If you’re looking for languages similar to Croatian, you’ve come to the right place! Croatian is a Slavic language spoken by about 4.5 million people worldwide.
It’s closely related to Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. Further, there are many other options on the list. So, read more to learn more.
9 Major Languages Similar To Croatian – Here Is All!
Do you want to learn a language similar to Croatian? Many languages are close, and some may better fit you, depending on your needs.
Croatian is similar to other languages in the Slavic family, such as Russian, Polish, and Czech.
As a member of the Slavic language family, Croatian is most closely related to them.
These languages share many similarities in terms of grammar and vocabulary. If you know one of these languages, learning Croatian will be much easier!
While many languages share similarities with Croatian, it is still its unique language.
This article will discuss the common points of Croatian and others in its family. So let’s start the journey!
1. Serbian:
Like Croatian, Serbian is a Slavic language. As a result, the two languages share many common features, such as grammar and vocabulary.
Croatian and Serbian are so similar that they often sound like dialects of each other. For instance, both languages use the Latin alphabet.
Also, there are genders in both languages for all nouns. In addition, there are same grammatical cases in both languages- these cases show the role of a noun in a sentence.
Further, vocabulary in both languages is also very much similar.
Even though the languages have different dialects, Croatian and Serbian are still similar.
For example, a word like ‘vatra’ (fire) is pronounced as ‘vatrA’ in Croatian and ‘vatrU’ in Serbian. So, both share a lot.
2. Bosnian:
Bosnian is one of the languages that are most similar to Croatian. Also, It is usually considered to be a dialect of Croatian.
The two languages are so similar that they are often mutually intelligible. This means that speakers of one language can often understand speakers of the other.
Croatian and Bosnian share common features, such as grammar and vocabulary.
For example, some words are common to both languages, such as ‘sunce’ (sun), ‘zemlja’ (earth), and ‘voda’ (water).
This is because both languages have common roots in the Slavic languages.
Moreover, the order of words in a sentence is usually the same in both languages. They follow the subject-verb-object word order.
Furthermore, both languages have Latin writing script style. This makes it easier for speakers of either language to learn the other.
3. Montenegrin:
Montenegrin is another language that is very similar to Croatian. Now, Montenegrin is a distinct language.
Otherwise, it is very close to Croatian, to the point where they seem to be dialects of one another.
Montenegrin shares points with its closely related languages, such as grammar and vocabulary.
For example, the word for ‘sun’ in Montenegrin is ‘sunce’, just as it is in Croatian and Bosnian. This shows the close relationship between these languages.
Moreover, Montenegrin also uses the Latin writing script. This makes it closer to Croatian.
Another similarity between Montenegrin and Croatian is that both use the Ijekavian pronunciation.
This means that the letters ‘i’ and ‘j’ are pronounced as ‘y’ in these languages.
Finally, both languages share many loanwords from Turkish and Italian. Some examples of loanwords from these languages include ‘kafa’ (coffee) and ‘plava’ (blue).
4. Slovenian:
Slovenian is the language of the Slovenes, a South Slavic people. It is very similar to Croatian and Serbian.
Just like the above options, it also use the Latin writing system. Further, both have a rich vocabulary of loanwords from other languages, particularly Italian.
For example, the Slovenian and Croatian words for ‘coffee’ are both ‘kava’.
The grammar of both languages is similar, with both using the Slavic case system. This means that words have different endings depending on their role in a sentence.
For example, the word ‘house’ in Slovenian is ‘hiša’, but the word ‘of the house is ‘hiše’. So the ending changes to show that it is in the genitive case. The same goes for Croatian.
Another similarity between these languages is that they both have dual grammatical numbers.
This means there are separate endings for words referring to two objects, as opposed to one or more than two.
For example, in Slovenian, the word for ‘fork’ is ‘vilica’, but if there are two forks, it becomes ‘vilici’.
Likewise, in Croatian, the word for ‘eye’ is ‘ok’, but if there are two eyes, it becomes ‘oka’.
So, the two share many points and are similar to each other.
5. Polish:
Poland is a country in Central Europe. The official language is Polish. There are several commonalities between Polish and Croatian.
First, both languages are Slavic languages. This means that they share the same points and have similarities in grammar and vocabulary.
Second, both languages use the Latin alphabet. Third, both languages have many similar grammatical cases.
For instance, they share some cases like nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and instrumental.
These cases help determine the function of words in sentences. Fourth, both languages have a rich vocabulary with many Loanwords from other languages.
Fifth, they have gendered nouns. Each noun has a specific gender. Further, adjectives and pronouns must agree with the noun in terms of gender.
Finally, both languages have free word order. This means the order of words in a sentence cannot affect the meaning of the sentence.
Like, the sentence “I saw John” can become “Ja video sam John” in Croatian and “Widziałem Jaśka” in Polish without affecting the meaning. So, both languages are quite close.
6. Czech:
Czech is a Slavic language spoken in the Czech Republic. It is also similar to Croatian because both are Slavic languages.
Czech is also similar to Croatian in that it uses the Latin alphabet. They also share some similar grammar rules and vocabulary.
For example, a word like “voda” (water) is cognate in both languages. Cognate means that the word comes from a common ancestor language.
Furthermore, Czech is also a fusional language, like Croatian. This means both have inflectional endings. This indicates grammatical information i.e., case, gender, and number.
Also, both languages writing flow goes from left to right. In addition, Czech and Croatian have grammatical genders.
This means that every noun has a gender (male, female, neuter), which affects the form of other words in a sentence.
For example, the word for “girl” is different than the word for “boy” in both languages.
Czech also has free word order like Croatian. This means that the order of words in a sentence does not affect the meaning of the sentence.
So, if you know one of these languages, learning the other will be much easier.
7. Slovak:
Slovak is another language in the list of languages similar to Croatian. Like Czech, Slovak also uses the Latin alphabet and has grammatical genders.
For instance, in Croatian, the word for chair (stol) is masculine, while in Slovak, it is feminine (stolika). This shows both languages assign gender to inanimate objects.
The word order is also free, making it easier for Croatians to learn Slovak. Moreover, the two also have some cognates (words with the same origin and meaning).
For instance, the word ‘grad’ shows up in Croatian and Slovak with the meaning ‘city’. Writing script is also very similar as both languages use the Latin alphabet.
So, if you know one of these languages, learning the other languages from this group will be much easier.
8. Bulgarian:
Bulgarian is another Slavic language that is very similar to Croatian. Bulgarian also has free word order, so Croatians will feel right at home with this language.
Moreover, there are also many cognates between the two languages. This makes learning Bulgarian much easier for Croatians.
For example, both languages have the word for ‘friend’ as prijatelj (приятел), ‘house’ as kuća (къща), and ‘write’ as pišem (пиша).
Moreover, grammar-wise, both languages have similar rules. Specifically when it comes to making plural forms and conjugating verbs.
In Croatian, we have the endings -am, -aš, and -a for the first-person singular verbs in the present tense. While in Bulgarian, these endings are -ям, -яш, -я.
For instance, the verb ‘to write’ in the first person singular present tense in Croatian is pišem, while in Bulgarian, it is пиша that sounds same.
Second person singular present tense in Croatian is pišeš, while in Bulgarian, it is пишеш. This goes for all verbs following this conjugation pattern.
Furthermore, they use postpositions instead of prepositions, which again makes them quite similar.
9. Russian:
Russia is one of Croatia’s closest Slavic neighbors. That’s why their languages share many similarities.
First, vocabulary-wise, a lot of words are very similar or even identical between them. For example, the word for ‘language’ is jezik in Croatian and язык(yazyk) in Russian.
Also, grammatically speaking, Russian is quite similar to Croatian. Like, both languages have seven cases.
These include nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative and instrumental. They work to show a word’s grammatical function within a sentence.
The two languages also share many common phraseology and idioms.
This is likely because of the close geographical proximity between the two countries and their shared history.
For instance, the Croats have a saying, ‘Kako ti je, takav ti Je dan’ which means ‘As your day is, so is your life.’
In Russian, they say ‘Как начинаешь день, так он у тебя и продолжится’ which has a the same meaning.
Lastly, declension patterns in both languages are quite similar. Therefore, if you know how to decline a word in one language, it will be much easier to do so in the other.
Conclusion:
Croatian is a unique language and has many similarities with other regional languages.
These similarities can be helpful for learners. Thus, they can often transfer skills between languages. Also, learning the second one will be fun if you know one.
Further, if you know Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin, learning Croatian will be easier. Too, Russian, Bulgarian, and many other options(shared above) are helpful.
This article will help you choose languages similar to Croatian. So, pick freely if you’re interested in learning Croatian or any other among them.
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