Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
Encyclopedia
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script for the Serbian language
, developed in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić
. It is one of the two standard modern alphabets used to write the Serbian language
, the other being Latin. Since 2006, Cyrillic is the official script
in Serbia
.
Karadžić based his alphabet on the Cyrillic script, faithfully following Johann Adelung's
principle of "write as you speak and read as it is written". Serbian Cyrillic and Latin alphabets have a complete one-to-one congruence, with the Latin digraphs
Lj, Nj, and Dž counting as single letters.
The Cyrillic alphabet is seen as being more traditional, and has official status in Serbia (designated in the Constitution as the "official script", compared to Serbian Latin's status of "script in official use" designated by a lower-level act), Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Montenegro
(besides Latin script). During the course of the 20th century the Latin alphabet has become more frequently used, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, together with the works of Krste Misirkov
and Venko Markovski
, was used as a basis for the Macedonian alphabet
.
The following table provides the upper and lower case forms of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, along with the equivalent forms in the Serbian Latin alphabet and the International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) value for each letter:
in the 860s, amid the christianization of the Slavs. Glagolitic appears to be older, predating the introduction of Christianity, only formalized by Cyril and expanded to cover non-Greek sounds. Cyrillic may have been a creation of Cyril's disciples, perhaps at the Preslav Literary School
in the 890s.
The earliest form of Cyrillic was the ustav, based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and letters from the Glagolitic alphabet
for consonants not found in Greek. There was no distinction of capital and lowercase letters. The literary Slavic language was based on the Old Slavic dialect of Thessaloniki.
Major medieval works written in various Cyrillic alphabets include:
(l. 1787–1864) fled Serbia
during the Serbian Revolution
in 1813, to Vienna. There he met Jernej Kopitar
, a linguist with interest in slavistics. Kopitar and Sava Mrkalj
helped Vuk to reform the Serbian language and its orthography. He finalized the alphabet in 1818, with the Serbian Dictionary.
Karadžić reformed the Serbian literary language and standardised the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet by following strict phonemic
principles on the German model and Jan Hus
' Czech alphabet
. Karadžić's reforms of the Serbian literary language modernised it and distanced it from Serbian and Russian Church Slavonic, instead bringing it closer to common folk speech, specifically, to the dialect of Eastern Herzegovina
which he spoke. Karadžić was, together with Đuro Daničić, the main Serbian signatory to the Vienna Literary Agreement
of 1850 which, encouraged by Austria
n authorities, laid the foundation for the Serbian language, various forms of which are used by Serbs in Serbia
, Montenegro
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Croatia
today. Karadžić also translated the New Testament
into Serbian, which was published in 1868.
He wrote several books; Mala prostonarodna slaveno-serbska pesnarica and Pismenica serbskoga jezika in 1814, and two more in 1815 and 1818, all with the alphabet still in progress. In his letters from 1815-1818 he used: Ю, я, Ы and Ѳ. In his 1815 song book he reverted the Ѣ.
The alphabet was officially adopted in 1868, four years after his death. The corresponding Latin script (latinica) is also used to write in the language.
From the Old Slavic script he retained these 24 letters:
He added one Latin letter:
And 5 new ones:
He removed:
in Yugoslavia
since its establishment in 1918.
With the collapse of Yugoslavia
in the 1990s, Serbo-Croatian
was divided into its variants on ethnic lines (as it was pre-Yugoslavia) and Cyrillic is no longer used officially in Croatia, while in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro the Serbian Cyrillic stayed the official constitutional script, Slovenia and Macedonia had never officially used the Serbo-Croatian language.
Under the Constitution of Serbia
of 2006, Cyrillic script is the only one in official use.
⟩ and ⟨Њ
⟩, together with ⟨Џ
⟩, ⟨Ђ
⟩ and ⟨Ћ
⟩ were developed specially for the Serbian alphabet.
⟨Љ
⟩, ⟨Њ
⟩ and ⟨Џ
⟩ were later adopted for use in the Macedonian alphabet
.
Serbian Cyrillic does not use several letters encountered in other Slavic Cyrillic alphabets. It does not use hard sign and soft sign , but the aforementioned soft-sign ligatures instead. It does not have Russian/Belorussian , the semi-vowels or , nor the iotated letters (Russian/Bulgarian ), (Ukrainian ), , (Russian ) or , and are instead written as two separate letters: can also be used as a semi-vowel. The letter is not used. When necessary, it is transliterated as either or .
Serbian and Macedonian italic
and cursive
forms of lowercase letters , and , differ from those used in other Cyrillic alphabets (in Serbian is optionally underlined, whereas in Macedonian is not). That presents an obstacle in Unicode
modeling, as the glyphs differ only in italic versions, and historically non-italic letters have been used in the same code positions. Serbian professional typography uses fonts specially crafted for the language to overcome the problem, but texts printed from common computers contain East Slavic rather than Serbian italic glyphs. Adobe Cyrillic fonts and the new Microsoft Windows Vista font family include the Serbian variations (both regular and italic) as well as a few other font houses. The letters can easily be implemented using Adobe Illustrator, for example.
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, developed in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić
Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić was a Serbian philolog and linguist, the major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary...
. It is one of the two standard modern alphabets used to write the Serbian language
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, the other being Latin. Since 2006, Cyrillic is the official script
Official script
An official script is a writing system that is specifically designated to be official in the constitutions or other applicable laws of countries, states, and other jurisdictions. Akin to an official language, an official script is much rarer. It is used primarily where an official language is in...
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
Karadžić based his alphabet on the Cyrillic script, faithfully following Johann Adelung's
Johann Christoph Adelung
Johann Christoph Adelung was a German grammarian and philologist.He was born at Spantekow, in Western Pomerania, and educated at schools in Anklam and Berge Monastery, Magdeburg, and the University of Halle...
principle of "write as you speak and read as it is written". Serbian Cyrillic and Latin alphabets have a complete one-to-one congruence, with the Latin digraphs
Digraph (orthography)
A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined...
Lj, Nj, and Dž counting as single letters.
The Cyrillic alphabet is seen as being more traditional, and has official status in Serbia (designated in the Constitution as the "official script", compared to Serbian Latin's status of "script in official use" designated by a lower-level act), Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
and Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
(besides Latin script). During the course of the 20th century the Latin alphabet has become more frequently used, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, together with the works of Krste Misirkov
Krste Misirkov
Krste Petkov Misirkov was a philologist, slavist, historian, ethnographer, publicist author of the first book and scientific magazine in Macedonian, where he for the first time outlined the principles of the literary Macedonian language...
and Venko Markovski
Venko Markovski
Venko Markovski, in Bulgarian and Macedonian Венко Марковски, born as Veniamin Milanov Toshev; was a Bulgarian and Macedonian writer, poet and Communist politician.-Biography:...
, was used as a basis for the Macedonian alphabet
Macedonian alphabet
The orthography of Macedonian includes an alphabet , which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelling and punctuation....
.
Modern alphabet
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
(IPA) value for each letter:
| Cyrillic alphabet | Latin alphabet Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome... |
IPA value International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
|---|---|---|
| А а A (Cyrillic) A is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents an open front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨a⟩ in "father".The Cyrillic letter A is romanized using the Latin letter A.-History:... |
A a | /a/ |
| B b | /b/ | |
| В в Ve (Cyrillic) Ve is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced labiodental fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨v⟩ in "very".... |
V v | /ʋ/ |
| Г г Ge (Cyrillic) Ge is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It is also known in some languages as He. In Unicode this letter is called "Ghe".It commonly represents the voiced velar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨g⟩ in "go".... |
G g | /ɡ/ |
| Д д De (Cyrillic) De is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.De commonly represents the voiced dental plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨d⟩ in admit.De is romanized using the Latin letter D.-History:... |
D d | /d/ |
| Ђ ђ Dje Dje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Dje is the sixth letter of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet and of the Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet, used in the Serbian language to represent the voiced alveolo-palatal affricate , similar to the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jet".Dje corresponds to the Latin... |
Đ đ | /dʑ/ |
| Е е Ye (Cyrillic) Ye is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. In some languages this letter is called E.It commonly represents the vowel or , like the pronunciation of ⟨e⟩ in "yes".Ye is romanized using the Latin letter E.... |
E e | /ɛ/ |
| Ж ж Zhe (Cyrillic) Zhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced postalveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨s⟩ in "treasure".Zhe is romanized as ⟨zh⟩ or ⟨ž⟩.-History:... |
Ž ž | /ʒ/ |
| З з Ze (Cyrillic) Ze is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced alveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨z⟩ in "zoo".Ze is romanized using the Latin letter ⟨z⟩.... |
Z z | /z/ |
| И и I (Cyrillic) I is a letter used in almost all ancient and modern Cyrillic alphabets.It commonly represents the close front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "machine", or the near-close near-front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "bin".-History:The Cyrillic letter I was... |
I i | /i/ |
| Ј ј Je (Cyrillic) Je is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the palatal approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨y⟩ in "yes".-Usage:-Related letters and other similar characters:... |
J j | /j/ |
| К к Ka (Cyrillic) Ka is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless velar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨k⟩ in "king".-History:... |
K k | /k/ |
| Л л El (Cyrillic) El is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.El commonly represents the alveolar lateral approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨l⟩ in "lip".-Form:... |
L l | /l/ |
| Љ љ Lje Lje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Lje represents a palatal lateral , a sound similar to the palatalized alveolar lateral which is represented by the digraph ЛЬ and pronounced like the ⟨ll⟩ in "million".Lje was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić... |
Lj lj | /ʎ/ |
| М м Em (Cyrillic) Em is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Em commonly represents the bilabial nasal consonant , like the pronunciation of ⟨m⟩ in "him".It is derived from the Greek letter Mu .... |
M m | /m/ |
| Н н En (Cyrillic) En is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the alveolar nasal consonant , like the pronunciation of ⟨n⟩ in "nice".-History:The Cyrillic letter En was derived from the Greek letter Nu .... |
N n | /n/ |
| Њ њ Nje Nje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It is a ligature of the Cyrillic letters En ⟨Н⟩ and Soft Sign ⟨Ь⟩. It was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. It corresponds to the digraph ⟨nj⟩ in the Serbian Latin and Croatian alphabets.It is used in Macedonian and Serbian, where it represents a... |
Nj nj | /ɲ/ |
| О о O (Cyrillic) O is a letter of the Cyrillic script.O commonly represents the close-mid back rounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨o⟩ in "go".-History:The Cyrillic letter O was derived from the Greek letter Omicron .... |
O o | /ɔ/ |
| П п Pe (Cyrillic) Pe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless bilabial plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨p⟩ in "pack".-History:... |
P p | /p/ |
| Р р Er (Cyrillic) Er is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the alveolar trill , like the "rolled" sound in the Scottish pronunciation of ⟨r⟩ in "curd".-History:... |
R r | /r/ |
| С с Es (Cyrillic) Es is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨s⟩ in "sand".-History:... |
S s | /s/ |
| Т т Te (Cyrillic) Te is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar plosive , like the pronunciation of ⟨t⟩ in "tick".-History:... |
T t | /t/ |
| Ћ ћ Tshe Tshe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used only in the Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin alphabets, where it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "chew". The sound of Tshe is produced from the voiceless alveolar plosive by iotation.... |
Ć ć | /tɕ/ |
| У у U (Cyrillic) U is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the close back rounded vowel , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨oo⟩ in "boot"... |
U u | /u/ |
| Ф ф | F f | /f/ |
| Х х | H h | /x/ |
| Ц ц Tse (Cyrillic) Tse is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless alveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨ts⟩ in "cats".In English, Tse is commonly romanized as ⟨ts⟩... |
C c | /ts/ |
| Ч ч Che (Cyrillic) Che or Cha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiceless postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "change".... |
Č č | /tʃ/ |
| Џ џ Dzhe Dzhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet used in Serbian and Macedonian to represent the voiced postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jump"... |
Dž dž | /dʒ/ |
| Ш ш Sha For other uses, see Sha .Sha is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. It commonly represents the voiceless postalveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨sh⟩ in "sheep", or the somewhat similar voiceless retroflex fricative . It is used in every variation of the Cyrillic alphabet, for Slavic and... |
Š š | /ʃ/ |
History
The two Slavic scripts, Glagolitic and Cyrillic, in tradition, were invented by the Byzantine Christian missionairies and brothers Cyril and MethodiusSaints Cyril and Methodius
Saints Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Bulgaria, Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they...
in the 860s, amid the christianization of the Slavs. Glagolitic appears to be older, predating the introduction of Christianity, only formalized by Cyril and expanded to cover non-Greek sounds. Cyrillic may have been a creation of Cyril's disciples, perhaps at the Preslav Literary School
Preslav Literary School
The Preslav Literary School was the first literary school in the medieval Bulgarian Empire. It was established by Boris I in 885 or 886 in Bulgaria's capital, Pliska...
in the 890s.
The earliest form of Cyrillic was the ustav, based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and letters from the Glagolitic alphabet
Glagolitic alphabet
The Glagolitic alphabet , also known as Glagolitsa, is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. The name was not coined until many centuries after its creation, and comes from the Old Slavic glagolъ "utterance" . The verb glagoliti means "to speak"...
for consonants not found in Greek. There was no distinction of capital and lowercase letters. The literary Slavic language was based on the Old Slavic dialect of Thessaloniki.
Major medieval works written in various Cyrillic alphabets include:
- Karyes TypiconKaryes TypiconThe Karyes Typicon or Typicon of Saint Sava is a 12th-century Serbian Orthodox typicon written in 1199 by Saint Sava , the first "Archbishop of the Serbs" , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja The Karyes Typicon or Typicon of Saint Sava is a 12th-century Serbian Orthodox...
, 1199 typicon by Saint SavaSaint SavaSaint Sava was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja , and ruled the appanage of Hum briefly in... - Studenica TypikonStudenica TypikonStudenica Typikon or tipik is a Serbian Orthodox typicon written in 1208 by Saint Sava , the first Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, son of powerful 12th century Serbian king Stefan Nemanja....
, 1208 typicon by Saint SavaSaint SavaSaint Sava was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja , and ruled the appanage of Hum briefly in... - Bratko MenaionBratko MenaionBratko Menaion is a 13th-century Serbian liturgical calendar book , written Serbian Orthodox scribe Bratko. It is the oldest menaion in Serbian literature, written in the Serbian recension of Old Church Slavonic ....
, 1234 menaionMenaionThe Menaion refers to the annual fixed cycle of services in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches. Commemorations in the Menaion are tied to the day of the calendar year.-Service books:... - Dragolj CodeDragolj CodeDragolj Code or Miscellany by Dragolj is a 1259 Serbian Orthodox manuscript by Serbian priest Dragolj . It is written in the Old Serbian with characteristics of Zeta and Hum dialects. The code contains the "Adaptation of Kozma`s Sermon against Bogomils".It was found in 1875 by a P...
, 1259 Illuminated manuscriptIlluminated manuscriptAn illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations... - Belgrade ProphetologionBelgrade ProphetologionBelgrade Prophetologion or Parimejnik is an early 13th century Serbian Orthodox Prophetologion . of an unknown scribe....
, 13th century lectionaryLectionaryA Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.-History:... - Vukan GospelsVukan GospelsVukan Gospels is a 13th-century Serbian illuminated manuscript in Old Serbian . It is one of the oldest preserved medieval books written in the Serbian language, with more than 189 pages....
, 13th century Illuminated manuscriptIlluminated manuscriptAn illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations... - St. Sava's Nomocanon, 13th century civil lawCivil law (area)Civil law in continental law is a branch of law which is the general part of private law.The basis for civil law lies in a civil code. Before enacting of codes, civil law could not be distinguished from private law...
and canon lawCanon lawCanon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
by Saint SavaSaint SavaSaint Sava was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja , and ruled the appanage of Hum briefly in... - HagiographyHagiographyHagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
, 13th century work by Saint SavaSaint SavaSaint Sava was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić , the youngest son of Serbian Grand Župan Stefan Nemanja , and ruled the appanage of Hum briefly in... - Dušan's CodeDušan's CodeDušan's Code was enacted by Tsar Dušan in two state congresses: in May 21, 1349 in Skopje and amended in 1354 in Serres. It regulated all social spheres, so it can be considered a medieval Serbian constitution. The Code included 201 articles. The original manuscript is not preserved, but around...
, 1349 legal code by Emperor Dušan - Nikola Gospels, 1350 work
- Radoslav GospelsRadoslav GospelsRadoslav's Gospels was created in 1429 by Radoslav, a Serbian scribe from Dalša. It contains a number of miniatures, including "An Evangelist Portrait". The gospels are in the Russian National Library, St. Petersburg...
, 1429 illuminated manuscriptIlluminated manuscriptAn illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations... - OktoihOktoihOktoih , in English the Book of Psalms or Psalter, is an incunabula printed in Cetinje, Montenegro in 1494. Oktoih is a book of liturgical hymns for singing in eight parts. It was printed in the Printing House of Crnojevići by Đurađ IV Crnojević, an educated ruler of Montenegro from 1490-1496...
, 1494 psalter
Karadžić's reform
Vuk Stefanović KaradžićVuk Stefanovic Karadžic
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić was a Serbian philolog and linguist, the major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary...
(l. 1787–1864) fled Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
during the Serbian Revolution
Serbian revolution
Serbian revolution or Revolutionary Serbia refers to the national and social revolution of the Serbian people taking place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Ottoman province into a constitutional monarchy and a modern nation-state...
in 1813, to Vienna. There he met Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Bartol Kopitar was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna...
, a linguist with interest in slavistics. Kopitar and Sava Mrkalj
Sava Mrkalj
Sava Mrkalj was a Serbian linguist, grammarian, philologist, and poet known for his attempt to reform the Serbian language before Vuk Karadžić....
helped Vuk to reform the Serbian language and its orthography. He finalized the alphabet in 1818, with the Serbian Dictionary.
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
principles on the German model and Jan Hus
Jan Hus
Jan Hus , often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague...
' Czech alphabet
Czech alphabet
The Czech alphabet is a version of the Latin script, used when writing Czech. Its basic principles are "one sound, one letter" and the addition of diacritical marks above letters to represent sounds alien to Latin...
. Karadžić's reforms of the Serbian literary language modernised it and distanced it from Serbian and Russian Church Slavonic, instead bringing it closer to common folk speech, specifically, to the dialect of Eastern Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
which he spoke. Karadžić was, together with Đuro Daničić, the main Serbian signatory to the Vienna Literary Agreement
Vienna Literary Agreement
Vienna Literary Agreement is a designation of a meeting held in March 1850, when writers from Croatia, Serbia and one from Slovenia met to discuss the extent to which their literatures could be conjoined and united.-Historical context:...
of 1850 which, encouraged by Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n authorities, laid the foundation for the Serbian language, various forms of which are used by Serbs in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
today. Karadžić also translated the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
into Serbian, which was published in 1868.
He wrote several books; Mala prostonarodna slaveno-serbska pesnarica and Pismenica serbskoga jezika in 1814, and two more in 1815 and 1818, all with the alphabet still in progress. In his letters from 1815-1818 he used: Ю, я, Ы and Ѳ. In his 1815 song book he reverted the Ѣ.
The alphabet was officially adopted in 1868, four years after his death. The corresponding Latin script (latinica) is also used to write in the language.
From the Old Slavic script he retained these 24 letters:
| -{А а}- | -{Б б}- | -{В в}- | -{Г г}- | -{Д д}- | -{Е е}- | -{Ж ж}- | -{З з}- |
| -{И и}- | -{К к}- | -{Л л}- | -{М м}- | -{Н н}- | -{О о}- | -{П п}- | -{Р р}- |
| -{С с}- | -{Т т}- | -{У у}- | -{Ф ф}- | -{Х х}- | -{Ц ц}- | -{Ч ч}- | -{Ш ш}- |
He added one Latin letter:
| -{Ј ј}- |
And 5 new ones:
| -{Љ љ}- | -{Њ њ}- | -{Ћ ћ}- | -{Ђ ђ}- | -{Џ џ}- |
He removed:
| Ѥ ѥ (је) | Ѣ, ѣ (јат) | І ї (и) | Ы ы(јери, тврдо и) | Ѵ ѵ (и) | Ѹ ѹ (у) | Ѡ ѡ (о) | Ѧ ѧ (ен) | Я я (ја) | |
| Ю ю (ју) | Ѿ ѿ (от) | Ѭ ѭ (јус) | Ѳ ѳ (т) | Ѕ ѕ (дз) | Щ щ (шч) | Ѯ ѯ (кс) | Ѱ ѱ (пс) | Ъ ъ (тврди полуглас) | Ь ь(меки полуглас) |
In Austria-Hungary
Orders issued on the 3 and 13 October 1914 banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in Croatia, limiting it for use in religious instruction. A decree was passed on January 3, 1915, that abolished the rights to address the authorities in Cyrillic. An imperial order in October 25, 1915, banned the use of Serbian Cyrillic in Bosnia-Herzegovina, except "within the scope of Serb Orthodox Church authorities".In Yugoslavia
The Serbian Cyrillic script was one of the two official scripts used to write the Serbo-Croatian languageSerbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
since its establishment in 1918.
With the collapse of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
in the 1990s, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
was divided into its variants on ethnic lines (as it was pre-Yugoslavia) and Cyrillic is no longer used officially in Croatia, while in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro the Serbian Cyrillic stayed the official constitutional script, Slovenia and Macedonia had never officially used the Serbo-Croatian language.
Under the Constitution of Serbia
Constitution of Serbia
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia is Serbia's fundamental law. The current constitution was approved in a constitutional referendum, held from on 28–29 October 2006...
of 2006, Cyrillic script is the only one in official use.
Special letters
The ligatures ⟨ЉLje
Lje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Lje represents a palatal lateral , a sound similar to the palatalized alveolar lateral which is represented by the digraph ЛЬ and pronounced like the ⟨ll⟩ in "million".Lje was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić...
⟩ and ⟨Њ
Nje
Nje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It is a ligature of the Cyrillic letters En ⟨Н⟩ and Soft Sign ⟨Ь⟩. It was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. It corresponds to the digraph ⟨nj⟩ in the Serbian Latin and Croatian alphabets.It is used in Macedonian and Serbian, where it represents a...
⟩, together with ⟨Џ
Dzhe
Dzhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet used in Serbian and Macedonian to represent the voiced postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jump"...
⟩, ⟨Ђ
Dje
Dje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Dje is the sixth letter of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet and of the Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet, used in the Serbian language to represent the voiced alveolo-palatal affricate , similar to the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jet".Dje corresponds to the Latin...
⟩ and ⟨Ћ
Tshe
Tshe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used only in the Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin alphabets, where it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "chew". The sound of Tshe is produced from the voiceless alveolar plosive by iotation....
⟩ were developed specially for the Serbian alphabet.
- KaradžićVuk Stefanovic KaradžicVuk Stefanović Karadžić was a Serbian philolog and linguist, the major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary...
based the letters ⟨ЉLjeLje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Lje represents a palatal lateral , a sound similar to the palatalized alveolar lateral which is represented by the digraph ЛЬ and pronounced like the ⟨ll⟩ in "million".Lje was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić...
⟩ and ⟨ЊNjeNje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It is a ligature of the Cyrillic letters En ⟨Н⟩ and Soft Sign ⟨Ь⟩. It was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. It corresponds to the digraph ⟨nj⟩ in the Serbian Latin and Croatian alphabets.It is used in Macedonian and Serbian, where it represents a...
⟩ on a design by Sava MrkaljSava MrkaljSava Mrkalj was a Serbian linguist, grammarian, philologist, and poet known for his attempt to reform the Serbian language before Vuk Karadžić....
, combining the letters ⟨ЛEl (Cyrillic)El is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.El commonly represents the alveolar lateral approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨l⟩ in "lip".-Form:...
⟩ (L) and ⟨НEn (Cyrillic)En is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the alveolar nasal consonant , like the pronunciation of ⟨n⟩ in "nice".-History:The Cyrillic letter En was derived from the Greek letter Nu ....
⟩ (N) with the soft signSoft signThe soft sign , also known as yer, is a letter of the Cyrillic script. In Old Church Slavonic, it represented a short front vowel. As with its companion, the back yer, the vowel phoneme it designated was later partly dropped and partly merged with other vowels...
(Ь).
- Karadžić based ⟨ЏDzheDzhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet used in Serbian and Macedonian to represent the voiced postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jump"...
⟩ on letter "Gea" in the Romanian Cyrillic alphabetRomanian Cyrillic alphabetThe Romanian Cyrillic alphabet was used to write the Romanian language before 1860–1862, when it was officially replaced by a Latin-based Romanian alphabet. Cyrillic remained in occasional use until circa 1920...
.
- ⟨ЋTsheTshe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used only in the Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin alphabets, where it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "chew". The sound of Tshe is produced from the voiceless alveolar plosive by iotation....
⟩ was adopted by Karadžić to represent the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate (IPA: /tɕ/). The letter was based on and adapted from the letter Djerv, which is the 12th letter of the Glagolitic alphabetGlagolitic alphabetThe Glagolitic alphabet , also known as Glagolitsa, is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. The name was not coined until many centuries after its creation, and comes from the Old Slavic glagolъ "utterance" . The verb glagoliti means "to speak"...
; that letter had been used in written Serbian since the 12th century, to represent /ɡʲ/, dʲ/ and /dʑ/.
- Karadžić adopted a design by Lukijan MušickiLukijan MušickiLukijan Mušicki was a Serbian poet, prose writer, and polyglot.Mušicki was a monk, and later abbot of a monastery in Fruška Gora, whose religious poetry in Church Slavonic, a language distant from the spoken koine, but the only literary language of his time, was recognised and valued by the...
for the letter ⟨ЂDjeDje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Dje is the sixth letter of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet and of the Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet, used in the Serbian language to represent the voiced alveolo-palatal affricate , similar to the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jet".Dje corresponds to the Latin...
⟩. It was based on the letter ⟨ЋTsheTshe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, used only in the Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin alphabets, where it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate , somewhat like the pronunciation of ⟨ch⟩ in "chew". The sound of Tshe is produced from the voiceless alveolar plosive by iotation....
⟩, as adapted by Karadžić.
- ⟨ЈJe (Cyrillic)Je is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the palatal approximant , like the pronunciation of ⟨y⟩ in "yes".-Usage:-Related letters and other similar characters:...
⟩ was adopted from the Latin alphabetLatin alphabetThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
.
⟨Љ
Lje
Lje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.Lje represents a palatal lateral , a sound similar to the palatalized alveolar lateral which is represented by the digraph ЛЬ and pronounced like the ⟨ll⟩ in "million".Lje was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić...
⟩, ⟨Њ
Nje
Nje is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It is a ligature of the Cyrillic letters En ⟨Н⟩ and Soft Sign ⟨Ь⟩. It was invented by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. It corresponds to the digraph ⟨nj⟩ in the Serbian Latin and Croatian alphabets.It is used in Macedonian and Serbian, where it represents a...
⟩ and ⟨Џ
Dzhe
Dzhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet used in Serbian and Macedonian to represent the voiced postalveolar affricate , like the pronunciation of ⟨j⟩ in "jump"...
⟩ were later adopted for use in the Macedonian alphabet
Macedonian alphabet
The orthography of Macedonian includes an alphabet , which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelling and punctuation....
.
Differences from other Cyrillic alphabets
Serbian and Macedonian italic
Italic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
and cursive
Cursive
Cursive, also known as joined-up writing, joint writing, or running writing, is any style of handwriting in which the symbols of the language are written in a simplified and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing easier or faster...
forms of lowercase letters , and , differ from those used in other Cyrillic alphabets (in Serbian is optionally underlined, whereas in Macedonian is not). That presents an obstacle in Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
modeling, as the glyphs differ only in italic versions, and historically non-italic letters have been used in the same code positions. Serbian professional typography uses fonts specially crafted for the language to overcome the problem, but texts printed from common computers contain East Slavic rather than Serbian italic glyphs. Adobe Cyrillic fonts and the new Microsoft Windows Vista font family include the Serbian variations (both regular and italic) as well as a few other font houses. The letters can easily be implemented using Adobe Illustrator, for example.
See also
- South Slavic languagesSouth Slavic languagesThe South Slavic languages comprise one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches by a belt of German, Hungarian and Romanian speakers...
- Serbo-Croatian languageSerbo-Croatian languageSerbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
group; - Bosnian languageBosnian languageBosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
- Croatian languageCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
- Serbian languageSerbian languageSerbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
- Montenegrin languageMontenegrin languageMontenegrin is a name used for the Serbo-Croatian language as spoken by Montenegrins; it also refers to an incipient standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian used as the official language of Montenegro...
- Slavic Macedonian language
- Serbo-Croatian language
- Serbian literatureSerbian literatureSerbian literature refers to literature written in Serbian and/or in Serbia.The history of Serbian literature begins with theological works from the 10th- and 11th centuries, developing in the 13th century by Saint Sava and his disciples...
Sources
- Sir Duncan Wilson, The life and times of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, 1787-1864: literacy, literature and national independence in Serbia, p. 387. Clarendon Press, 1970. Google Books
- Alphabet