensalo, John Smeds, Rudolf de Cillia, Ángel Huguet; Berlin; Münster : Lit Verlag, 2012, , p. 143. "Already in 1990 the Committee for the Serbian language decided that only the term 'Bosniac language' should be used officially in Serbia, and this was confirmed in 1998." The original form of The Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina called the language "Bosniac language", until 2002 when it was changed in Amendment XXIX of the Constitution of the Federation by Wolfgang Petritsch. The original text of the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was agreed in Vienna and was signed by Krešimir Zubak and Haris Silajdžić on March 18, 1994.

The constitution of Republika Srpska, the Serb-dominated entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, did not recognize any language or ethnic group other than Serbian. Bosniaks were mostly expelled from the territory controlled by the Serbs from 1992, but immediately after the war they demanded the restoration of their civil rights in those territories. The Bosnian Serbs refused to make reference to the Bosnian language in their constitution and as a result had constitutional amendments imposed by High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch. However, the constitution of Republika Srpska refers to it as the Language spoken by Bosniaks, because the Serbs were required to recognise the language officially, but wished to avoid recognition of its name.

Serbia includes the Bosnian language as an elective subject in primary schools. Montenegro officially recognizes the Bosnian language: its 2007 Constitution specifically states that although Montenegrin is the official language, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian are also in official use. See Art. 13 of the Constitution of the Republic of Montenegro, adopted on 19 October 2007, available at the website of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Montenegro

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Historical usage of the term

• In the work Skazanie izjavljenno o pismeneh that was written between 1423 and 1426, the Bulgarian chronicler Constantine the Philosopher, in parallel with the Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovenian, Czech and Croatian, he also mentions the Bosnian language.
• The notary book of the town of Kotor from July 3, 1436, recounts a duke buying a girl that is described as a: "Bosnian woman, heretic and in the Bosnian language called Djevena".Aleksandar Solovjev, Trgovanje bosanskim robljem do god. 1661. - Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja, N. S., 1946, 1, 151.
• The work Thesaurus Polyglottus, published in Frankfurt in 1603 by the German historian and linguist Hieronymus Megiser, mentions the Bosnian dialect alongside the Dalmatian, Croatian and Serbian one.V. Putanec, Leksikografija, Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, V, 1962, 504.
• The Bosnian Franciscan Matija Divković, regarded as the founder of the modern literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina, asserts in his work Nauk krstjanski za narod slovinski ("The Christian doctrine for the Slavic peoples") from 1611 his "translation from Latin to the real and true Bosnian language" (A privideh iz dijačkog u pravi i istinit jezik bosanski)
• Bosniak poet and Arebica writer Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi who refers to the language of his 1632 dictionary Magbuli-arif as Bosnian.
• One of the first grammarians, the Jesuit clergyman Bartol Kašić calls the language used in his work from 1640 Ritual rimski ('Roman Rite') as naški ('our language') or bosanski ('Bosnian'). He used the term "Bosnian" even though he was born in a Chakavian region: instead he decided to adopt a "common language" (lingua communis) based on a version of Shtokavian Ikavian.Vatroslav Jagić, Iz prošlost hrvatskog jezika. Izabrani kraći spisi. Zagreb, 1948, 49.
• The Croatian linguist Jakov Mikalja (1601–1654) who states in his dictionary Blagu jezika slovinskoga (Thesaurus lingue Illyricae) from 1649 that he wants to include "the most beautiful words" adding that "of all Illyrian languages the Bosnian is the most beautiful", and that all Illyrian writers should try to write in that language.
• 18th century Bosniak chronicler Mula Mustafa Bašeskija who argues in his yearbook of collected Bosnian poems that the "Bosnian language" is much richer than the Arabic, because there are 45 words for the verb "to go" in Bosnian.
• The Venetian writer, naturalist and cartographer Alberto Fortis (1741–1803) calls in his work Viaggio in Dalmazia ("Journey to Dalmatia") the language of Morlachs as Illyrian, Morlach and Bosnian.
• The Croatian writer and lexicographer Matija Petar Katančić published six volumes of biblical translations in 1831 described as being "transferred from Slavo-Illyrian to the pronunciation of the Bosnian language".
• Croatian writer Matija Mažuranić refers in the work Pogled u Bosnu (1842) to the language of Bosnians as Illyrian (a 19th-century synonym to South Slavic languages) mixed with Turkish words, with a further statement that they are the speakers of the Bosniak language.
• The Bosnian Franciscan Ivan Franjo Jukić states in his work Zemljopis i Poviestnica Bosne (1851) that Bosnia was the only Turkish land (i.e. under the control of the Ottoman Empire) that remained entirely pure without Turkish speakers, both in the villages and so on the highlands. Further he states "... a language other than the Bosnian is not spoken in, the greatest Turkish i.e. gentlemen only speak Turkish when they are at the Vizier".
• Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, a 19th-century Croatian writer and historian, stated in his work Putovanje po Bosni (Travels into Bosnia) from 1858, how the 'Turkish' (i.e. Muslim) Bosniaks, despite converting to the Muslim faith, preserved their traditions and the Slavic mood, and that they speak the purest variant of the Bosnian language, by refusing to add Turkish words to their vocabulary.

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Differences between Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian The differences between the Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian literary standards are minimal. Although Bosnian employs more Turkish, Persian, and Arabic loanwords—commonly called orientalisms—mainly in its spoken variety due to the fact that most Bosnian speakers are Muslims, it is still very similar to both Serbian and Croatian in its written and spoken form. "Lexical differences between the ethnic variants are extremely limited, even when compared with those between closely related Slavic languages (such as standard Czech and Slovak, Bulgarian and Macedonian), and grammatical differences are even less pronounced. More importantly, complete understanding between the ethnic variants of the standard language makes translation and second language teaching impossible."

Danko Šipka (2025). 9789533130866, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9789533130866

The Bosnian language, as a new normative register of the Shtokavian dialect, was officially introduced in 1996 with the publication of Pravopis bosanskog jezika in Sarajevo. According to that work, Bosnian differed from Serbian and Croatian on some main linguistic characteristics, such as: sound formats in some words, especially "h" (kahva versus Serbian kafa); substantial and deliberate usage of Oriental ("Turkish") words; spelling of future tense (kupit ću) as in Croatian but not Serbian (kupiću) (both forms have the same pronunciation). 2018, in the new issue of Pravopis bosanskog jezika, words without "h" are accepted due to their prevalence in language practice.Archived at Ghostarchive and the target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Wayback Machine: (6-13 minute)

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Sample text Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Bosnian, written in the Cyrillic script:

Сва људска бића рађају се слободна и једнака у достојанству и правима. Она су обдарена разумом и свијешћу и треба да једно према другоме поступају у духу братства.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Bosnian, written in the Latin alphabet:

Sva ljudska bića rađaju se slobodna i jednaka u dostojanstvu i pravima. Ona su obdarena razumom i sviješću i treba da jedno prema drugome postupaju u duhu bratstva.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

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See also

• Abstand and ausbau languages
• Bosniaks
• Dialects of Serbo-Croatian
• Humac tablet
• Hval's Codex
• Language secessionism in Serbo-Croatian
• Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi
• Oriental Institute in Sarajevo
• Pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language
• Declaration on the Common Language 2017

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Notes

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Sources and further reading

• Ronelle Alexander (2025). 9780299211936, Univ of Wisconsin Press. . ISBN 9780299211936
• Bernhard Gröschel (2025). 9783826584978, Shaker. ISBN 9783826584978
• Enisa Kafadar (2025). 9783631599174, Peter Lang. ISBN 9783631599174
• (COBISS-BH).
• Snježana Kordić (2025). 9789958195907, Goethe-Institut Bosnien und Herzegowina; Ambasada Republike Austrije; Ambasada Švicarske konfederacije. ISBN 9789958195907
  (ÖNB).

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External links

• Basic Bosnian Phrases
• Learn Bosnian – List of Online Bosnian Courses
• English–Bosnian dictionary on Glosbe

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