Linguist on Bosnian: Language can't be named after country

Let it go, people. You'll never find official agreement. For example, depending on whom you ask, "Montenegrin" is either named after a country or a nation. You can dismiss its existence as a separate language as nonsense, but some people in Montenegro will still claim to speak Montenegrin. It's the same with "Bosnian", and there, too, people can't even agree on the existence of a Bosnian nation. Most Balkan citizens are pretty sure that Bosniaks are Islamicized Serbs, Croats, Vlachs, etc. So why even draw a line between nations and countries?
This whole tussle is just silly. I mean, there are Croats who speak a dialect closer to Slovenian than Serbo-Croat, and yet we seldom hear about them. And what of Serbs down south whose dialect is similar to Macedonian? The whole linguistic situation in the Balkans is crazy, but who cares? Spend money fighting corruption and economic recession, not this stuff.

It's all Serbo-Croatian or Yugo as some say, just as British English, American English, Canadian English, South African English, Australian English, and New Zealand English is the same language. Serbian, Croatia, Bosnian, and Montenegrin are not languages, but rather dialects just as my list above are dialects, not individual languages.

There are not American, Austrian, Mexician, Swiss and some other languages. Bosnia belongs to Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats and the others. This is the reason that the language cannot be named after tbe country, is not it?

Just like English is spoken throughout the Western world its not called American, Australian or Canadian. Serbian is spoken mainly throughout the Balkans. Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, FYR Macedonia its all derived from Serbian language. All the haters can hate but cant face up to historical fact.

"the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) informed the public that the Bosniak or Bosnian language does not exist"

I'm not sure what these guys are smoking, but don't they have more important things to inform the Serb public about than languages of other countries?!

I'm sure that after the announcement above the entire world is in suspense and every country is wondering whether its language will be next to be declared as non existent by SANU :)

Mik: Many languages are based on others, but they have their own name. Spanish, French and Italian all have their roots in Latin as does much of the English language but we refer to them by their modern day names. It is an indication of how petty things have become in the Balkans that this is such an issue. The idea that your language is somehow superior to others who are simply cheap imitations is pointless and unnecessary and smacks of attempts at suppression.

Serbs hear their language spoken by others who then call it another name.

So they are disputing it (and have a right to dispute it all the manufactured fictions of the 90's).

They will never stop disputing until the convenient fictions are exposed and closed.

ned, i disagree with you on this one.

This has deeper meaning than you may be aware of.

Serbs gave hundreds of thousands of lives across 600 years of Ottoman rule to preserve identity, language, religion at great cost.

Serbs will stand on principle and contest the. renaming of their language into something else. If the people who live people over there want to call themselves something else (Bosniak) they have a right to do so (although they are only ethnic Serbs or Croats who willingly or forcefully accepted Islam many yaers ago).

I think you should spend more analysis on why this people seeks to manufacture a language when every linguist in the world says there is only Serbo-Croatian and its various local varieties.

To not say anything will lead to an Orwellian situation one day in the future whereaome guy says Serbs are from India (like Tudjman used to say).

The first principle of psychological health is acceptance of truth.

Sarajevo has little identity, so they seek to manufacture identity. They have the right to do that....and we have the right to "call a spade a spade." Especially after all the fictions they manufactured with expensive PR agencies to get their independence.

To the other poster, he would likely have an international court determine this. SANU has the right and it has the competency.

Idiots who think they are speaking an Elite language, what can be more Elite than Serbian? Their base language is indeed Serbian, nothing more. How can Serbia even allow such a thing in Sandjak.

icj1 yes they usually are smoking something and it's called "duvan". What do you call it? "duhan"? Sounds the same Slavic word to anyone who's being realistic,and yes they do have better things to do. Only problem is they are forever being sidetracked by people who are,also Serbs (religion is not an ethnicity),trying to attribute some new linguistic ideology on a region which is quite frankly sick of ethnic division.It's called Serbo-Croat trust me,or if you really want to be inclusive,and don't like that,call it Yugoslav most people outside the region thought that anyway and it's much less divisive.

Idiots who think they are speaking an Elite language, what can be more Elite than Serbian? Their base language is indeed Serbian, nothing more. How can Serbia even allow such a thing in Sandjak.

Just like English is spoken throughout the Western world its not called American, Australian or Canadian. Serbian is spoken mainly throughout the Balkans. Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, FYR Macedonia its all derived from Serbian language. All the haters can hate but cant face up to historical fact.

Mik: Many languages are based on others, but they have their own name. Spanish, French and Italian all have their roots in Latin as does much of the English language but we refer to them by their modern day names. It is an indication of how petty things have become in the Balkans that this is such an issue. The idea that your language is somehow superior to others who are simply cheap imitations is pointless and unnecessary and smacks of attempts at suppression.

"the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) informed the public that the Bosniak or Bosnian language does not exist"

I'm not sure what these guys are smoking, but don't they have more important things to inform the Serb public about than languages of other countries?!

I'm sure that after the announcement above the entire world is in suspense and every country is wondering whether its language will be next to be declared as non existent by SANU :)

There are not American, Austrian, Mexician, Swiss and some other languages. Bosnia belongs to Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats and the others. This is the reason that the language cannot be named after tbe country, is not it?

Let it go, people. You'll never find official agreement. For example, depending on whom you ask, "Montenegrin" is either named after a country or a nation. You can dismiss its existence as a separate language as nonsense, but some people in Montenegro will still claim to speak Montenegrin. It's the same with "Bosnian", and there, too, people can't even agree on the existence of a Bosnian nation. Most Balkan citizens are pretty sure that Bosniaks are Islamicized Serbs, Croats, Vlachs, etc. So why even draw a line between nations and countries?
This whole tussle is just silly. I mean, there are Croats who speak a dialect closer to Slovenian than Serbo-Croat, and yet we seldom hear about them. And what of Serbs down south whose dialect is similar to Macedonian? The whole linguistic situation in the Balkans is crazy, but who cares? Spend money fighting corruption and economic recession, not this stuff.

ned, i disagree with you on this one.

This has deeper meaning than you may be aware of.

Serbs gave hundreds of thousands of lives across 600 years of Ottoman rule to preserve identity, language, religion at great cost.

Serbs will stand on principle and contest the. renaming of their language into something else. If the people who live people over there want to call themselves something else (Bosniak) they have a right to do so (although they are only ethnic Serbs or Croats who willingly or forcefully accepted Islam many yaers ago).

I think you should spend more analysis on why this people seeks to manufacture a language when every linguist in the world says there is only Serbo-Croatian and its various local varieties.

To not say anything will lead to an Orwellian situation one day in the future whereaome guy says Serbs are from India (like Tudjman used to say).

The first principle of psychological health is acceptance of truth.

Sarajevo has little identity, so they seek to manufacture identity. They have the right to do that....and we have the right to "call a spade a spade." Especially after all the fictions they manufactured with expensive PR agencies to get their independence.

To the other poster, he would likely have an international court determine this. SANU has the right and it has the competency.

Serbs hear their language spoken by others who then call it another name.

So they are disputing it (and have a right to dispute it all the manufactured fictions of the 90's).

They will never stop disputing until the convenient fictions are exposed and closed.

icj1 yes they usually are smoking something and it's called "duvan". What do you call it? "duhan"? Sounds the same Slavic word to anyone who's being realistic,and yes they do have better things to do. Only problem is they are forever being sidetracked by people who are,also Serbs (religion is not an ethnicity),trying to attribute some new linguistic ideology on a region which is quite frankly sick of ethnic division.It's called Serbo-Croat trust me,or if you really want to be inclusive,and don't like that,call it Yugoslav most people outside the region thought that anyway and it's much less divisive.

It's all Serbo-Croatian or Yugo as some say, just as British English, American English, Canadian English, South African English, Australian English, and New Zealand English is the same language. Serbian, Croatia, Bosnian, and Montenegrin are not languages, but rather dialects just as my list above are dialects, not individual languages.