SerboCroatian

Serbo-Croatian, also referred to as SerboCroatian in some usages, is a South Slavic language that was the main language of the former Yugoslavia, used across Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It refers to a group of standard varieties that are highly mutually intelligible, including Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. In linguistic contexts it is often called the macro-language or BCS (Bosnian–Croatian–Serbian).

The language is based on the Shtokavian dialect and has three main phonological standards: Ekavian, Ijekavian, and Ikavian, corresponding to how the historical vowel e is realized in different regions. It is written in two scripts: Latin and Cyrillic. Latin script is dominant in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina; Cyrillic is common in Serbia, with Montenegro using both scripts.

Historically, Vuk Karadžić led 19th-century standardization in Serbia; later, the Yugoslav state promoted a single Serbo-Croatian standard. After the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the four national varieties acquired separate standard codifications, though they remain highly similar in grammar and core vocabulary. Mutual intelligibility remains high among them.

Grammar features include inflection with seven cases, gender agreement, and aspectual contrasts in verbs. The lexicon has borrowed from Turkish, German, Italian, and other languages, with modern terminology expanding to international terms. The name and status of the language continue to be subjects of scholarly and political discussion, reflecting national identities and linguistic unity.