Bosnian is spoken in Bosnia and Herzegovina primarily. There a few speakers of Bosnian in Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania, and Turkey. There are 2.2 million speakers of Bosnian in the world.
Bosnian is a south Slavic language from the Shtokavian dialect. It is one of three languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia have mutually understood languages by the people of the four countries. These four languages have the same vocabulary, grammar,and syntax. Both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets are used.
Bosnian is the official language of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is spoken in Montenegro. The Bosnian language was written in Cyrillic in the 10th and 11th centuries. In the past, the speakers of Bosnian were more evenly distributed but the Bosnian language wasn't brought into conformity until the 19th century.
The Bosnian aristocracy only wrote in foreign languages such as Turkish, Arabic, and Persian. Literature written in the common dialect was meagre.
The religions of Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Islam had more to do with nationhood than culture and language. The Serbs are Orthodox, the Croatians are Roman Catholic, and more than a third of Bosnians are Muslims.
Croatian Kings ruled Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 10th century. Hungary ruled from 1000 to 1200. In 1391, the southern part of Herzegovina became an independent kingdom. In 1493, the Turks conquered Bosnia and Herzegovina and it was made a Turkish province. In 1878, Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia and Herzegovina. When the Austrian-Hungarian Empire held Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian was the only official language for the Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats. The idea was to make the people of Bosnia think they belonged to an illustrious and impregnable nation. In 1918, Bosnia became part of Yugoslavia and in 1946 it was joined with Herzegovina as a federated republic of Yugoslavia. Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed sovereignty on October 15, 1991. There was a referendum for independence that passed but it caused violence and bombings. The Serbs, Croats, and Muslims fought among themselves. There was an "Ethnic Cleansing" of Muslims and other non-Serbs. A peace agreement was signed in November 1995 by leaders of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia.
There is a disagreement over the name of the Bosnian language mostly by the Croats and Serbs . The language can be called "Bosniak". The Bosnian ethnicity speak the Bosnian language. The name "Bosnian Language" is thought to imply it is the language of all Bosnians. The Croats and Serbs speak Croatian and Serbian respectively. The three languages are mutually understood by all Bosnians.
Contact Axis Translations for assistance with Bosnian translation, transcription and interpreting.
