Chakavian
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Chakavian is a dialect of the Croatian language, which is a South Slavic language belonging to the Indo-European family. While standard Croatian is based on the Shtokavian dialect, Chakavian, along with Kajkavian, are other major branches of the language spoken by Croats. Historically, Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian were considered variants of a single language, Serbo-Croatian. However, political changes have led to an emphasis on their distinctiveness, with differences in script, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Chakavian dialects, along with others, contribute to the rich linguistic landscape of Croatia.1
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- Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian languageGroupings, geography, and religion
…three main groups, named Kajkavian, Chakavian, and Shtokavian after the pronoun meaning “what” (kaj, ča, and što or šta, respectively), though the three dialects also differ in vowels, consonants, word forms, and vocabulary. Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are entirely Shtokavian. Croatia uses Chakavian along the seacoast, Kajkavian in…
Read More…three main groups, named Kajkavian, Chakavian, and Shtokavian after the pronoun meaning “what” (kaj, ča, and što or šta, respectively), though the three dialects also differ in vowels, consonants, word forms, and vocabulary. Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are entirely Shtokavian. Croatia uses Chakavian along the seacoast, Kajkavian in…
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Slavic languagesThe Western subgroup: Serbian, Croatian, and SloveneThey are distinguished from the Chakavian dialects of western Croatia, Istria, the coast of Dalmatia (where a literature in that dialect developed in the 15th century), and some islands in the Adriatic. In those areas ča (pronounced in English as cha) is the form for ‘what?’. A third main group…
Read MoreThey are distinguished from the Chakavian dialects of western Croatia, Istria, the coast of Dalmatia (where a literature in that dialect developed in the 15th century), and some islands in the Adriatic. In those areas ča (pronounced in English as cha) is the form for ‘what?’. A third main group…
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