Serbian

SVO; prepositions; noun head final; gender (masculine/feminine/neuter); no articles; case-marking (7 cases); verb affixes mark person, number; passives; tense and aspect; causatives; comparatives; 25 consonant and 5 vowel phonemes, the ‘r’ also functioning as a vocalic (or syllabic) consonant; nontonal.

Language Development

Taught in most primary and secondary schools; taught as subject in other schools where a minority language is the language of instruction. Taught in all tertiary schools. Fully developed. Bible: 1804–1868.

Language Resources

OLAC resources in and about Serbian

Writing

Braille script [Brai]. Cyrillic script [Cyrl], primary usage. Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Torlakian spoken in south and east. Influence from Bulgarian [bul]. Some linguists consider it transitional between Shtokavski and Macedonian [mkd]. Christian.

Also spoken in:

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Albania

Language NameSerbian

User Population

66 in Albania (2012 census). Ethnic population: 370 (2012 census).

Location

Durrës, Elbasan, Fier, Korçë, Shkodër, and Tiranë counties.

Alternate Names

Serbo-Croatian

Language Status

5* (Dispersed).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Muslim.

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Argentina

Language NameSerbian

User Population

6,400 in Argentina (2018), based on nationality.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Australia

Language NameSerbian

User Population

53,800 in Australia (2016 census).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Austria

Language NameSerbian

User Population

177,000 in Austria (2017 World Factbook).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

Language NameSerbian

User Population

1,170,000 in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2016 World Factbook).

Alternate Names

Montenegrin, Serbo-Croatian

Language Status

1 (National). Statutory national language (1995, Federation Constitution, Article 6(1)).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Brazil

Language NameSerbian

User Population

21,000 in Brazil (2021 Joshua Project), based on ethnicity.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Canada

Language NameSerbian

User Population

57,400 in Canada (2016 census).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Croatia

Language NameSerbian

User Population

60,700 in Croatia (2011 census). Ethnic population: 187,000 (2011 census).

Location

Widespread.

Alternate Names

Serbo-Croatian

Language Status

2 (Provincial). Statutory provincial working language in Bjelovarsko-Bilgors, Brodsko-Posavska, Grad Zgreb, Istarska, Karlovacka, Koprivnicko-Krizevaka, Licok-Senjska, Osjecko-Baranjska, Pozescko-Slavonska, Sibensko-Kninska, and 4 other counties (2002, Constitutional Law on the Rights of Minorities, Article 15), the Serbian minority has the right to elect a maximum of 3 members to the national legislature.

Language Use

Used as L2 by Istro Romanian [ruo].

Language Development

Taught in some primary schools, as part of the minority education program.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Muslim.

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Czechia

Language NameSerbian

User Population

1,930 in Czechia (2011 census).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Denmark

Language NameSerbian

User Population

1,650 in Denmark (2020 census), based on nationality.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Germany

Language NameSerbian

User Population

243,000 in Germany (2020 census), based on nationality.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Greece

Language NameSerbian

User Population

3,900 in Greece (Leclerc 2020a), based on ethnicity.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Hungary

Language NameSerbian

User Population

3,710 in Hungary (2011 census). Ethnic population: 7,210 (2011 census).

Location

Budapest county; Bács-Kiskun, Baranya, and Csongrád-Csanád counties, urban enclaves.

Alternate Names

Serbo-Croatian

Language Status

4 (Educational). Recognized language (1993, Minorities Act No. LXXVII).

Language Use

Also use Hungarian [hun]. Probably all L1 speakers.

Language Development

Taught as subject in primary and secondary schools.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Muslim.

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Italy

Language NameSerbian

User Population

24,300 in Italy (2012 census).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Libya

Language NameSerbian

User Population

28,900 in Libya (2020).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Luxembourg

Language NameSerbian

User Population

4,600 in Luxembourg (2011 census).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Montenegro

Language NameSerbian

User Population

266,000 in Montenegro (2011 census).

Location

Widespread.

Alternate Names

Serbo-Croatian

Language Status

5* (Dispersed).

Other Comments

Muslim.

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Netherlands

Language NameSerbian

User Population

2,230 in Netherlands (2015 census).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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North Macedonia

Language NameSerbian

User Population

25,400 in North Macedonia (2018). Ethnic population: 38,100 (2018).

Location

Kriva Palanka, Kumanovo, and Skopje municipalities.

Alternate Names

Serbo-Croatian

Dialects

Serbian.

Language Status

5* (Dispersed).

Other Comments

Christian.

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Norway

Language NameSerbian

User Population

9,290 in Norway (2021 census), based on nationality.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Romania

Language NameSerbian

User Population

16,800 in Romania (2014 UNSD). Ethnic population: 18,000 (2011 census).

Location

Arad, Caras-Severin, Mehedinti, and Timis counties.

Alternate Names

Serbo-Croatian

Language Status

5* (Dispersed). Recognized language (2007, National Minority Status Law, Article 3(2)).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Christian, Muslim.

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Russian Federation

Language NameSerbian

User Population

11,000 in Russian Federation (2010 census). Census includes Bosnian [bos] and Croatian [hrv]. Ethnic population: 9,670 Serbo-Croatian (2002 census).

Location

Scattered.

Alternate Names

Serbo-Croatian

Language Status

5* (Dispersed).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Christian, Muslim.

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Slovenia

Language NameSerbian

User Population

49,500 in Slovenia (2003 UNSD).

Language Status

5* (Dispersed). Recognized language (2000, Slovenian Ratification, ECRML).

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Spain

Language NameSerbian

User Population

3,800 in Spain (2020 census), based on nationality.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Sweden

Language NameSerbian

User Population

13,000 in Sweden (2020 census), based on nationality.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Switzerland

Language NameSerbian

User Population

205,000 in Switzerland (2014 World Factbook).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Turkey

Language NameSerbian

User Population

5,000 in Turkey (2019). 2,350 monolinguals (1965 census). Ethnic population: 61,000.

Location

Widespread, west.

Alternate Names

Serbo-Croatian

Language Status

6b* (Threatened).

Language Use

Also use Turkish [tur].

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Muslim.

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United States

Language NameSerbian

User Population

70,300 in United States (2015 census). 70,260. 144,675 Serbo-Croatian speakers (2015 census).

Location

Scattered.

Language Status

Unestablished.

Language Use

Most shifted to English [eng].

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Zambia

Language NameSerbian

User Population

4,800 in Zambia (2017 J. Leclerc).

Language Status

Unestablished.

Other Comments

Non-indigenous.

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Serbian

Primary tabs

A language of Serbia

Also spoken in:

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