Bosnian

Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are one grammatical system with three standards and a great deal of politics.

What sets it apart

• Speakers of the three understand each other completely, which is the usual test for calling something one language.
• Bosnian keeps more Turkish loanwords than the other two, a leftover of four centuries of Ottoman rule.
• Both alphabets are official, and they map onto each other letter by letter with no ambiguity.
• The pitch of a vowel can change the word. Four different accents, and dictionaries mark all of them.
• Seven cases, and a vocative used every time you address someone by name.

What it opens

One grammar shared with Croatian and Serbian: learn it and three countries open at once, in both alphabets if you want them. Sarajevo's coffee culture, Mostar's bridge, and songs of sevdah that hit like fado: the Balkans at their most open-hearted.

Words with no translation

All the untranslatable words →

Next to its neighbours

Where Bosnian parts company with the languages closest to it, and what each one would cost you from here.

Bosnian vs Bulgarian → Bosnian vs Serbian → Bosnian vs Croatian →

Bosnian in the archive, next to the other sixty-six →