South Slavic languages

Slavic languages tree

South Slavic dialect continuum

Nouvi Zakon (razstava)

Bulgaro-macedonian-dialect-continuum

Bulgarian dialect map-yus

South Slavic languages form a branch of the Slavic languages, a group within the larger family of Indo-European languages. These languages are primarily spoken in the Balkans, a region in Southeast Europe, encompassing countries such as Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. The South Slavic languages are divided into two main groups: the Western South Slavic languages and the Eastern South Slavic languages.

Classification

The South Slavic languages are classified into two groups:

Western South Slavic Languages

• Slovene: Spoken in Slovenia.
• Serbo-Croatian: A pluricentric language, with four standard variants:
  • Bosnian: Spoken in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Croatian: Spoken in Croatia.
  • Montenegrin: Spoken in Montenegro.
  • Serbian: Spoken in Serbia.

Eastern South Slavic Languages

• Bulgarian: Spoken in Bulgaria.
• Macedonian: Spoken in North Macedonia.

Characteristics

South Slavic languages share several linguistic characteristics, distinguishing them from other Slavic branches. These include the loss of the Proto-Slavic nasal sounds, the use of the definite article as a postpositive (added after the noun), and the development of a complex tense system in their verbs. Additionally, the South Slavic languages exhibit a high degree of mutual intelligibility, particularly among the Western South Slavic languages.

History

The South Slavic languages have a rich history, with their origins tracing back to the Slavic peoples who migrated to the Balkan region in the early Middle Ages. Over the centuries, these languages have been influenced by various other languages and cultures, including Byzantine Greek, Ottoman Turkish, and Latin, due to the historical political and cultural shifts in the region.

Writing Systems

The South Slavic languages use two main alphabets:

• The Cyrillic script is used by Serbian, Macedonian, and Bulgarian.
• The Latin script is used by Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin.

Contemporary Issues

The South Slavic linguistic area is marked by its linguistic diversity and the political and cultural issues surrounding language identity and standardization. The breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s led to a heightened focus on linguistic identity, with debates over the distinctiveness of the languages that were once considered dialects of Serbo-Croatian.

See Also

• Slavic languages
• Yugoslavia
• Balkans
• Linguistic diversity