# Forum Other Languages Slavic languages Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian  Intro to these Languages. How are they different?

## MasterAdmin

Croatian language http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedi ... n-language 
Serbian language http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedi ... n-language 
Bosnian Language http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedi ... n-language

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## Tambakis

::  YAY! Now maybe I can practice a little of my Serbian. This is great. Every one get excited!  ::

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## Pravit

Who can teach me some little bit of Serbian language?

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## nishtyak

As far as the question in the original subject line ("what's the difference?"), there aren't many big differences between Serbian and Croatian.  "A language is just a dialect with an army."  The differences between Serbian and Croatian are on an order or two of magnitude less than the differences between German "dialects," but they play up the differences for political reasons.  Heck, the differences from Russian aren't that great – I have the first part of Pimsleur lessons for Croatian, and it sounds somewhat like nye razumeyu po-kharvatski.  I rest my case.  A good link is http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profiles/profs01.htm  
P.S. Does anybody have any good (or bad) experiences with textbooks for Serbo-Croatian?

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## Stefani

Yay yay yay!!!   ::   ::   ::  
Wow thanks for making this section! Now i can hopefully talk Croatian with people!! 
Tambakis, how's your Serbian??   ::   
(Still with the yay!)

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## Jasper May

I _thought_ it was only a matter of time before Stefani came in here.  ::

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## Stefani

Thank you Jasper. Just so you know, i think everyone secretly loves you on this board   ::

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## Jasper May

Why, that's nice of you to say that.  ::  Everyone just keeps going on about how great Pravit is, and helpful, and charming, and witty... *Balls fist in fury* Damn you Pravit! *Plots evil plan to overthrow him* 
Disclaimer smiley:   ::

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## EffMah

I think you both are annoying.   ::

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## Pravit

> Why, that's nice of you to say that.  Everyone just keeps going on about how great Pravit is, and helpful, and charming, and witty... *Balls fist in fury* Damn you Pravit! *Plots evil plan to overthrow him* 
> Disclaimer smiley:

 Oh Jas-hun, I do believe YOU're the main source of all my praise around here... It's all I can do to hold your romantic advances off every day! Down, boy, down!

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## Tambakis

::   What can I say? I love the both of you. It's true everyone on the board (with the exception of EffMah) secretly loves you too.  ::     

> Tambakis, how's your Serbian??

 It's comming along. Although, I'm learning from a close friend from Montenegro, and at the risk of starting a fight about wether it really is a language or not; he's teaching me Montenegrin. More specifically the jekavian (yekavian) sea shore dialect. As opposed to the shtokavian dialect most Serbs speak. So I'm not all too sure how different they really are. But not horribly different, a guy at my school from Croatia understands me for the most part. If I post in it bear with me  ::      

> As far as the question in the original subject line ("what's the difference?"), there aren't many big differences

 not many, and even with russian, I'm told you can be pretty much understood. Stoto vremja? -what time is it?-

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## MasterAdmin

By the way, I've seen Hamlet's role played in Croatian in one of *ER* show episodes. It was really great. It sounded great and , knowing Russian, I could understand a lot of what was said.

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## Anna

> By the way, I've seen Hamlet's role played in Croatian in one of ER show episodes. It was really great. It sounded great and , knowing Russian, I could understand a lot of what was said.

 Ah, I remember that episode..that's the one where they swordfight, right? 
I've always wanted to learn Croatian. If I mess around with the dial on my radio, stick my ear very close to the speaker, and turn the volume up, I can hear little bits of Croatian words. It's really neat but it hurts my neck sometimes. 
And welcome back, Stefani!

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## MasterAdmin

Yes, swordfighting. Do they really show ER in Germany?

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## Anna

On American channels, they do -- even if it's from two years ago.

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## Mihkkal

"A language is just a dialect with an army"? Excellent quote, who/where is it from?

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## Pravit

> What can I say? I love the both of you. It's true everyone on the board (with the exception of EffMah) secretly loves you too.

 Where did you get such information that EffMah doesn't love me?

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## Tambakis

> I think you both are annoying.

 Right there   ::

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## Tambakis

*Pravit*   

> Who can teach me some little bit of Serbian language?

 
Zdravo - hello
Laku noc - Good night
kod - when
ko - who
sto - what
da li imate cilindar zagasen je vatre? - do you have a fire extinguisher?
shto odelo klozet? - wheres the bathroom?
(two phrases that might come in handy if the bathroom is on fire)  ::   
 erm...I was just thinking of some random words, hope that helps  ::

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## Friendy

> By the way, I've seen Hamlet's role played in Croatian in one of *ER* show episodes. It was really great. It sounded great and , knowing Russian, I could understand a lot of what was said.

 Oh yes, I remember that too. That was one of my favourite episodes.

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## Friendy

> "A language is just a dialect with an army"? Excellent quote, who/where is it from?

 I've found some info about it:  http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Linguistics/armynavy.html
------------------------------
Oh, and this one too: http://www.linguistlist.org/~ask-lin.../msg00887.html

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## garmonistka

Dobar dan
Jesam zaboravila sve, ale jesam vrlo sretna da cemo rozmovlyati (or is that ukrainian? help) srpski i hrvatski.

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## Tu-160

> "A language is just a dialect with an army"? Excellent quote, who/where is it from?

 «A language is a dialect with army and navy». I have such an information that it was said by a linguist Max Veinreich. But I don't know who it is.

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## Mihkkal

Spasibo bol'shoi za the links.  ::

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## Mayita

> Dobar dan 
> Jesam zaboravila sve, ale jesam vrlo sretna da cemo rozmovlyati (or is that ukrainian? help) srpski i hrvatski.
> _________________ 
> .

 
Hey, being a native Croatian speaker I thought I'd point out the very few mistakes you have. Here we go:  _Zaboravila sam sve, ali sam vrlo sretna da ćemo prićati  srpski i hrvatski_ 
I was quite shocked (good way) to see the opening of this section, but did you really have to put "Croatian" last? Lol now that's what a typical Croat would point out  ::  
I just want to say that even though the general view of these languages is that they are all the "same", they aren't, and it's not just because of the dialects, accents etc. In these 13 or so years since the war, Serbs and Croats have mainly stayed out of eachothers' way and have adopted new slang, figurative language, and many words have changed. Of course, we still understand eachother, but some words and expressions still cause confusion here and there. 
Needless to say, the biggest difference of all is cultural. Three religions in one country, I wonder how we lasted so long  ::  Nah, we had a good thing going back then, though the majority wouldn't go back to those times. 
And yes, I almost forgot to give you some ER/Hamlet trivia. Well, most of you know that one of the lead actors, Goran Višnjić, is Croatian. Before he made it REALLY big (and even after), he'd perform at the annual Dubrovnik Summer Festival (http://www.dubrovnik-festival.hr/default.asp?ru=2) and you've guessed it, he'd play Hamlet. I actually saw the spectacle in '99 and I doubt any other show will top it for me. He and the cast were incredible. In Croatia people are always on the look out for what Goran will think of next, he never stops giving his country props <33

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## MasterAdmin

> I was quite shocked (good way) to see the opening of this section, but did you really have to put "Croatian" last? Lol now that's what a typical Croat would point out

 I guess this comment is for me. Check out the new description of the section now   ::

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## garmonistka

> _Zaboravila sam sve, ali sam vrlo sretna da ćemo prićati  srpski i hrvatski_props <33

 Zaboravila sam sve, ali sam vrlo sretna da ćemo prićati   hrvatski i srpski  ::   
Hvala ljepo!!! Dobar dan, laku noc! Ni mogu da pricam hrvatski jesam glupa   ::

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## Stefani

Ne mogu pricat hrvatski jer sam glupa!  ::  
(sorry about no accent)[/quote]

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## Tambakis

So which is more widely said, Dobr dan or Dobr zhan? I was taught dobr zhan first, but he also said it can be pronounced dobr dan. I'm thinking now its usually dobr dan.

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## Stefani

Okay, well i've never heard Dobr zhan before.........
I've always used dobar dan, and only ever heard that.

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## Tambakis

> Okay, well i've never heard Dobr zhan before......... 
> I've always used dobar dan, and only ever heard that

 Yeah I figured, that might be the answer. He swears they say it, but thats in montenegro...so yeah.

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## garmonistka

> Ne mogu pricat hrvatski jer sam glupa!  
> (sorry about no accent)

 [/quote]Jesam glupa i luda  ::  
necu vise pricati - ne znam nic 
ovaj jezik jest tezak

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## Mayita

> I guess this comment is for me. Check out the new description of the section now

 Haha not bad at all! You should really consider being a diplomat, God knows I'd never be able to  ::

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## Stefani

Jesam glupa i luda  
necu vise pricati - ne znam nic 
ovaj jezik jest tezak 
ali dobro ti ide![/quote]

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## Tambakis

> Okay, well i've never heard Dobr zhan before.........
> I've always used dobar dan, and only ever heard that.

 posted this as a new thread, didn't really mean to. It might explain something. It's the fourth down, first with the ! smiley.  http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtop ... highlight=

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## Stefani

True, they have the whole 'zh' thing going on. I've never really heard people from Macedonia speak though. 
"In addition, there's no such thing as a Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian language. Its one language with several dialects." 
I would agree to that but the languages are changing with the dialogue 
"Croatia is the most screwed up. Every single one of the dialects is used in at least some part of the country... " 
haha

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## Ljosha

Zdravo, 
Kroz internet, kod kuće, naučio sam malo čitati na bosanskom, hrvatskom i srpskom jezikah (govorim po abecednom redu da nikoga ne uvredim  :: 
Nisam ih učio na "akademički" način... zato izvinite za greški... 
Molim, može li mi neko objasniti razliku između rečima "zrak" i "vazduh"? Hvala unapred.

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## Algol

Dobro ti ide   ::   
Well, "zrak" is mainly used in Bosnia and  Herzegovina, Croatia and Monte Negro and is considered as "croatian" word. "Vazduh" is used in Serbia and is definitely Serbian. 
In Serbian "zrak" also means "a ray".
( zrak svetlosti - a ray of light
rentgenski zrak - a roentgen ray, x-ray
zrak nade - a ray of hope etc. )

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## Ljosha

> Dobro ti ide    
> Well, "zrak" is mainly used in Bosnia and  Herzegovina, Croatia and Monte Negro and is considered as "croatian" word. "Vazduh" is used in Serbia and is definitely Serbian. 
> In Serbian "zrak" also means "a ray".
> ( zrak svetlosti - a ray of light
> rentgenski zrak - a roentgen ray, x-ray
> zrak nade - a ray of hope etc. )

 HVALA LEPO! (sestro?) 
Može li se još jedno pitanje? Slušao sam bosanke sevdalinke koje poje Himza Polovina, u posebnosti pesmu "Emina". Čuo sam da je tam poznata. Ne znam zašto, ali meni sviđa. A pitanje je takvo: tamo ima slične fraze kojih ne sasvim razumem (obeležane crvenom bojom) 
Kapidžik otvori, jer moga mi dina,
Razvalit ću direk i baglame tvrde,
Pa neka se name svi alimi srde,
Jer za tobom, beli, ja umrijeh, Emina!
... ... ... 
Ja joj nazvah selam, jest tako mi dina,
Ne šce ni da čuje lijepa Emina!
Već u srebren ibrik zahvatila vode,
Pa niz bašću džule zaljevati ode!
... ... ... 
Po bašći se šeće, a plećima kreće,
Ni hodžin mi zapis više pomoć neće!
Ja kakva je pusta! Moga mi imana,
Stid je ne bi bilo da je kod sultana! 
Znam da kod muslimana "din", "iman" znači "vera", ali ne razumem šta znače ove fraze. Bio bi vrlo zahvalan na pomoći.

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## Algol

I don't really understand it, either.
It's a kind of oath,  a sincere promise, obligation, commitment...
It purpose is to persuade a person, convince him or her that our intentions are serious and honest....
I don't know...you really should ask someone from Bosnia about that,
we in Serbia don't use that phrase often. 
Btw, I'm a 27 y.o. man and I should really remove those  verses from my signature.
Don't you think ?
(I'm surely not a gay. Not a bit !)

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## Algol

Inače, ti, Ljosha, jako dobro govoriš srpski (pretpostavljam da je srpski jer je ekavica, mada i u hrvatskom jeziku ima ekavice, samo ne u štokavskom nego u kajkavskom narečju). 
Da li znaš da je te stihove napisao srpski pesnik (iz Bosne) Aleksa Šantić ?
(u Bosni svi Srbi govore ijekavskim narečjem)
Evo ti još jedna njegova pesma (rodoljubiva) : 
Moja domovina 
Aleksa Šantić 
Ne plačem samo s bolom svoga srca
Rad zemlje ove uboge i gole; *Mene sve rane moga roda bole,*
I moja duša s njim pati i grca. 
Ovdje, u bolu srca istrzana,
Ja nosim kletve svih patnji i muka,
I krv što kapa sa dušmanskih ruka
To je krv moja iz mojijeh rana. 
U meni cvile duše miliona -
Moj svaki uzdah, svaka suza bona,
Njihovim bolom vapije i ište. 
I svuda gde je srpska duša koja,
Tamo je meni otadžbina moja,
Moj dom i moje rođeno ognjište. 
Vidiš kako je duševna ova pesma, kao da ju je neki Rus napisao ?
To je jedan od razloga zašto ja toliko ističem bratstvo ruskog i srpskog naroda....   ::  
(Postavio sam ove stihove potaknut strašnim stradanjem mog, srpskog naroda na Kosovu ovih dana. Ne zamerite na dužini poruke.)

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## Ljosha

> I don't really understand it, either.
> It's a kind of oath,  a sincere promise, obligation, commitment...
> It purpose is to persuade a person, convince him or her that our intentions are serious and honest....
> I don't know...you really should ask someone from Bosnia about that,
> we in Serbia don't use that phrase often.

 OK. Thanks for the ideas, Algol! All your comments are really helpful.    

> Btw, I'm a 27 y.o. man and I should really remove those  verses from my signature.
> Don't you think ?

 Maybe you should although the words are good. That’s what I looked at. It’s a pity they don't have a way to show people’s gender on this forum. Or do they?

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## Ljosha

> Inače, ti, Ljosha, jako dobro govoriš srpski (pretpostavljam da je srpski jer je ekavica

 Хвала. Да, читао сам углавном на екавици, зато и пишем тако.   

> , mada i u hrvatskom jeziku ima ekavice, samo ne u štokavskom nego u kajkavskom narečju).

 Нисам то знао.   

> Da li znaš da je te stihove napisao srpski pesnik (iz Bosne) Aleksa Šantić ?
> Vidiš kako je duševna ova pesma, kao da ju je neki Rus napisao ?
> To je jedan od razloga zašto ja toliko ističem bratstvo ruskog i srpskog naroda....  
> (Postavio sam ove stihove potaknut strašnim stradanjem mog, srpskog naroda na Kosovu ovih dana. Ne zamerite na dužini poruke.)

 Да, читао сам понешто за А. Шантића. Пуно хвала на песми. Стварно је душевна. А оно што се ради на Косову је страшно. Зашто би људи не живели мирно? Чуо сам да су око 4000 срба били отерани из својих кућа...

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## gianni

Nishtyak is right, but now there are same different words in those "languages". Between serbian and croatian most of these different words are new, but between bosnian and other versions there are many differences! I Know bosnians uses a lot of words from turkish.

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## gianni

Sretan sam da nasao sam mjesto gdje mogu praticirati (ili vaditi??) "na vasem". nadam se da netko odgovorit ce, tako da mozemo malo pricati. Budite mi dobro!!!

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## brett

Zravst.
Doesn't Serbian use cyrillic? Or is it Bosnian that does? And why is the name Montenegro still used? Where in this region's history did this name come into being? Surely it's latin?
And just curious- the abreviation some of you use in posts, 'lol'.I thought it meant 'lots of love', but it gets used alot in cases that makes me think otherwise.What does it mean?

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## Friendy

> And just curious- the abreviation some of you use in posts, 'lol'.I thought it meant 'lots of love', but it gets used alot in cases that makes me think otherwise.What does it mean?

 It means "*l*aughing *o*ut *l*oud".

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## Stjepan

> Zravst.
> Doesn't Serbian use cyrillic? Or is it Bosnian that does? And why is the name Montenegro still used? Where in this region's history did this name come into being? Surely it's latin?

 Serbian uses the latin and cyrillic alphabets.  Bosnian uses only the latin.   
In Serbia, I'm not sure which alphabet is used more frequently, but in the more recent pictures I've been seeing from there it looks like Cyrillic is becoming more dominant again. 
The name "Montenegro" is "Black Mountain" in the Veneto dialect of Italian.  It's the common name in the west for the country, and was brought over by Venetians whose ships dominated the Adriatic at that time.  Other languages also use translations of the words Black Mountain, in Turkish it is Karadag (?), in Albanian something else etc.  The name for Montenegro in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian is Crna Gora (also "Black Mountain").

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## Горан

it is true that both cyrillic and latin alphabets are used in Serbian language but only cyrillic alphabet ( азбука) is a genuine Serbian alphabet. 
The embracement of the latin letters in Serbian language was an attempt to decrease the differences between the nations of former Yugoslavia. 
As Serbian language follows the rule : one letter, one sound and the other way around, latin alphabet is incomplete and flawed in that sense.  
e.g. њ=nj 
љ=lj 
џ=dž  
If one wants to learn Serbian language, he/she ought to learn cyrillic letters.

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It's worth mentioning that Serbian cyrillic and Russian cyrillic are quite different. Both have letters the other one doesn't.

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## Antono

Yeah, and especially the cursive scripts are quite different.

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## Ljosha

Срећна Нова година и срећан Божић!  Here, there is an interesting glossary of Bosnian and older words with translations into the modern language.

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## Vlacko

The main difference is political.  Linguistic things are a little bit different. And I think the main difference in present tense. Serbian language uses construction da+present simple, while Croatian uses infinitive. And there are some small differences  but this I think the most important.

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## Vlacko

> It's worth mentioning that Serbian cyrillic and Russian cyrillic are quite different. Both have letters the other one doesn't.

 Yes that's true.

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BOSANSKI 
CILJEVI I ZADACI  
Osnovni ciljevi i zadaci Centralne banke su utvrđeni Zakonom saglasno Općem okvirnom sporazumu za mir u BiH. Centralna banka Bosne i Hercegovine održava monetarnu stabilnost u skladu s currency board aranžmanom (1KM : 0,51129 EURO), što znači da izdaje domaću valutu uz puno pokriće u slobodnim konvertibilnim deviznim sredstvima po fiksnom kursu 1 KM: 0,51129 EURO. Centralna banka definira i kontrolira provođenje monetarne politike Bosne i Hercegovine. Centralna banka upravlja službenim deviznim rezervama ostvarenim izdavanjem domaće valute. 
Centralna banka pomaže i održava odgovarajuće platne i obračunske sisteme. Također koordinira djelatnosti agencija za bankarstvo bh. entiteta, koje su nadležne za izdavanje dozvola za rad i superviziju banaka.  HRVATSKI 
CILJEVI I ZADACI  
Osnovni ciljevi i zadaci Centralne banke su utvrdeni zakonom sukladno Opcem okvirnom sporazumu za mir u BiH. Centralna banka Bosne i Hercegovine održava monetarnu stabilnost u skladu s currency board aranžmanom (1KM : 0,51129 EURO), što znaci da izdaje domacu valutu uz puno pokrice u slobodnim konvertibilnim deviznim sredstvima po fiksnom kursu 1KM : 0,51129 EURO. Centralna banka definira i kontrolira provodenje monetarne politike Bosne i Hercegovine. Centralna banka upravlja službenim deviznim rezervama ostvarenim izdavanjem domace valute. 
Centralna banka pomaže i održava odgovarajuce platne i obracunske sisteme. Također koordinira djelatnosti agencija za bankarstvo be-ha entiteta, koje su nadležne za izdavanje dozvola za rad i superviziju banaka.  SRPSKI 
ЦИЉЕВИ И ЗАДАЦИ  
Основни циљеви и задаци Централне банке су утврђени законом сагласно Општем оквирном споразуму за мир у БиХ. Централна банка Босне и Херцеговине одржава монетарну стабилност у складу са "currency board" аранжманом (1КМ : 0,51129 ЕURO), што значи да издаје домаћу валуту уз пуно покриће у слободним конвертибилним девизним средствима по фиксном курсу 1КМ : 0.51129 ЕURO. Централна банка дефинише и контролише провођење монетарне политике Босне и Херцеговине. Централна банка управља службеним девизним резервама оствареним издавањем домаће валуте. 
Централна банка помаже и одржава одговарајуће платне и обрачунске системе. Такође координирање дјелатности агенција за банкарство бх. ентитета, обје су надлежне за издавање дозвола за рад и супервизију банака.

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## adam562

> Serbian uses the latin and cyrillic alphabets.  Bosnian uses only the latin.

 Bosnian also uses the Cyrillic alphabet - in the Republika Srpska.  This is mainly where the Bosnian-Serbs live.  
Adam   ::

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## Dejan

Montenegro is called "crna gora" in south slavic languages.  My uncle tells me that this does not mean "black mountain" but rather "black gorse" - a reference to dark bushes and shrubs that are common on the hillsides.  I've personally never been there, so I wouldn't know.

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