Linguistic Facts in Balkan Region
Category: Reference and Education » Language
Serbia and Montenegro gained the public name of the state as of February 4, 2003, as a result of the evolution of restructuring the country formerly known as The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Serbia and Montenegro is the biggest share of the former SFRY and consists of two states: Serbia and Montenegro.
Inside Serbia, there are two quasi-independent provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo. Kosovo was under the protectorate of the UN from 1999. Linguistic politics and turns of the history, official status and names of various tongues took an important part in the number of ethnical unrests that happened from 1990 till 1999 and it is yet a super delicate issue in the total territory of the peninsula. Best Italian translation
The official language of the Republic of Serbia is Serbian (with over 6 000 000 speakers in the area of Serbia aside from Kosovo, or 88% of the population); an equal judicial status is allowed to both the Cyrillic and the Roman alphabet, but the latest is favored for Serbian state administration. Less spread languages, which are also in official use in the regions where they are spoken, are Hungarian (according to the 2002 census data of the StatsOffice of the Republic of Serbia, estimated at 286 500 natives), Bosnian (134 500 people), Romanian (82 000 speakers), Albanian (63 500 speakers), Slovakian (57 500 speakers), Valachian (55 000 speakers), Romanian (34 500 speakers), Croatian (27 500 speakers), Bulgarian (16 500 speakers), and Macedonian (14 500 speakers). Minority tongues are used at all levels of education: in primary schools, gymnasiums, and at colleges and universities. The first linguistic consequence of the political and ethnic vulnerabilities of the last decade of XX century is that the language that previously was officially named Serbo-Croat has received a number of new ethnically and politically based titles. Thus, the names Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnianare politically engaged and refer to the same tongue with possible few changes. The language has a couple general dialects, Ekavian and Ijekavian.
But, in general, Ekavian is spoken more in Serbia (and parts of Croatia), and Ijekavian is spoken more in Montenegro (and also in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and parts of Croatia), these dialects do not coincide with the ethnically based titles.
The language map in Kosovo is less clear at present, as about 300 000 refugees from this region, mostly Serbs, are still in the process of returning to their homes. This fact makes the numbers of speakers reported unpredictable. Today, by the Statistical Office of Kosovo, about 1 670 000, or 88% of the citizens of Kosovo, speak Albanian, and about 133 000, or 7%, are speakers of Serbian. The remains of the people (5%) speaks mostly Romanian, Bosnian, Greek. HQ-translate: translate into Greek
The official tongue of the Republic of Montenegro is Serbian, but there are recent tendencies to enter the name Montenegrin, either equal to or instead of the term Serbian. Just as with Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian, this term addresses the same language that used to be called Serbo-Croat, and is first of all a subject of political decisions and convictions.
The Cyrillic and the Roman spelling are officially in use. The 2003 census data from the Statistical Institute of the Republic of Montenegro show that about 401 500, or 60% of the inhabitants of Montenegro, recognize themselves as speakers of Serbian, about 145 000 (22%) speak Montenegrin, nearly 49 500 (7%) speak Albanian, 29 000 (4%) are speakers of Bosnian, and approx. 3000 speak either Croatian or Romany.
Inside Serbia, there are two quasi-independent provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo. Kosovo was under the protectorate of the UN from 1999. Linguistic politics and turns of the history, official status and names of various tongues took an important part in the number of ethnical unrests that happened from 1990 till 1999 and it is yet a super delicate issue in the total territory of the peninsula. Best Italian translation
The official language of the Republic of Serbia is Serbian (with over 6 000 000 speakers in the area of Serbia aside from Kosovo, or 88% of the population); an equal judicial status is allowed to both the Cyrillic and the Roman alphabet, but the latest is favored for Serbian state administration. Less spread languages, which are also in official use in the regions where they are spoken, are Hungarian (according to the 2002 census data of the StatsOffice of the Republic of Serbia, estimated at 286 500 natives), Bosnian (134 500 people), Romanian (82 000 speakers), Albanian (63 500 speakers), Slovakian (57 500 speakers), Valachian (55 000 speakers), Romanian (34 500 speakers), Croatian (27 500 speakers), Bulgarian (16 500 speakers), and Macedonian (14 500 speakers). Minority tongues are used at all levels of education: in primary schools, gymnasiums, and at colleges and universities. The first linguistic consequence of the political and ethnic vulnerabilities of the last decade of XX century is that the language that previously was officially named Serbo-Croat has received a number of new ethnically and politically based titles. Thus, the names Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnianare politically engaged and refer to the same tongue with possible few changes. The language has a couple general dialects, Ekavian and Ijekavian.
But, in general, Ekavian is spoken more in Serbia (and parts of Croatia), and Ijekavian is spoken more in Montenegro (and also in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and parts of Croatia), these dialects do not coincide with the ethnically based titles.
The language map in Kosovo is less clear at present, as about 300 000 refugees from this region, mostly Serbs, are still in the process of returning to their homes. This fact makes the numbers of speakers reported unpredictable. Today, by the Statistical Office of Kosovo, about 1 670 000, or 88% of the citizens of Kosovo, speak Albanian, and about 133 000, or 7%, are speakers of Serbian. The remains of the people (5%) speaks mostly Romanian, Bosnian, Greek. HQ-translate: translate into Greek
The official tongue of the Republic of Montenegro is Serbian, but there are recent tendencies to enter the name Montenegrin, either equal to or instead of the term Serbian. Just as with Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian, this term addresses the same language that used to be called Serbo-Croat, and is first of all a subject of political decisions and convictions.
The Cyrillic and the Roman spelling are officially in use. The 2003 census data from the Statistical Institute of the Republic of Montenegro show that about 401 500, or 60% of the inhabitants of Montenegro, recognize themselves as speakers of Serbian, about 145 000 (22%) speak Montenegrin, nearly 49 500 (7%) speak Albanian, 29 000 (4%) are speakers of Bosnian, and approx. 3000 speak either Croatian or Romany.