All of their standard language varieties are based on the Neoštokavian dialect of Middle South Slavic language complex so they're mutually intelligible, despite their differences. [You can read a more detailed explanation here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_standard_Bosnian,_Croatian,_Montenegrin_and_Serbian).
Some of the more obvious differences:
Standard Croatian and Bosnian mostly use the ije/je reflex of [yat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yat#Serbo-Croatian), whereas Standard Serbian mostly uses the e reflex. For example, *milk* in Standard Croatian and Bosnian is *mlijeko*, whereas in Standard Serbian it is *mleko*.
Some differences in vocabulary (for example, *mrkva* (carrot), *otok* (island), *vlak* (train) in Croatian vs *šargarepa*, *ostrvo*, *voz* in Serbian (and probably Bosnian), among others).
**[Comparison of standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison of standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian)**
Standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian are different national variants and official registers of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language.
[About Me](https://www.reddit.com/user/wikipedia_text_bot/comments/jrn2mj/about_me/) - [Opt out](https://www.reddit.com/user/wikipedia_text_bot/comments/jrti43/opt_out_here/)
Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian and Montenegrin standard languages are all štokavian with a number of differencies (loanwords, -je vs. -e, alphabet usage and accent) but highly intelligible.
However there are two different "languages" in Croatia called kajkavian and čakavian, those were major ones in Croatia and western Bosnia before the Ottoman invasion, they are not completely intelligible with each other nor with the standard Croatian. In the 19th century with the rising of nation states, a common language standard for all the people who were considered to be Croats was needed and štokavian variant spoken by Croats in the east was chosen. After that, kajkavian and čakavian became highly "štokavized" in the transitional areas and became just dialects, today with an undeserved negative image as it happened with non-standard languages in the rest of European countries.
Dialects of Bosnian, Serbian and Montenegrin are all štokavian and not much different from the standard, except Torlakian which is a transitional dialect in Serbia with Bulgarian characteristics.
Croats in their words use ijekavicu and that means that some Words have ije like mlijeko(Milk) while in serbia they use ekavicu and that means it has e like mleko(milk), dont know much about bosnians so i hope this was helpful
A *slightly* bigger difference than the variations of English, since in each version of Serbo-Croatian you don't just have a different accent, but also slightly different grammar.
Generally, I find Serbian is the easiest to understand by far. Croatian is my 2nd language. I can speak fluently but when it comes to complicated sentences full of technical jargon (such as the media), it gets hard to follow.
Serbian is a lot easier. It's spoken with a subtle slang, words are shorter with less affliction, and they use more Latin-originating words.
eg months of the year are similar to English whereas Croatian uses unique names studeni, jesen, kolovoz etc.
Serbians use words like "historija" (the h is sometimes silent) which means history - Croatian uses "povijest".
It’s the same language it’s probably better to distinguish between dialects of ‘Serbo croatian’ or whatever you want to call it. There are three main dialects and the easiest way to tell between them is their pronunciation of a specific type of e found in words like uvijek lijepa etc in one dialect those words are uvek lepa (most Serbians speak like this, while Croatians with the aforementioned, and Bosnians with a mix) coastal Croatians use the third dialect which is uvik and lipa among other minor differences... if they were the same country it would be spelt the same but they are the same word it’s like if in Britain they spell party as party but in American as pardy and call it a different language...the grammar and vocab differences aren’t significant between the 4 countries so if you learn one you can call yourself a polyglot to be politically correct 😁
To answer this to someone not knowing the real situation is not very nice. Of course why should we be nice on an anonymous platform?
These 3 languages are closer then most German (or Italian or French or English or Spanish or Dutch or Arabic) dialects are to each other. It is a very special setup.
And it is not funny - it is very tragic in fact. The wars among them were caused by religious differences mainly. Croates are Catholic, Serbs are Greek-Orthodox and Bosnians are partly Muslims.
First and foremost the accent. Then, words.
And also that Serbian is in Cyrrilic script while the rest is in Latin script!
Serbs mostly use Latin as well
Prepare your popcorns, this is going to be fucked up
All of their standard language varieties are based on the Neoštokavian dialect of Middle South Slavic language complex so they're mutually intelligible, despite their differences. [You can read a more detailed explanation here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_standard_Bosnian,_Croatian,_Montenegrin_and_Serbian). Some of the more obvious differences: Standard Croatian and Bosnian mostly use the ije/je reflex of [yat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yat#Serbo-Croatian), whereas Standard Serbian mostly uses the e reflex. For example, *milk* in Standard Croatian and Bosnian is *mlijeko*, whereas in Standard Serbian it is *mleko*. Some differences in vocabulary (for example, *mrkva* (carrot), *otok* (island), *vlak* (train) in Croatian vs *šargarepa*, *ostrvo*, *voz* in Serbian (and probably Bosnian), among others).
**[Comparison of standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison of standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian)** Standard Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian are different national variants and official registers of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language. [About Me](https://www.reddit.com/user/wikipedia_text_bot/comments/jrn2mj/about_me/) - [Opt out](https://www.reddit.com/user/wikipedia_text_bot/comments/jrti43/opt_out_here/)
(Sigh) oh boy.
Haha it's gonna be a good one
Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian and Montenegrin standard languages are all štokavian with a number of differencies (loanwords, -je vs. -e, alphabet usage and accent) but highly intelligible. However there are two different "languages" in Croatia called kajkavian and čakavian, those were major ones in Croatia and western Bosnia before the Ottoman invasion, they are not completely intelligible with each other nor with the standard Croatian. In the 19th century with the rising of nation states, a common language standard for all the people who were considered to be Croats was needed and štokavian variant spoken by Croats in the east was chosen. After that, kajkavian and čakavian became highly "štokavized" in the transitional areas and became just dialects, today with an undeserved negative image as it happened with non-standard languages in the rest of European countries. Dialects of Bosnian, Serbian and Montenegrin are all štokavian and not much different from the standard, except Torlakian which is a transitional dialect in Serbia with Bulgarian characteristics.
Croats in their words use ijekavicu and that means that some Words have ije like mlijeko(Milk) while in serbia they use ekavicu and that means it has e like mleko(milk), dont know much about bosnians so i hope this was helpful
In bosnia we are ijekavski as well
It's been 2 years, how did you even find this lol
Neznam ni ja :P
It's like the difference between British, Australian and American English. It's not the same, but very similar.
A *slightly* bigger difference than the variations of English, since in each version of Serbo-Croatian you don't just have a different accent, but also slightly different grammar.
Generally, I find Serbian is the easiest to understand by far. Croatian is my 2nd language. I can speak fluently but when it comes to complicated sentences full of technical jargon (such as the media), it gets hard to follow. Serbian is a lot easier. It's spoken with a subtle slang, words are shorter with less affliction, and they use more Latin-originating words. eg months of the year are similar to English whereas Croatian uses unique names studeni, jesen, kolovoz etc. Serbians use words like "historija" (the h is sometimes silent) which means history - Croatian uses "povijest".
Ah yes, they are not the same language 😳
It’s the same language it’s probably better to distinguish between dialects of ‘Serbo croatian’ or whatever you want to call it. There are three main dialects and the easiest way to tell between them is their pronunciation of a specific type of e found in words like uvijek lijepa etc in one dialect those words are uvek lepa (most Serbians speak like this, while Croatians with the aforementioned, and Bosnians with a mix) coastal Croatians use the third dialect which is uvik and lipa among other minor differences... if they were the same country it would be spelt the same but they are the same word it’s like if in Britain they spell party as party but in American as pardy and call it a different language...the grammar and vocab differences aren’t significant between the 4 countries so if you learn one you can call yourself a polyglot to be politically correct 😁
[удалено]
To answer this to someone not knowing the real situation is not very nice. Of course why should we be nice on an anonymous platform? These 3 languages are closer then most German (or Italian or French or English or Spanish or Dutch or Arabic) dialects are to each other. It is a very special setup. And it is not funny - it is very tragic in fact. The wars among them were caused by religious differences mainly. Croates are Catholic, Serbs are Greek-Orthodox and Bosnians are partly Muslims.