Croatian language#Sociopolitical standpoints

{{see also|Serbo-Croatian#Early development|l1=Early development of Serbo-Croatian| Language secessionism}}

In the late medieval period up to the 17th century, the majority of semi-autonomous Croatia was ruled by two domestic dynasties of princes (banovi), the Zrinski and the Frankopan, which were linked by inter-marriage.{{cite book |title= A History of Croatia |last=Gazi |first=Stephen |year=1973 |publisher= Philosophical library|location=New York |isbn=978-0-8022-2108-7 }} Toward the 17th century, both of them attempted to unify Croatia both culturally and linguistically, writing in a mixture of all three principal dialects (Chakavian, Kajkavian and Shtokavian), and calling it "Croatian", "Dalmatian", or "Slavonian".{{cite book |title= When Ethnicity did not Matter in the Balkans |last=Van Antwerp Fine |first=John |year=2006 |publisher= University of Michigan Press|location=Michigan, US |isbn=978-0-472-11414-6 |pages= 377–379 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSwxmQEACAAJ }} Historically, several other names were used as synonyms for Croatian, in addition to Dalmatian and Slavonian, and these were Illyrian (ilirski) and Slavic (slovinski).{{cite book |first=Edward |last=Stankiewicz |title=Grammars and Dictionaries of the Slavic Languages from the Middle Ages Up to 1850 |year=1984 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=9783110097788 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1w4T7rBTmZcC |access-date=2021-10-26}} It is still used now in parts of Istria, which became a crossroads of various mixtures of Chakavian with Ekavian, Ijekavian and Ikavian isoglosses.{{cite journal |last1=Kalsbeek |first1=Janneke |year=1998 |title=The Čakavian dialect of Orbanići near Žminj in Istria |journal= Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics|volume= 25}}

The most standardised form (Kajkavian–Ikavian) became the cultivated language of administration and intellectuals from the Istrian peninsula along the Croatian coast, across central Croatia up into the northern valleys of the Drava and the Mura. The cultural apex of this 17th century idiom is represented by the editions of "Adrianskoga mora sirena" ("The Siren of the Adriatic Sea") by Petar Zrinski and "Putni tovaruš" ("Traveling escort") by Katarina Zrinska.{{Cite web |url=https://www.matica.hr/Vijenac/vijenac349.nsf/AllWebDocs/Dva_brata_i_jedna_Sirena_ |title=Dva brata i jedna Sirena |last=Ivana |first=Sabljak |website=Matica hrvatska |language=hr |trans-title=Two Sisters and One Siren |access-date=9 March 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.matica.hr/www/wwwizd2.nsf/AllWebDocs/zrinskipvtnitovarvs |title=Matica Hrvatska – Putni tovaruš – izvornik (I.) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513193306/http://www.matica.hr/www/wwwizd2.nsf/AllWebDocs/zrinskipvtnitovarvs |archive-date=2013-05-13|access-date=2021-10-26}}

However, this first linguistic renaissance in Croatia was halted by the political execution of Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I in Vienna in 1671.{{cite book |title= Croatia: a Nation Forged in War |last=Tanner |first=Marcus |year=1997 |publisher= Yale University Press |location=New Haven, US |isbn=978-0-300-06933-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/croatianationfor0000tann/page/50 50] |url=https://archive.org/details/croatianationfor0000tann |url-access= registration }} Subsequently, the Croatian elite in the 18th century gradually abandoned this combined Croatian standard.{{cite book |first=Dragica |last=Malić |author-link=Dragica Malić |year=1997 |title=Razvoj hrvatskog književnog jezika|publisher=Školska knjiga |isbn=978-953-0-40010-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lY1iAAAAMAAJ }}{{page needed|date=July 2014}}

{{main|Illyrian movement}}

The Illyrian movement was a 19th-century pan-South Slavic political and cultural movement in Croatia that had the goal to standardise the regionally differentiated and orthographically inconsistent literary languages in Croatia, and finally merge them into a common South Slavic literary language. Specifically, three major groups of dialects were spoken on Croatian territory, and there had been several literary languages over four centuries. The leader of the Illyrian movement Ljudevit Gaj standardized the Latin alphabet in 1830–1850 and worked to bring about a standardized orthography. Although based in Kajkavian-speaking Zagreb, Gaj supported using the more populous Neo-Shtokavian – a version of Shtokavian that eventually became the predominant dialectal basis of both Croatian and Serbian literary language from the 19th century on.{{cite book |title=The development of the Croatian nation: an historical and sociological analysis |last=Uzelac |first=Gordana |year=2006 |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |location=Lewiston, New York |isbn=978-0-7734-5791-1 |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n58tAQAAIAAJ}}{{cite web|url= https://www-gewi.uni-graz.at/gralis-alt/2.Slawistikarium/BKS/Herausbildung_des_BKS_Allgemeine_Informaction.htm|quote= Bis in die 1990er-Jahre wurde diese Sprache einheitlich offiziell als Serbokroatisch/Kroatoserbisch, inoffiziell als Serbisch und Kroatisch bezeichnet. Den Namen Serbokroatisch verwendete erstmals Jacob Grimm im Vorwort zu seiner Übersetzung der Kleinen Serbischen Grammatik (1824) von Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. Im Jahre 1836 benutzt Jernej Kopitar den Ausdruck "serbochorvatica sive chorvatocoserbica". P. Budmani veröffentlichte 1867 die Grammatica della lingua serbo-croata (illirica), und im Jahre 1877 erschien die Grammaire de la language serbo-croate des Kroaten Dragutin Pančić. Die Sprache, beziehungsweise die Sprachen, die aus dem ehemaligen Serbokroatischen entstanden sind, stellen ein kompliziertes soziolinguistisches Phänomen dar. Diese Komplexität ist gegeben, weil eine genetisch identische Sprache von (1) mehreren Nationen (Serben, Montenegrinen, Kroaten, Muslime/Bosniaken), (2) mehreren Religionen (Orthodoxen, Katholiken, Muslimen) gesprochen wird und weil diese Sprache (3) eine breite dialektologische Gliederung (das Štokavische, das Čakavische, das Kajkavische), (4) verschiedene Aussprachen (das Ekavische, das Ijekavische, das Ikavische) und (5) zwei Schriften (Lateinschrift, Kyrillica) aufweist.|author= Tošović, Branko (Universität Graz)|archive-date= 2022-12-01|title= Bosnisch/Bosniakisch, Kroatisch und Serbisch (B/K/S).|access-date= 2023-04-13|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221201181403/https://www-gewi.uni-graz.at/gralis-alt/2.Slawistikarium/BKS/Herausbildung_des_BKS_Allgemeine_Informaction.htm|url-status= dead}} Supported by various South Slavic proponents, Neo-Shtokavian was adopted after an Austrian initiative at the Vienna Literary Agreement of 1850, laying the foundation for the unified Serbo-Croatian literary language. The uniform Neo-Shtokavian then became common in the Croatian elite.

In the 1860s, the Zagreb Philological School dominated the Croatian cultural life, drawing upon linguistic and ideological conceptions advocated by the members of the Illyrian movement.{{sfn|Bičanić|Frančić|Hudeček|Mihaljević|2013|p=77}} While it was dominant over the rival Rijeka Philological School and Zadar Philological Schools, its influence waned with the rise of the Croatian Vukovians (at the end of the 19th century).{{sfn|Bičanić|Frančić|Hudeček|Mihaljević|2013|p=78}}

{{Main|Comparison of standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian}}

{{see also|Serbo-Croatian phonology|Serbo-Croatian grammar}}

Croatian is commonly characterized by the ijekavian pronunciation (see an explanation of yat reflexes), the sole use of the Latin alphabet, and a number of lexical differences in common words that set it apart from standard Serbian.{{sfn|Corbett|Browne|2009|p=334}} Some differences are absolute, while some appear mainly in the frequency of use.{{sfn|Corbett|Browne|2009|p=334}} However, as professor John F. Bailyn states, "an examination of all the major 'levels' of language shows that BCS is clearly a single language with a single grammatical system."{{cite journal|title=To what degree are Croatian and Serbian the same language? Evidence from a Translation Study|last=Bailyn|first=John Frederick|journal=Journal of Slavic Linguistics|year=2010|volume=18|issue=2|pages=181–219|url=https://linguistics.stonybrook.edu/people/_bios/_linguistics-faculty/_faculty-files/bailyn/publications/JSLBCS2.pdf |access-date=9 October 2019|issn=1068-2090|archive-date=9 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009113158/https://linguistics.stonybrook.edu/people/_bios/_linguistics-faculty/_faculty-files/bailyn/publications/JSLBCS2.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Croatian, although technically a form of Serbo-Croatian, is sometimes considered a distinct language by itself. This is at odds with purely linguistic classifications of languages based on mutual intelligibility (abstand and ausbau languages),{{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=Obwohl das Kroatische sich in den letzten Jahren in einigen Gebieten, vor allem jedoch auf lexikalischer Ebene, verändert hat, sind diese Änderungen noch nicht bedeutend genug, dass der Terminus Ausbausprache gerechtfertigt wäre. Ausserdem können sich 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.}} which do not allow varieties that are mutually intelligible to be considered separate languages. "There is no doubt of the near 100% mutual intelligibility of (standard) Croatian and (standard) Serbian, as is obvious from the ability of all groups to enjoy each others' films, TV and sports broadcasts, newspapers, rock lyrics etc.", writes Bailyn. Differences between various standard forms of Serbo-Croatian are often exaggerated for political reasons.Benjamin W. Fortson IV, Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (2010, Blackwell), pg. 431. Most Croatian linguists regard Croatian as a separate language that is considered key to national identity,{{cite journal | url = https://hrcak.srce.hr/en/clanak/39261 | title = "Jezično" pristupanje Hrvatske Europskoj Uniji: prevođenje pravne stečevine i europsko nazivlje |trans-title=The Accession of the Croatian Language to the European Union: Translation of the Acquis Communautaire and European Legal Terminology | author = Snježana Ramljak | journal = Croatian Political Science Review | publisher = Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb |language = sh | issn = 0032-3241 | volume = 45 | number = 1 |date=June 2008 | access-date = 2012-02-27}} in the sense that the term Croatian language includes all language forms from the earliest times to the present, in all areas where Croats live, as realized in the speeches of Croatian dialects, in city speeches and jargons, and in the Croatian standard language.{{Cite web |title=Hrvatski standardni jezik |url=https://jezik.hr/standardni-jezik.html |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=Institute of Croatian Language}}{{Cite web |title=Hrvatski — zaseban jezik |url=https://jezik.hr/zaseban-jezik.html |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=Institute of Croatian Language}} The issue is sensitive in Croatia as the notion of a separate language being the most important characteristic of a nation is widely accepted, stemming from the 19th-century history of Europe.{{sfn|Stokes|2008|p=348}} The 1967 Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Literary Language, in which a group of Croatian authors and linguists demanded greater autonomy for Croatian, is viewed in Croatia as a linguistic policy milestone that was also a general milestone in national politics.{{sfn|Šute|1999|p=317}}

On the 50th anniversary of the Declaration, at the beginning of 2017, a two-day meeting of experts from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro was organized in Zagreb, at which the text of the Declaration on the Common Language of Croats, Bosniaks, Serbs and Montenegrins was drafted.{{cite web|last=Derk|first=Denis|title=Donosi se Deklaracija o zajedničkom jeziku Hrvata, Srba, Bošnjaka i Crnogoraca|trans-title=A Declaration on the Common Language of Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins is About to Appear|language=hr|url=https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/deklaracija-o-zajednickom-jeziku-iz-zagreba-donosi-se-30-ozujka-u-sarajevu-1159142|newspaper=Večernji list|pages=6–7|location=Zagreb|issn=0350-5006|date=28 March 2017|archive-date=20 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920235101/https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/deklaracija-o-zajednickom-jeziku-iz-zagreba-donosi-se-30-ozujka-u-sarajevu-1159142|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-26}} The new Declaration has received more than ten thousand signatures. It states that in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro a common polycentric standard language is used, consisting of several standard varieties, similar to the existing varieties of German, English or Spanish.{{cite web|last=Trudgill|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Trudgill|date=30 November 2017|page=46|title=Time to Make Four Into One|url=https://archive.org/details/PeterTrudgillTimeToMakeFourIntoOne2017|publisher=The New European|access-date=3 October 2018}} The aim of the new Declaration is to stimulate discussion on language without the nationalistic baggage{{cite news|last=J.|first=T.|date=10 April 2017|title=Is Serbo-Croatian a Language?|url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2017/04/10/is-serbo-croatian-a-language|newspaper=The Economist|archive-date=10 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410083158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/04/economist-explains-4|url-status=live|location=London|issn=0013-0613|access-date=2021-10-26}} ([https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2017&mm=04&dd=10&nav_category=12&nav_id=1248942 alternate URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026073242/https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2017&mm=04&dd=10&nav_category=12&nav_id=1248942 |date=2021-10-26 }}) and to counter nationalistic divisions.{{cite web|first=Sven|last=Milekić|date=30 March 2017|title=Post-Yugoslav 'Common Language' Declaration Challenges Nationalism|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2017/03/30/post-yugoslav-common-language-declaration-challenges-nationalism-03-29-2017/|publisher=Balkan Insight|archive-date=27 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427234436/http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/post-yugoslav-common-language-declaration-challenges-nationalism-03-29-2017|url-status=live|location=London|access-date=2021-10-26}}

The terms "Serbo-Croatian", "Serbo-Croat", or "Croato-Serbian", are still used as a cover term for all these forms by foreign scholars, even though the speakers themselves largely do not use it.{{sfn|Corbett|Browne|2009|p=334}} Within ex-Yugoslavia, the term has largely been replaced by the ethnopolitical terms Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian.{{cite book |first=David |last=Crystal |title=Language Death |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2000 |pages=11–12}}

The use of the name "Croatian" for a language has historically been attested to, though not always distinctively. The first printed Croatian literary work is a vernacular Chakavian poem written in 1501 by Marko Marulić, titled "The History of the Holy Widow Judith Composed in Croatian Verses".{{Cite web |date=2024-01-02 |title=Marko Marulić |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marko-Marulic |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Britannica}}{{Cite web |last=Crnković |first=Gordana P. |title=Croatian literature |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Croatian-literature |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Britannica}} The Croatian–Hungarian Agreement designated Croatian as one of its official languages.{{cite web |url=http://www.crohis.com/izvori/nagodba2.pdf |title=Hrvatsko-ugarska nagodba 1868. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207040249/http://www.crohis.com/izvori/nagodba2.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-07 |access-date=2021-10-26 |website=www.crohis.com }} Croatian became an official EU language upon accession of Croatia to the European Union on 1 July 2013.{{cite web |url=https://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/vandoren-eu-membership-challenge-and-chance-for-croatia-20100930 |title=Vandoren: EU membership – challenge and chance for Croatia – Daily – tportal.hr |publisher=tportal.hr |date=2010-09-30 |access-date=2021-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115051444/http://daily.tportal.hr/89107/Vandoren-EU-membership-challenge-and-chance-for-Croatia.html |archive-date=2010-11-15 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu/epso/apply/news/news130_en.htm |title=Applications now open for Croatian linguists |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628170120/http://europa.eu/epso/apply/news/news130_en.htm|publisher=EU careers |archive-date=2012-06-28 |date=2012-06-21 |access-date=2012-09-10}} In 2013, the EU started publishing a Croatian-language version of its official gazette.{{cite web|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eu-enlargement/hr/special.html?locale=hr|title=Službeni list Europske unije|language=hr|trans-title=Official Gazette of the European Union|publisher=European Union |url-status=live |date=2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513131304/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOEdSpecRep.do?year=2013&ihmlang=hr |archive-date=2013-05-13 |access-date=2021-10-26}}

File:Serbo croatian languages2006 02.png

Standard Croatian is the official language of the Republic of Croatia{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/croatia/ |title=Croatia |publisher=Cia.gov |access-date=2010-12-21}} and, along with Standard Bosnian and Standard Serbian, one of three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also official in the regions of Burgenland (Austria),{{cite journal | first = Andrea Zorka | last = Kinda-Berlakovich | url = https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=16200&lang=en | title = Hrvatski nastavni jezik u Gradišću u školsko-političkome kontekstu |trans-title=Croatian as the Language of Instruction and Language Policy in Burgenland from 1921 onwards | journal = LAHOR | volume = 1 | number = 1 | year = 2006 | pages = 27–35 | issn = 1846-2197 |access-date=2021-10-26}} Molise (Italy){{cite web|url=http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/europe_report.html#MCroatian |title=Endangered languages in Europe: report |publisher=Helsinki.fi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117011258/http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/europe_report.html#MCroatian |archive-date=2010-11-17 |access-date=2010-10-27}} and Vojvodina (Serbia).{{Cite web |url=http://www.puma.vojvodina.gov.rs/etext.php?ID_mat=207&PHPSESSID=p6rdjkgjbf7fl16lp81ov8m6q3 |title=Official Use of Languages and Scripts in the AP Vojvodina |website=puma.vojvodina.gov.rs |access-date=2010-12-21}} Additionally, it has co-official status alongside Romanian in the communes of Carașova{{cite web|url=http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=1832&judet_id=1909&localitate_id=1930 |title=Structura Etno-demografică a României |publisher=Edrc.ro |access-date=2010-10-27}} and Lupac,{{cite web|url=http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=1832&judet_id=1909&localitate_id=1956 |title=Structura Etno-demografică a României |publisher=Edrc.ro |access-date=2010-10-27}}{{cite web|url=http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=1832&judet_id=1909 |title=Structura Etno-demografică a României |publisher=Edrc.ro |access-date=2010-12-21}} Romania. In these localities, Croats or Krashovani make up the majority of the population, and education, signage and access to public administration and the justice system are provided in Croatian, alongside Romanian.

Croatian is officially used and taught at all universities in Croatia and at the University of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Studies of Croatian language are held in Hungary (Institute of Philosophy at the ELTE Faculty of Humanities in Budapest{{cite journal|last=Farkaš|first=Loretana|title=Mlade snage na jezikoslovnome poprištu|lang=hr|journal=Jezik: časopis za kulturu hrvatskoga književnog jezika|volume=46|issue=1|page=36|issn=1849-174X|url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/324369}}), Slovakia (Faculty of Philosophy of the Comenius University in Bratislava), Poland (University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian University, University of Silesia in Katowice, University of Wroclaw, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan),{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.pl/web/hrvatska/odnosi|lang=hr|title=Poljska u Hrvatskoj|trans-title=Poland in Croatia|website=gov.pl}} Germany (University of Regensburg{{cite web|url=https://www.croatiaweek.com/first-croatian-language-centre-in-a-german-speaking-country-opens/|title=First Croatian language centre in a German-speaking country opens |website=croatiaweek.com|publisher=Croatia Week|date=8 July 2023}}), Australia (Center for Croatian Studies at the Macquarie University{{cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/croatian/hr/podcast-episode/odsad-i-u-sydneyu-mozete-dobiti-potvrdu-o-znanju-hrvatskog-jezika-koju-priznaju-institutucije-u-hrvatskoj/6bh0rrjay|website=sbs.com.au|publisher=SBS|title=Odsad i u Sydneyu možete dobiti potvrdu o znanju hrvatskog jezika koju priznaju institucije u Hrvatskoj|lang=hr|date=8 February 2023|last=Buljan|first=Marijana}}), Northern Macedonia (Faculty of Philology in Skopje{{cite web|lang=hr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616001949/http://www.hrvatiizvanrh.hr/hr/hmiu/hrvatska-manjina-u-republici-makedoniji/10|url=http://www.hrvatiizvanrh.hr/hr/hmiu/hrvatska-manjina-u-republici-makedoniji/10|archive-date=16 June 2013|title=Hrvatska manjina u Republici Makedoniji|trans-title=Croatian minority in the Republic of Macedonia|publisher=Central State office for Croats Abroad}}) etc.

Croatian embassies hold courses for learning Croatian in Poland,{{cite journal|last=Kale|first=Slaven|url=https://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/688659.S._Kale_Hrvati_u_Poljskoj.pdf|title=Hrvati u Poljskoj|trans-title=Croats in Poland|journal=The Croatian Emigrant Almanac|publisher=Croatian Heritage Foundation|location=Zagreb|year=2013|pages=148–154|issn=1333-9362|lang=hr}} United Kingdom{{cite web|url=https://hrvatiizvanrh.gov.hr/hrvati-izvan-rh/hrvatsko-iseljenistvo/hrvatsko-iseljenistvo-u-velikoj-britaniji/773?impaired=1|title=Hrvatsko iseljeništvo u Velikoj Britaniji|trans-title=Croatian emigration in the Great Britain|publisher=Central State office for Croats Abroad|lang=hr}} and a few other countries. Extracurricular education of Croatian is hold in Germany in Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Hamburg and Saarland,{{cite web|url=https://public.mzos.hr/default.asp?ru=331&sid=&akcija=&jezik=1|website=public.mzos.hr|publisher=Ministry of Science, Education and Sport of the Republic of Croatia|lang=hr|title=Organizacija hrvatske nastave po zemljama|trans-title=Organisation of Croatian education by countries}} as well as in North Macedonia in Skopje, Bitola, Štip and Kumanovo. Some Croatian Catholic Missions also hold Croatian language courses (for. ex. CCM in Buenos Aires{{cite web|lang=hr|last=Kilijan|first=Hana|url=https://hkm.hr/vjera/od-krista-pozvani/fra-josip-peranic-zadarski-franjevac-koji-40-godina-neumorno-sluzi-hrvatima-u-argentini/|title=Fra Josip Peranić - zadarski franjevac koji 40 godina neumorno služi Hrvatima u Argentini|website=hkm.hr|publisher=Croatian Catholic Network|date=23 April 2023}}).

There is no regulatory body that determines the proper usage of Croatian. However, in January 2023, the Croatian Parliament passed a law that prescribes the official use of the Croatian language, regulates the establishment of the Council for the Croatian language as a coordinating advisory body whose work will be focused on the protection and development of the Croatian language. State authorities, local and regional self-government entities are obliged to use the Croatian language.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-26 |title=Izglasan Zakon o hrvatskom jeziku |url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/izglasan-zakon-o-hrvatskom-jeziku-peovic-ljutita-ovo-je-totalitarizam-kriminaliziraju-se-dijalekti-15419901 |access-date=2024-01-26 |website=Jutarnji list |language=hr}}

The current standard language is generally laid out in the grammar books and dictionaries used in education, such as the school curriculum prescribed by the Ministry of Education and the university programmes of the Faculty of Philosophy at the four main universities.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}{{update after|2014|8}} In 2013, a Hrvatski pravopis by the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics received an official sole seal of approval from the Ministry of Education.

The most prominent recent editions describing the Croatian standard language are:

• Hrvatski pravopis by the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics, available [https://pravopis.hr online]
• Hrvatski jezični portal by University Computing Centre (Srce) and Znanje, available [https://hjp.znanje.hr online].
• Rječnik hrvatskoga jezika by Anić
• Rječnik hrvatskoga jezika by Jure Šonje et al.
• Hrvatski enciklopedijski rječnik, by a group of authors
• Hrvatska gramatika by Eugenija Barić et al.

Also notable are the recommendations of Matica hrvatska, the national publisher and promoter of Croatian heritage, and the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography, as well as the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Numerous representative Croatian linguistic works were published since the independence of Croatia, among them three voluminous monolingual dictionaries of contemporary Croatian.

In 2021, Croatia introduced a new model of linguistic categorisation of the Bunjevac dialect (as part of New-Shtokavian Ikavian dialects of the Shtokavian dialect of the Croatian language) in three sub-branches: Dalmatian (also called Bosnian-Dalmatian), Danubian (also called Bunjevac), and Littoral-Lika.{{Cite web|title= Bunjevački govori |url= https://registar.kulturnadobra.hr/#/details/Z-7471| quote= Bunjevački govori pripadaju novoštokavskom ikavskom dijalektu štokavskoga narječja hrvatskoga jezika. |access-date= 7 August 2022}}{{cite web|url= https://registar.kulturnadobra.hr/#/details/Z-7471 |quote= Razlikuju se tri ogranka Bunjevačkih govora – podunavski, primorsko-lički i dalmatinski, a svi su kulturno bliski prema povijesnim, etnološkim i lingvističkim istraživanjima.|title= Bunjevački govori}} Its speakers largely use the Latin alphabet and are living in parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, different parts of Croatia, southern parts (inc. Budapest) of Hungary as well in the autonomous province Vojvodina of Serbia.

The Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics added the Bunjevac dialect to the List of Protected Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia on 8 October 2021.{{Cite web|title= Prijedlog za proglašenje bunjevačkoga govora nematerijalnom kulturnom baštinom |url = http://ihjj.hr/clanak/prijedlog-za-proglasenje-bunjevackoga-govora-nematerijalnom-kulturnom-bastinom/7513/ |access-date= 3 March 2022 |quote= Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje uputio je Ministarstvu kulture RH prijedlog da se bunjevački govor proglasi hrvatskom nematerijalnom kulturnom baštinom, kao važan čin pomoći bunjevačkomu govoru i svim Bunjevcima u Hrvatskoj i inozemstvu.| author=Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje}}{{Cite web|title= Bunjevački govori upisani u Registar kulturnih dobara Republike Hrvatske kao nematerijalno kulturno dobro |url=https://min-kulture.gov.hr/vijesti-8/bunjevacki-govori-upisani-u-registar-kulturnih-dobara-republike-hrvatske-kao-nematerijalno-kulturno-dobro/21475 | date= 8 October 2021|access-date= 26 July 2022 |author= Fajin Deran, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia}}

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Croatian (2009 Croatian government official translation):

:Sva ljudska bića rađaju se slobodna i jednaka u dostojanstvu i pravima. Ona su obdarena razumom i sviješću te trebaju jedna prema drugima postupati u duhu bratstva.{{Cite journal | title=Odluka o objavi Opće deklaracije o ljudskim pravima |url=https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/medunarodni/2009_11_12_143.html |access-date=2023-12-10 | journal = Narodne novine | issue = 12/2009 | date = 2009-11-12 | author = Government of the Republic of Croatia }}

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

{{Portal|Croatia|Languages}}

• Bunjevac dialect
• Croatian Language Corpus
• Croatian Language Days
• Declaration on the Common Language
• Dialects of Serbo-Croatian
• Gaj's Latin alphabet
• Language secessionism in Serbo-Croatian
• Mutual intelligibility
• Pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

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{{InterWiki|code=hr}}

{{Commons category|Croatian language}}

{{Wikivoyage|Croatian phrasebook|Croatian|a phrasebook}}

{{Wikibooks|Croatian}}

{{Wiktionary category}}

• [https://corpora.clarin.hr/crystal Croatian Language Corpora] by HR-CLARIN (Common LAnguage Resources and Technology INfrastructure)
• Croatian Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words (Wiktionary)
• [http://crodip.ffzg.hr/default_e.aspx Croatian Old Dictionary Portal]

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040606041856/http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/cro/crolang.htm The Croatian Language Today], a lecture given by dr. Branko Franolić

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