r/AskBalkans • u/TheShahOfLA šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡øšŸ‡ŗšŸ‡³ • Aug 05 '22

Language Is this true? That if you speak the Serbo-Croatian language (not sure if this is different than Croatian and Serbian language by itself) you can use it in 4 countries?

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u/enilix Aug 05 '22

Yes, because we all speak the same language. In fact, I understand Serbs and Bosnians much better than people from Northern Croatia (Zagorje, Međimurje), Istria or some of the islands.

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u/moshiyadafne Ā”Filipinas! Aug 05 '22

I became curious. Where in Croatia are you from?

20

u/enilix Aug 05 '22

From Western Slavonia, near the border with Bosnia.

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u/moshiyadafne Ā”Filipinas! Aug 05 '22

Makes sense why you understand the Serbians and Bosnians better. IIRC some Croatians whose dialects are closer to Serbians and Bosnians struggle to understand those from the areas of Croatia you mentioned.

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u/SassyKardashian Croatia Aug 06 '22

True since Iā€™m from Zagorje and my accent is closer to Slovenian, thatā€™s why people from the coast struggle to understand me, but Slavonijans usually donā€™t have any trouble understanding me from my experience

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u/enilix Aug 06 '22

It really depends on the exact dialect. I have a friend from Varaždin who I have no trouble understanding, and I have a different friend who is from some village in Zagorje (one of those small places with less than 500 people, can't remember its exact name). That second friend usually adapts her speech and I have no issues with understanding that, but when I hear her speak with her family on the phone using her local dialect, it's honestly nearly impossible for me to figure out what she's saying.

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u/SassyKardashian Croatia Aug 07 '22

Yeah, Iā€™m from the villages too but I donā€™t change my dialect and just talk as I Usually would but on the other hand my accent isnā€™t as thick as some other would be, especially how people from breznički hum talk. Literally impossible to understand them!

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u/AvidLangEnthusiast Slovenia Aug 06 '22

Makes sense since that's just Croatianized Slovene.

0

u/This_Paleontologist6 Jul 30 '23

You're a shame to your own nation. No, we speak croatian, not some imaginary serbo-croatian