Bosnian language

{{Infobox language

| name = Bosnian

| altname = Bosniak

| nativename = {{lang|sh-Latn|bosanski}} / {{lang|sh-Cyrl|босански}}

| ethnicity = Bosniaks

| pronunciation = {{IPA|sh|bɔ̌sanskiː|}}

| states = Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sandžak, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Kosovo

| region =

| speakers = {{sigfig|2.671970|2}} million

| date = 2020

| ref = e27

| speakers2 =

| familycolor = Indo-European

| fam2 = Balto-Slavic

| fam3 = Slavic

| fam4 = South Slavic

| fam5 = Western

| fam6 = Serbo-Croatian

| fam7 = Shtokavian

| fam8 = New Shtokavian

| fam9 = Eastern Herzegovinian

| script = Latin (Gaj's Latin alphabet)
Cyrillic (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet){{efn|name="Cyrillic-note"|Cyrillic is an officially recognized alphabet, but in practice it is mainly used in Republika Srpska, whereas in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina mainly Latin is used.{{sfn|Alexander|2006|pp=1–2}}}}
Yugoslav Braille
Formerly:
Arabic (Arebica)
Bosnian Cyrillic (Bosančica)

| nation = {{BIH}}
{{MNE}} (co-official){{cite book |url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=187544 |title=Constitution of Montenegro |chapter-url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=187544#LinkTarget_1506 |chapter=Language and alphabet Article 13 |publisher=WIPO |date=19 October 2007 |quote=Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian shall also be in the official use.}}

| minority = {{SRB}}
{{HRV}}
{{NMK}}
{{KOS}}

| iso1 = bs

| iso2 = bos

| iso3 = bos

| glotto = bosn1245

| glottorefname = Bosnian Standard

| lingua = part of 53-AAA-g

| notice = IPA

| map = bosnianlanguagemap.png

| mapcaption = Countries where Bosnian is a co-official language (dark green) or a recognised minority language (light green)

| map2 = Lang Status 99-NE.svg

| mapcaption2 = {{center|Bosnian is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.{{Cite web|url=https://en.wal.unesco.org/languages/bosnian|title=World Atlas of Languages: Bosnian|website=en.wal.unesco.org|access-date=2023-11-30}}}}

}}

Bosnian ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Bosnian.ogg|ˈ|b|ɒ|z|n|i|ə|n}}; {{lang|sh-Latn|bosanski}} / {{lang|sh-Cyrl|босански}}; {{IPA|sh|bɔ̌sanskiː|}}), sometimes referred to as Bosniak ({{lang|sh-Latn|bošnjački}} / {{lang|sh-Cyrl|бошњачки}}; {{IPA|sh|bǒʃɲaːtʃkiː|}}),{{sfn|Alexander|2006|pp=426}}{{cite book|last=Dumont|first=Gérard-François|editor-last=Gardner|editor-first=Hall|year=2023|title=Geopolitical Turmoil in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean|chapter=The Balkans and the Geopolitics of Populations|publisher=Springer|location=New York City|isbn=978-3-0313-4318-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4KHLEAAAQBAJ|p=42}} is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by ethnic Bosniaks.{{cite book|first=David|last=Dalby|title=Linguasphere|date=1999|publisher=Linguasphere Observatory|page=445|version=53-AAA-g. Srpski+Hrvatski, Serbo-Croatian}}{{cite book|author=Benjamin W. Fortson IV|author-link=Benjamin W. Fortson IV|title=Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction|edition=2nd|date=2010|publisher=Blackwell|page=431|quote=Because of their mutual intelligibility, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian are usually thought of as constituting one language called Serbo-Croatian.}}{{cite book|first=Václav|last=Blažek|title=On the Internal Classification of Indo-European Languages: Survey|url=https://www.phil.muni.cz/linguistica/art/blazek/bla-003.pdf|access-date=2021-10-26|pages=15–16}}{{cite book|last=Šipka|first=Danko|author-link=Danko Sipka|year=2019|title=Lexical layers of identity: words, meaning, and culture in the Slavic languages|location=New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=206|doi=10.1017/9781108685795|isbn=978-953-313-086-6|s2cid=150383965|lccn=2018048005|oclc=1061308790|quote=Serbo-Croatian, which features four ethnic variants: Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin}}{{cite book|last=Mader Skender|first=Mia|title=Die kroatische Standardsprache auf dem Weg zur Ausbausprache|language=German|trans-title=The Croatian standard language on the way to ausbau language|chapter=Schlussbemerkung|trans-chapter=Summary|url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/215815/|format=PDF|publisher=University of Zurich, Faculty of Arts, Institute of Slavonic Studies|series=UZH Dissertations|pages=196–197|location=Zurich|year=2022|doi=10.5167/uzh-215815|accessdate=8 June 2022|type=Dissertation |quote=Serben, Kroaten, Bosnier und Montenegriner immer noch auf ihren jeweiligen Nationalsprachen unterhalten und problemlos verständigen. Nur schon diese Tatsache zeigt, dass es sich immer noch um eine polyzentrische Sprache mit verschiedenen Varietäten handelt.}}{{cite journal|first=Jelena|last=Ćalić|title=Pluricentricity in the classroom: the Serbo-Croatian language issue for foreign language teaching at higher education institutions worldwide|journal=Sociolinguistica: European Journal of Sociolinguistics|publisher=De Gruyter|issn=0933-1883|doi=10.1515/soci-2021-0007|volume=35|issue=1|pages=113–140|year=2021|s2cid=244134335|quote=The debate about the status of the Serbo-Croatian language and its varieties has recently shifted (again) towards a position which looks at the internal variation within Serbo-Croatian through the prism of linguistic pluricentricity|doi-access=free}}{{cite book|last=Kordić|first=Snježana|author-link=Snježana Kordić|editor-last1=Nomachi|editor-first1=Motoki|editor-link1=Motoki Nomachi|editor-last2=Kamusella|editor-first2=Tomasz|editor-link2=Tomasz Kamusella|title=Languages and Nationalism Instead of Empires|publisher=Routledge|series=Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe|pages=168–169|chapter=Ideology Against Language: The Current Situation in South Slavic Countries|chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372202077|chapter-format=PDF|language=en|location=London|year=2024|doi=10.4324/9781003034025-11|doi-access=|isbn=978-0-367-47191-0|lccn=|oclc=1390118985|s2cid=259576119|s2cid-access=|ssrn=4680766|ssrn-access=free|id={{COBISS.SR|125229577}}. {{COBISS|171014403}}|archive-url=https://archive.org/details/kordic-ideology-against-language |archive-date=2024-01-10|access-date=2024-01-23|url-status=live}} Bosnian is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina,See [http://www.ohr.int/ohr-dept/legal/oth-legist/doc/fbih-constitution.doc 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, all of which are mutually intelligible. It is also an officially recognized minority language in Croatia, Serbia,{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/Report/EvaluationReports/SerbiaECRML1_en.pdf|title=European charter for regional or minority languages: Application of the charter in Serbia|publisher=Council of Europe|year=2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103175919/http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/minlang/Report/EvaluationReports/SerbiaECRML1_en.pdf|archive-date=2014-01-03}} Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZ1GAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA129|title=Handbook on Policing in Central and Eastern Europe|author=Driton Muharremi and Samedin Mehmeti|publisher=Springer|year=2013|page=129|isbn=9781461467205}}

Bosnian uses both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets,{{efn|name="Cyrillic-note"}} with Latin in everyday use.{{cite book|author=Tomasz Kamusella|title=The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mzEqAQAAIAAJ|date=15 January 2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-55070-4|quote=In addition, today, neither Bosniaks nor Croats, but only Serbs use Cyrillic in Bosnia.}} It is notable among the varieties of Serbo-Croatian for a number of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish loanwords,{{Efn|Further information: List of Serbo-Croatian words of Turkish origin}} largely due to the language's interaction with those cultures through Islamic ties.{{cite book|title=Persian Literature in Bosnia-Herzegovina|last=Algar|first=Hamid |date=2 July 1994|work=Journal of Islamic Studies|location=Oxford|pages=254–68}}{{cite book|title=Die Kultur der Bosniaken, Supplement I: Inventar des bosnischen literarischen Erbes in orientalischen Sprachen|last=Balić|first=Smail|year=1978|publisher=Adolf Holzhausens, Vienna|location=Vienna|pages=111}}{{cite book|title=Das unbekannte Bosnien: Europas Brücke zur islamischen Welt|last=Balić|first=Smail|year=1992|publisher=Bohlau|location= Cologne, Weimar and Vienna|pages=526}}

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.{{cite magazine|first=Dan|last=Nosovitz|date=11 February 2019|title=What Language Do People Speak in the Balkans, Anyway?|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-language-is-spoken-in-the-balkans|magazine=Atlas Obscura|archive-date=11 February 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190211191959/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-language-is-spoken-in-the-balkans|access-date=6 May 2019}}{{cite book|last=Zanelli|first=Aldo|year=2018|title=Eine Analyse der Metaphern in der kroatischen Linguistikfachzeitschrift Jezik von 1991 bis 1997|trans-title=Analysis of Metaphors in Croatian Linguistic Journal Language from 1991 to 1997|language=de|series=Studien zur Slavistik; 41|location=Hamburg|publisher=Kovač|pages=21, 83|isbn=978-3-8300-9773-0|oclc=1023608613}} [http://katalog.nsk.hr/F/?func=direct&doc_number=001013945 (NSK)]. [https://koha.ffzg.hr/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=385977 (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,[http://www.rferl.org/content/Serbian_Croatian_Bosnian_or_Montenegrin_Many_In_Balkans_Just_Call_It_Our_Language_/1497105.html 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.

Alphabet

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

style="vertical-align:top"

{| class="wikitable"

|A a

|{{IPAslink|a}}

|B b

|{{IPAslink|b}}

В в

|V v

|{{IPAslink|v}}

Г г

|G g

|{{IPAslink|ɡ}}

Д д

|D d

|{{IPAslink|d̪|d}}

Ђ ђ

|Đ đ

|{{IPAslink|d͡ʑ|dʑ}}

Е е

|E e

|{{IPAslink|e̞|ɛ}}

Ж ж

|Ž ž

|{{IPAslink|ʒ}}

З з

|Z z

|{{IPAslink|z̪|z}}

И и

|I i

|{{IPAslink|i}}

Ј ј

|J j

|{{IPAslink|j}}

К к

|K k

|{{IPAslink|k}}

Л л

|L l

|{{IPAslink|l}}

Љ љ

|Lj lj

|{{IPAslink|ʎ}}

М м

|M m

|{{IPAslink|m}}

class="wikitable"

|N n

|{{IPAslink|n}}

Њ њ

|Nj nj

|{{IPAslink|ɲ̟|ɲ}}

О о

|O o

|{{IPAslink|o̞|ɔ}}

П п

|P p

|{{IPAslink|p}}

Р р

|R r

|{{IPAslink|ɾ}}

С с

|S s

|{{IPAslink|s̪|s}}

Т т

|T t

|{{IPAslink|t̪|t}}

Ћ ћ

|Ć ć

|{{IPAslink|t͡ɕ|tɕ}}

У у

|U u

|{{IPAslink|u}}

Ф ф

|F f

|{{IPAslink|f}}

Х х

|H h

|{{IPAslink|x}}

Ц ц

|C c

|{{IPAslink|t̪͡s̪|ts}}

Ч ч

|Č č

|{{IPAslink|t͡ʃ|tʃ}}

Џ џ

|Dž dž

|{{IPAslink|d͡ʒ|dʒ}}

Ш ш

|Š š

|{{IPAslink|ʃ}}

History

=Standardization=

File:Azbuka BH.svg (top line) and arebica (bottom line), compared with contemporary latinica (middle line)]]

File:WIKITONGUES- Mirela speaking Bosnian.webm]]

File:RacsunBosanskiJezik1827.jpg

File:Gramatika bosanskog jezika.jpg

Although Bosnians are, at the level of vernacular idiom, 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.{{Cite web|url = http://www.ghb.ba/index.php/en/about-us/new-building/61-english/about-us/colletcions|title = Collection of printed books in Arabic, Turkish and Persian|date = 2014-05-16|access-date = 2014-05-16|website = Gazi Husrev-begova biblioteka|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140517151418/http://www.ghb.ba/index.php/en/about-us/new-building/61-english/about-us/colletcions|archive-date = 2014-05-17|url-status = dead}} 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.

=Gallery=

File:Nauk krstjanski za narod slovinski - Divković (1611).jpg|Nauk krstjanski za narod slovinski, by Matija Divković, the first Bosnian printed book. Published in Venice, 1611

File:Bosnian dictionary by Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi in 1631.jpg|Bosnian dictionary by Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi, 1631

File:Free Will and Acts of Faith WDL2986.pdf|The Free Will and Acts of Faith, manuscript from the early 19th century

File:Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct WDL7479.pdf|The Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct by 'Abdulvehab Žepčevi, 1831

File:Bosnian Grammar for High Schools. Parts 1 and 2, Study of Voice and Form WDL7482.pdf|Bosnian Grammar, 1890

=Controversy and recognition=

File:Political correctness in Bosnia (14151146675).jpg "Smoking seriously harms you and others around you", ostensibly in three languages. The "Bosnian" and "Croatian" versions are identical and the "Serbian" one is a Cyrilic transliteration of the exact same text.]]

The name "Bosnian language" is a controversial issue for some Croats and Serbs, who also refer to it as the "Bosniak" language ({{lang-sh-Latn-Cyrl|separator=" / "|bošnjački|бошњачки}}, {{IPA|sh|bǒʃɲaːtʃkiː|}}). Bosniak linguists however insist that the only legitimate name is "Bosnian" language ({{lang|bs|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 Accords{{sfn|Alexander|2006|p=409}} and is concluded by observers to have received legitimacy and international recognition at the time.{{cite book|title=Language and Identity in the Balkans: Serbo-Croatian and Its Disintegration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_lNjHgr3QioC&pg=PA136|last=Greenberg|first=Robert D.|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=136|isbn = 9780191514555}}

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO),{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2|title=ISO 639-2 Registration Authority|publisher=Library of Congress}} 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,{{cite book|last=Sussex|first=Roland|title=The Slavic Languages|url=https://archive.org/details/slaviclanguagesc00suss|url-access=limited|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-22315-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/slaviclanguagesc00suss/page/n98 76]}} including internet translation services.

Most English-speaking language encyclopedias (Routledge, Glottolog,{{cite web|url=http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/bosn1245|title=Bosnian|work=Glottolog}} Ethnologue,{{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bos|title=Bosnian|work=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,{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb/subj/BCRS/W1202-20161-001/|title=Spring 2016 Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian W1202 section 001|publisher=Columbia University|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128123421/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb/subj/BCRS/W1202-20161-001/|archive-date=2016-01-28}} Cornell,{{cite web|url=http://courses.cornell.edu/preview_course_nopop.php?catoid=14&coid=159062|title=BCS 1133 – Continuing Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian I – Acalog ACMS™|publisher=Cornell University}} Chicago,{{cite web|url=http://slavic.uchicago.edu/courses?f[0]=field_section%3A5|title=Courses|work=University of Chicago}} Washington,{{cite web|url=https://slavic.washington.edu/fields/bosnian-croatian-serbian|title=Bosnian Croatian Serbian|publisher=University of Washington|access-date=2015-08-26|archive-date=2017-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011121137/https://slavic.washington.edu/fields/bosnian-croatian-serbian|url-status=dead}} Kansas).{{cite web|url=https://slavic.ku.edu/why-study-bosniancroatianserbian-bcs-ku-slavic-department|title=Why Study Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian (BCS) with the KU Slavic Department?|publisher=University of Kansas|date=2012-12-18}} The same is the case in German-speaking countries, where the language is taught under the name {{lang|de|Bosnisch}}, not {{lang|de|Bosniakisch}} (e.g. Vienna,{{cite web|url=https://slawistik.univie.ac.at/studium/curricula/|title=Institut für Slawistik » Curricula|publisher=University of Vienna}} Graz,{{cite web|url=http://translationswissenschaft.uni-graz.at/de/studieren/studienangebot-am-itat/ba-transkulturelle-kommunikation/bosnischkroatischserbisch/|title=Bosnisch/Kroatisch/Serbisch|publisher=University of Graz|access-date=2015-08-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703104144/http://translationswissenschaft.uni-graz.at/de/studieren/studienangebot-am-itat/ba-transkulturelle-kommunikation/bosnischkroatischserbisch/|archive-date=2016-07-03|url-status=dead}} Trier){{cite web|url=https://www.uni-trier.de/index.php?id=55477|title=Slavistik – Bosnisch-Kroatisch-Montenegrinisch-Serbisch|date=28 July 2015|publisher=University of 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{{clarify|date=May 2014}} and that accordingly the terms Bosnian language and Bosniak language refer to two different things.{{clarify|date=May 2014}} The Croatian state institutions, such as the Central Bureau of Statistics, use both terms: "Bosniak" language was used in the 2001 census,{{Croatian Census 2001 | url = http://web.dzs.hr/Hrv/censuses/Census2001/Popis/H01_02_03/H01_02_03.html | title = 13. Stanovništvo prema materinskom jeziku, po gradovima/općinama, popis 2001. | trans-title = Population by native language }} while the census in 2011 used the term "Bosnian" language.{{Croatian Census 2011 |url=http://web.dzs.hr/Hrv/censuses/census2011/results/htm/H01_01_09/H01_01_09.html |access-date=January 19, 2014 | title = 3. Stanovništvo prema materinskom jeziku – detaljna klasifikacija – popis 2011 | trans-title=Population by native language}}

The majority of Serbian linguists hold that the term Bosniak language is the only one appropriate,{{cite web|url=http://www.rastko.rs/filologija/odbor/odluka001_c.html|title=[Projekat Rastko] Odbor za standardizaciju srpskog jezika|work=rastko.rs}} 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, {{ISBN|978-3-643-10801-2}}, 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",{{cite web|title=Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina|url=http://www.ohr.int/print/?content_id=5907|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020301141803/http://www.ohr.int/print/?content_id=5907|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 March 2002|publisher=High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina|access-date=3 June 2010}} until 2002 when it was changed in Amendment XXIX of the Constitution of the Federation by Wolfgang Petritsch.{{citation|url=http://www.ohr.int/decisions/statemattersdec/default.asp?content_id=7475|title=Decision on Constitutional Amendments in the Federation|publisher=High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020513193906/http://www.ohr.int/decisions/statemattersdec/default.asp?content_id=7475|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 13, 2002|access-date=January 19, 2014}} 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.{{citation|url=http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/washagree_03011994.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201232412/http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/washagree_03011994.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 1, 2014|title=Washington Agreement|access-date=January 19, 2014}}

The constitution of {{lang|sr|Republika Srpska}}, the Serb-dominated entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, did not recognize any language or ethnic group other than Serbian.{{cite web|title=The Constitution of the Republika Srpska|url=http://www.usefoundation.org/foundation/research/olp/viewLegislation.asp?CID=15&LID=32|publisher=U.S. English Foundation Research|access-date=3 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721164105/http://www.usefoundation.org/foundation/research/olp/viewLegislation.asp?CID=15&LID=32|archive-date=21 July 2011}} 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 {{lang|sr|Republika Srpska}} refers to it as the Language spoken by Bosniaks,{{cite web|title=Decision on Constitutional Amendments in Republika Srpska|url=http://www.ohr.int/print/?content_id=7474|publisher=High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina|access-date=3 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118131924/http://www.ohr.int/print/?content_id=7474|archive-date=18 January 2012}} because the Serbs were required to recognise the language officially, but wished to avoid recognition of its name.{{cite book|last=Greenberg|first=Robert David|title=Language and Identity in the Balkans: Serbo-Croatian and its Disintegration|url=https://archive.org/details/languageidentity00gree|url-access=limited|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-925815-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/languageidentity00gree/page/n166 156]}}

Serbia includes the Bosnian language as an elective subject in primary schools.{{cite news|last=Rizvanovic|first=Alma|title=Language Battle Divides Schools|url=http://www.iwpr.net/report-news/language-battle-divides-schools|access-date=3 June 2010|newspaper=Institute for War & Peace Reporting|date=2 August 2005|archive-date=28 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128030125/http://iwpr.net/report-news/language-battle-divides-schools|url-status=dead}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.pravda.gov.me/vijesti.php?akcija%3Drubrika%26rubrika%3D121|title=Vlada Crne Gore|access-date=2009-03-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617081137/http://www.pravda.gov.me/vijesti.php?akcija=rubrika&rubrika=121|archive-date=2009-06-17}} 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{{cite web|url=http://www.cafemontenegro.com/index.php?group=23&news=7498|title=Crna Gora dobila novi Ustav|publisher=Cafe del Montenegro|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021042141/http://www.cafemontenegro.com/index.php?group=23&news=7498|url-status=dead|date=20 October 2007|archive-date=2007-10-21|access-date=12 August 2017}}

=Historical usage of the term=

In the work {{Lang|cu|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".{{cite book|author= Muhsin Rizvić|title=Bosna i Bošnjaci: Jezik i pismo|publisher=Preporod|page=6|location=Sarajevo|url=http://www.muhsinrizvic.ba/sadrzaj/MRizvic-Bosna_i_Bosnjaci_%20jezik_i_pismo.pdf#page=6|year=1996}}Aleksandar Solovjev, Trgovanje bosanskim robljem do god. 1661. - Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja, N. S., 1946, 1, 151.
The work Thesaurus Polyglottus, published in Frankfurt am Main 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.{{cite book|author= Muhsin Rizvić|title=Bosna i Bošnjaci: Jezik i pismo|publisher=Preporod|page=7|location=Sarajevo|url=http://www.muhsinrizvic.ba/sadrzaj/MRizvic-Bosna_i_Bosnjaci_%20jezik_i_pismo.pdf#page=7|year=1996}}
The Bosnian Franciscan Matija Divković, regarded as the founder of the modern literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina,{{cite web |title=DIVKOVIĆ: OTAC BOSANSKE KNJIŽEVNOSTI, PRVI BOSANSKI TIPOGRAF |url=http://ivanlovrenovic.com/2012/01/divkovic-otac-bosanske-knjizevnosti-prvi-bosanski-tipograf/ |publisher=IvanLovrenovic.com |access-date=30 August 2012 |author=Ivan Lovrenović |date=2012-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712170534/http://ivanlovrenovic.com/2012/01/divkovic-otac-bosanske-knjizevnosti-prvi-bosanski-tipograf/ |archive-date=12 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title= Matija Divković – otac bosanskohercegovačke i hrvatske književnosti u BiH |url= http://www.hrvatska-rijec.com/2011/04/matija-divkovic-otac-bosansko-hercegovacke-i-hrvatske-knjizevnosti-u-bih/ |publisher= www.hrvatska-rijec.com |access-date= 30 August 2012 |author= hrvatska-rijec.com |language= sh |date= 17 April 2011 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120117002803/http://www.hrvatska-rijec.com/2011/04/matija-divkovic-otac-bosansko-hercegovacke-i-hrvatske-knjizevnosti-u-bih/ |archive-date= 17 January 2012 }} asserts in his work {{Lang|bs|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" ({{Lang|bs|A privideh iz dijačkog u pravi i istinit jezik bosanski}}){{cite book|author= Muhsin Rizvić|title=Bosna i Bošnjaci: Jezik i pismo|publisher=Preporod|page=24|location=Sarajevo|url=http://www.muhsinrizvic.ba/sadrzaj/MRizvic-Bosna_i_Bosnjaci_%20jezik_i_pismo.pdf#page=24|year=1996}}
Bosniak poet and Aljamiado writer Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi who refers to the language of his 1632 dictionary Magbuli-arif as Bosnian.{{cite web|title=Aljamiado and Oriental Literature in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1463-1878)|url=http://www.pozitiv.si/dividedgod/texts/Aljamiado%20and%20Oriental%20Literature%20in%20BiH.pdf|publisher=pozitiv.si|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202111003/http://www.pozitiv.si/dividedgod/texts/Aljamiado%20and%20Oriental%20Literature%20in%20BiH.pdf|archive-date=2014-02-02}}
One of the first grammarians, the Jesuit clergyman Bartol Kašić calls the language used in his work from 1640 {{Lang|bs|Ritual rimski}} ('Roman Rite') as {{Lang|bs|naški}} ('our language') or {{Lang|bs|bosanski}} ('Bosnian'). He used the term "Bosnian" even though he was born in a Chakavian region: instead he decided to adopt a "common language" ({{Lang|la|lingua communis}}) based on a version of Shtokavian Ikavian.{{cite book|author= Muhsin Rizvić|title=Bosna i Bošnjaci: Jezik i pismo|publisher=Preporod|page=8|location=Sarajevo|url=http://www.muhsinrizvic.ba/sadrzaj/MRizvic-Bosna_i_Bosnjaci_%20jezik_i_pismo.pdf#page=8|year=1996}}Vatroslav Jagić, Iz prošlost hrvatskog jezika. Izabrani kraći spisi. Zagreb, 1948, 49.
The Croatian linguist Jakov Mikalja (1601–1654) who states in his dictionary {{Lang|hr|Blagu jezika slovinskoga}} ({{Lang|la|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.{{cite book|author= Alberto Fortis|title=Viaggo in Dalmazia|publisher=Presso Alvise Milocco, all' Appoline, MDCCLXXIV|volume=I|pages=91–92|location= Venice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCJPAAAAcAAJ|year=1774|author-link=Alberto Fortis}}
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".{{cite web |url=http://katalog.hazu.hr/web%5Cslike%5Cstr165.JPG |title=str165 |access-date=2014-01-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425214525/http://katalog.hazu.hr/web/slike/str165.JPG |archive-date=2012-04-25 }}
Croatian writer Matija Mažuranić refers in the work {{Lang|hr|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.{{cite book|author= Matija Mažuranić|title= Pogled u Bosnu|publisher=Tiskom narodne tiskarnice dra, Lj. Gaja|page=52|location=Zagreb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKMZAAAAIAAJ&q=turski|year=1842|author-link= Matija Mažuranić}}
The Bosnian Franciscan Ivan Franjo Jukić states in his work {{Lang|bs|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 Bosnia], the greatest Turkish [i.e. Muslim] gentlemen only speak Turkish when they are at the Vizier".{{cite book|author= Ivan Franjo Jukić (Slavoljub Bošnjak)|title=Pogled u Bosnu|publisher=Bérzotiskom narodne tiskarnice dra. Ljudevita Gaja|page=16|location=Zagreb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9xBAAAAYAAJ&q=bosanskog|year=1851}}
Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, a 19th-century Croatian writer and historian, stated in his work {{Lang|hr|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.{{cite book|author= Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski|title=Putovanje po Bosni|publisher=Tiskom narodne tiskarnice dra, Lj. Gaja|page=114|location=Zagreb|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_EDAAAAYAAJ&q=114|year=1858|author-link=Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski}}

Differences between Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian

{{Main|Comparison of standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin 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.{{cite news |title=Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Or Montenegrin? Or Just 'Our Language'?|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=28 March 2009 |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/Serbian_Croatian_Bosnian_or_Montenegrin_Many_In_Balkans_Just_Call_It_Our_Language_/1497105.html |publisher=Radio Free Europe |last1=Cvetkovic |first1=Ljudmila |last2=Vezic |first2=Goran }} "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."{{cite book|last=Šipka|first=Danko|author-link=Danko Sipka|year=2019|title=Lexical layers of identity: words, meaning, and culture in the Slavic languages|location=New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=166|doi=10.1017/9781108685795|isbn=978-953-313-086-6|s2cid=150383965|lccn=2018048005|oclc=1061308790}}

The Bosnian language, as a new normative register of the Shtokavian dialect, was officially introduced in 1996 with the publication of {{lang|bs|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" ({{lang|bs|kahva}} versus Serbian {{lang|sr|kafa}}); substantial and deliberate usage of Oriental ("Turkish") words; spelling of future tense ({{lang|bs|kupit ću}}) as in Croatian but not Serbian ({{lang|sr|kupiću}}) (both forms have the same pronunciation).{{sfn|Sotirović|2014|p=48}} 2018, in the new issue of {{lang|bs|Pravopis bosanskog jezika}}, words without "h" are accepted due to their prevalence in language practice.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Zg3DRGByMok Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200224072839/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg3DRGByMok&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|last=Halilović|first=Senahid|author-link=Senahid Halilović|title=Halilović za N1: Dužni smo osluškivati javnu riječ|trans-title=Halilović for N1: We Have to Listen to the Public Word|language=sh|work=TV show N1 na jedan (host Nikola Vučić)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg3DRGByMok|date=26 April 2018|location=Sarajevo|publisher=N1 (TV channel)|access-date=26 November 2019}}{{cbignore}} (6-13 minute)

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Bosnian, written in the Cyrillic script:{{cite web|url=https://unicode.org/udhr/d/udhr_bos_cyrl.html|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Bosnian (Cyrillic)|website=unicode.org}}

:{{Lang|bos|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:{{cite web|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Bosnian (Latin)|website=unicode.org|url=https://unicode.org/udhr/d/udhr_bos_latn.html}}

: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:{{cite news|url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights|newspaper=United Nations}}

: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.

Notes

References

Sources and further reading

{{cite book|first=Ronelle |last=Alexander |year=2006 |title=Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar: With Sociolinguistic Commentary |pages=1–2 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HTdZ5rxJ-cC|isbn=9780299211936 }}
{{cite book|last=Gröschel |first=Bernhard |author-link=Bernhard Gröschel |editor1-last=Waßner |editor1-first=Ulrich Hermann |title=Lingua et linguae. Festschrift für Clemens-Peter Herbermann zum 60. Geburtstag |publisher=Shaker |pages=159–188 |language=de |chapter=Bosnisch oder Bosniakisch? |trans-chapter=Bosnian or Bosniak? |series=Bochumer Beitraäge zur Semiotik, n.F., 6 |location=Aachen |year=2001 |isbn=978-3-8265-8497-8 |oclc=47992691}}
{{cite book|last=Kafadar |first=Enisa |editor1-last=Henn-Memmesheimer |editor1-first=Beate |editor2-last=Franz |editor2-first=Joachim |title=Die Ordnung des Standard und die Differenzierung der Diskurse; Teil 1 |publisher=Peter Lang |pages=95–106 |language=de |chapter=Bosnisch, Kroatisch, Serbisch – Wie spricht man eigentlich in Bosnien-Herzegowina? |trans-chapter=Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian – How do people really speak in Bosnia-Herzegovina? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63hKaFGtTDAC&pg=PA95 |location=Frankfurt am Main |year=2009 |isbn=9783631599174 |oclc=699514676 }}
{{cite journal |author=Kordić, Snježana |author-link=Snježana Kordić |title=I dalje jedan jezik |trans-title=Still one language |url=http://www.sveske.ba/bs/content/i-dalje-jedan-jezik |language=sh |journal=Sarajevske Sveske |issue=10 |pages=83–89 |year=2005 |location=Sarajevo |issn=1512-8539 |ssrn=3432980 |id={{CROSBI|430085}}. {{ZDB|2136753-X}} |archive-date=21 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921223723/http://www.sveske.ba/bs/content/i-dalje-jedan-jezik |url-status=live |access-date=22 August 2014 }} [https://archive.today/20161125195055/http://www.cobiss.ba/scripts/cobiss?command=DISPLAY&base=cobib&rid=15543046 (COBISS-BH)].
{{cite book |last=Kordić |first=Snježana |author-mask=2 |editor1-last=Gavrić |editor1-first=Saša |title=Jezička/e politika/e u Bosni i Hercegovini i njemačkom govornom području: zbornik radova predstavljenih na istoimenoj konferenciji održanoj 22. marta 2011. godine u Sarajevu |publisher=Goethe-Institut Bosnien und Herzegowina; Ambasada Republike Austrije; Ambasada Švicarske konfederacije |pages=60–66 |language=sh |chapter=Jezična politika: prosvjećivati ili zamagljivati? |trans-chapter=Language policy: to clarify or to obscure? |chapter-url=http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/565627.JEZICNA_POLITIKA.PDF |url-status=live |location=Sarajevo |year=2011 |isbn=978-9958-1959-0-7 |oclc=918205883 |ssrn=3434489 |id={{CROSBI|565627}} |archive-date=25 September 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925063013/http://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/565627.JEZICNA_POLITIKA.PDF }} [http://data.onb.ac.at/rec/AC08683921 (ÖNB)].
{{cite journal|last=Sotirović|first=V.B.|title=Bosnian Language and ITS Inauguration: The Fate of the Former Serbocroat or Croatoserb Language|year=2014|journal=Sustainable Multilingualism|volume=3|issue=3|pages=47–61|doi=10.7220/2335-2027.3.5|doi-access=free}}
{{CIA World Factbook|year=2006}}

External links

[http://www.surfacelanguages.com/language/Bosnian Basic Bosnian Phrases]
[http://www.learn-bosnian.com/ Learn Bosnian – List of Online Bosnian Courses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170514205152/http://www.learn-bosnian.com/ |date=2017-05-14 }}
[http://glosbe.com/en/bs English–Bosnian dictionary] on Glosbe
{{Cite book

| publisher = National government of Bosnia and Hercegovina, National Printing House

| title = Gramatika bosanskoga jezika za srednje škole. Dio 1. i 2., Nauka o glasovima i oblicima

| location = Sarajevo

| year = 1890

| url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7482/#languages=lat&page=7

}}