Thread: Main Rule in Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian

If you have doubts on how to read a word, just follow the simple instruction: 'Write as you speak, read as it is written'., Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic November 7, 1787 - February 7, 1864

Originally Posted by stane37

If you have doubts on how to read a word, just follow the simple instruction: 'Write as you speak, read as it is written'., Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic November 7, 1787 - February 7, 1864

What a wise man!

He is wise. It doesn't have a good meaning like in Serbian, but you get the idea. Vuk Karadzic MADE Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian as we know them today.

Actually, the rule 'Write as you speak, read as it is written' was followed whenever a new literary tradition was created. Ancient Greeks followed that rule in the beginning. Romans followed strictly that rule when writing in Latin. However, French and English people now prefer words to preserve their "eternal look". This is also an important principle of writing, very common to China and adjacent countries.

In the beginning of the old Slavonic literary tradition, that rule was also applied with an exception: Greek words were to be written as they are in Greek.

Vuk Karadzic was the creator of modern Serb literary tradition. He rejected the Old Church Slavonic literary tradition and started a new project called "Serbo-Croatian language", in collaboration of some Croatians. That project has been supported about 150 years until it was killed by artilery gun fire onto Vukovar, in 1992.

At present, the old Slavonic literary tradition is still preserved to some extent in the Russian literary language and the Bulgarian literary language only.

It is stil used in serb churches.

Originally Posted by christo_tamarin

At present, the old Slavonic literary tradition is still preserved to some extent in the Russian literary language and the Bulgarian literary language only.

Old Slavonic is the language of Orthodox Church (in Slavic countries of course).