BBC HomeExplore the BBC
This page was last updated in March 2007We've left it here for reference.More information

7 February 2011
Accessibility help
Text only
Your Voice

BBC Homepage


Contact Us

Like this page?
Send it to a friend!

 
Elsewhere on BBCi
BBC Quick Fix - Essential Serbian
BBC Quick Fix - Essential Croatian
Elsewhere on the web
Croatian homepage


In Your Area
What do you think about your local accent?
Talk about Voices in your area

Did You Know?
'Gestuno' is an international sign language, equivalent to the constructed spoken language of Esperanto, invented in 1972.
British Sign Language

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Web sites.
Page 3 of 3
Croatian/Serbian today
The history of Croatian/Serbian
Names and writing system

More about Croatian/Serbian

The writing system
Links between ethnic and religious identity are also reflected in the choice of writing system. The Catholic Croatians use only the Roman script. Although significant numbers of Bosnians are Muslim, having converted to Islam at the time of Turkish rule in the fifteenth century, most identify with Croatian and also use the Roman script.

Mala kuća kamena
sa tri mala prozora:
zeleni im kapci
i krov sav od plamena
a na krovu vrapci

Eastern Orthodox Serbs make use of both a modified Cyrillic alphabet and a modified Roman script.

Serbian writing

Croatian, Serbian and Muslim names
Names throughout the former Yugoslavia consist of two elements: a personal name followed by a family name. Children take their father's family name; women usually take their husband's family name on marriage. Both personal and family names can give clues to ethnic and religious origins.

CroatSerbMuslim
Personal(m)IvanJovanMustafa
(f)SvijetlanaSvetlanaRamiza
FamilyHorvatSavicevicMustafagic
ZulicTodorovicIbrahimovic

previous




About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy