Editing Serbo-Croatian (section)

== Dialects ==
{{Main|Dialects of Serbo-Croatian}}
{{See also|Dialect continuum#South Slavic continuum|label1=South Slavic dialect continuum}}
South Slavic historically formed a [[Dialect continuum#South Slavic continuum|dialect continuum]], i.e. each dialect has some similarities with the neighboring one, and differences grow with distance. However, migrations from the 16th to 18th centuries resulting from the spread of [[Ottoman Empire]] on the Balkans have caused large-scale population displacement that broke the dialect continuum into many geographical pockets. Migrations in the 20th century, primarily caused by [[urbanization]] and wars, also contributed to the reduction of dialectal differences.

The primary dialects are named after the most common question word for ''what'': [[Shtokavian dialect|Shtokavian]] uses the pronoun ''što'' or ''šta'', [[Chakavian dialect|Chakavian]] uses ''ča'' or ''ca'', [[Kajkavian dialect|Kajkavian (''kajkavski'')]], ''kaj'' or ''kej''. In native terminology they are referred to as ''nar(j)ečje'', which would be equivalent of "group of dialects", whereas their many subdialects are referred to as ''dijalekti ''"dialects" or ''govori ''"speeches".

The pluricentric Serbo-Croatian standard language and all four contemporary standard variants [[Abstand and ausbau languages#Distance between ausbau languages|are based]] on the [[Eastern Herzegovinian dialect|Eastern Herzegovinian]] subdialect of Neo-Shtokavian. Other dialects are not taught in schools or used by the state media. The [[Torlakian dialect]] is often added to the list, though sources usually note that it is a transitional dialect between Shtokavian and the Bulgaro-Macedonian dialects.

{|
|[[File:Serbo croatian dialects historical distribution 2.png|thumb|Likely distribution of major dialects prior to the 16th-century migrations]]
|[[File:Shtokavian subdialects1988 incl Slovenia.png|thumb|Shtokavian subdialects (Pavle Ivić, 1988). Yellow is the widespread Eastern Herzegovinian subdialect that forms the basis of all national standards, though it is not spoken natively in any of the capital cities.]]
|[[File:Croatian dialects.PNG|thumb|Mid-20th-century distribution of dialects in Croatia]]
|}

The Serbo-Croatian dialects differ not only in the question word they are named after, but also heavily in phonology, accentuation and intonation, case endings and tense system (morphology) and basic vocabulary. In the past, Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects were spoken on a much larger territory, but have been replaced by Štokavian during the period of migrations caused by Ottoman Turkish conquest of the Balkans in the 15th and the 16th centuries. These migrations caused the koinéisation of the Shtokavian dialects, that used to form the West Shtokavian (more closer and transitional towards the neighbouring Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects) and East Shtokavian (transitional towards the Torlakian and the whole Bulgaro-Macedonian area) dialect bundles, and their subsequent spread at the expense of Chakavian and Kajkavian. As a result, Štokavian now covers an area larger than all the other dialects combined, and continues to make its progress in the enclaves where non-literary dialects are still being spoken.<ref>E.g., big coastal Croatian cities [[Rijeka]] and [[Split (city)|Split]] together with their hinterland become basically completely Štokavianised during the 20th century, which had been Čakavian-speaking urban centres.</ref>

The differences among the dialects can be illustrated on the example of [[Schleicher's fable]]. Diacritic signs are used to show the difference in accents and prosody, which are often quite significant, but which are not reflected in the usual orthography.

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:'''Neo-Štokavian Ijekavian/Ekavian'''

: Óvca i kònji

:Óvca koja níje ìmala vȕnē vȉd(j)ela je kònje na br(ij)égu. Jèdan je òd njīh vȗkao téška kȍla, drȕgī je nòsio vèliku vrȅću, a trȅćī je nòsio čòv(j)eka.

:Óvca rȅče kònjima: «Sȑce me bòlī glȅdajūći čòv(j)eka kako jȁšē na kònju».

:A kònji rȅkoše: «Slȕšāj, ȏvco, nȃs sȑca bòlē kada vȉdīmo da čòv(j)ek, gospòdār, rȃdī vȕnu od ovácā i prȁvī òd(j)eću zá se. I ȍndā óvca nȇmā vȉše vȕnē.

:Čȗvši tō, óvca pȍb(j)eže ȕ polje.
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: '''Old Štokavian ([[Orubica]], [[Posavina]])''':

:Óvca i kònji

:Óvca kòjā nî ìmala vȕnē vȉdla kònje na brîgu. Jèdān od njȉjū vũkō tȇška kȍla, drȕgī nosȉjo vȅlikū vrȅću, a trȅćī nosȉjo čovȉka.

: Óvca kȃza kȍnjima: «Sȑce me bolĩ kad glȅdām kako čòvik na kònju jȁšī».

:A kònji kāzȁše: «Slȕšāj, ȏvco, nãs sȑca bolũ kad vȉdīmo da čòvik, gȁzda, prȁvī vȕnu od ovãc i prȁvī rȍbu zá se od njẽ. I ȍndā ōvcȁ néma vȉšē vȕnē.

:Kad tȏ čȕ ōvcȁ, ȕteče ȕ polje.
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: '''Čakavian ([[Matulji]] near Rijeka)''':

:Ovcȁ i konjı̏

:Ovcȁ kȃ ni imȅla vȕni vȉdela je konjȉ na brȇge. Jedȃn je vȗkal tȇški vȏz, drȕgi je nosîl vȅlu vrȅt'u, a trȅt'i je nosîl čovȅka.

:Ovcȁ je reklȁ konjȇn: «Sȑce me bolĩ dok glȅdan čovȅka kako jȁše na konjȅ».

:A konjȉ su reklȉ: «Poslȕšaj, ovcȁ, nȃs sȑca bolẽ kad vȉdimo da čovȅk, gospodãr dȅla vȕnu od ovãc i dȅla rȍbu zȃ se. I ȍnda ovcȁ nĩma vȉše vȕni.

:Kad je tȏ čȕla, ovcȁ je pobȅgla va pȍje.
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: '''Kajkavian ([[Marija Bistrica]])''':

:õfca i kȍjni

:õfca tera nı̃je imȅ̩la vȕne vȉdla je kȍjne na briẽgu. Jȇn od nîh je vlẽ̩ke̩l tẽška kȍla, drȕgi je nȍsil vȅliku vrȅ̩ču, a trẽjti je nȍsil čovȅ̩ka.

:õfca je rȇkla kȍjnem: «Sȑce me bolĩ kad vîdim čovȅka kak jȃše na kȍjnu».

:A kȍjni su rȇkli: «Poslȕhni, õfca, nȃs sȑca bolĩju kad vîdime da čȍve̩k, gospodãr, dȇ̩la vȕnu ot õfci i dȇ̩la oblȅ̩ku zȃ se. I ȏnda õfca nȇma vȉše vȕne.

:Kad je to čȗla, õfca je pobȇ̩gla f pȍlje.
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: '''English language'''

: The Sheep and the Horses

:[On a hill,] a sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly.

: The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses".

: The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool".

: Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.

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=== Division by ''jat'' reflex ===
{{Main|yat}}

A series of [[isogloss]]es crosscuts the main dialects. The modern reflexes of the long [[Proto-Slavic language|Common Slavic]] vowel ''[[yat|jat]]'', usually transcribed *ě, vary by location as /i/, /e/, and /ije/ or /je/. Local varieties of the dialects are labeled Ikavian, Ekavian, and Ijekavian, respectively, depending on the reflex. The long and short ''jat'' is reflected as long or short */i/ and /e/ in Ikavian and Ekavian, but Ijekavian dialects introduce a ''ije''/''je'' alternation to retain a distinction.

Standard Croatian and Bosnian are based on Ijekavian, whereas Serbian uses both Ekavian and Ijekavian forms (Ijekavian for Bosnian Serbs, Ekavian for most of Serbia). Influence of standard language through state media and education has caused non-standard varieties to lose ground to the literary forms.

The jat-reflex rules are not without exception. For example, when short ''jat'' is preceded by ''r'', in most Ijekavian dialects developed into /re/ or, occasionally, /ri/. The prefix ''prě-'' ("trans-, over-") when long became ''pre-'' in eastern Ijekavian dialects but to ''prije-'' in western dialects; in Ikavian pronunciation, it also evolved into ''pre-'' or ''prije-'' due to potential ambiguity with ''pri-'' ("approach, come close to"). For verbs that had ''-ěti '' in their infinitive, the past participle ending ''-ěl'' evolved into ''-io'' in Ijekavian Neo-Štokavian.

The following are some examples:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Predecessor
!Ekavian
!Ikavian
!Ijekavian
!Ijekavian development
|-
|beautiful
|*lěp
|lep
|lip
|lijep
| rowspan="2"| long ''ě'' → ''ije''
|-
|time
|*vrěme
|vreme
|vrime
|vrijeme
|-
|faith
|*věra
|vera
|vira
|vjera
|short ''ě'' → ''je''
|-
|crossing
|*prělaz
|prelaz
|prilaz
|prеlaz ''or''<br />prijelaz
|''pr'' + long ''ě'' → ''prije''<!--Does the /p/ really matter?-->
|-
|times
|*vrěmena
|vremena
|vrimena
|vremena
| rowspan="2"| ''r'' + short ''ě'' → ''re''
|-
|need
|*trěbati
|trebati
|tribat(i)
|trebati
|-
|heat
|*grějati
|grejati
|grijati
|grijati
|''r'' + short ''ě'' → ''ri''
|-
|saw
|*viděl
|video
|vidio
|vidio
|''ěl'' → ''io''
|-
|village
|*selo
|selo
|selo
|selo
|''e'' in root, not ''ě''
|}