Language Beyond Words: Serbian
The Origin of Serbian
Serbian is a member of the South Slavic group of languages and is the official language of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbian can be written in two different alphabets: Serbian Cyrillic script and Serbian Latin. Both writing systems were promoted in Yugoslavia. While Cyrillic is considered the primary and traditional script, the Latin alphabet is also widely used, popular among the business community and urban population. Serbian is one of the few languages in the world with "synchronic digraphia," meaning its speakers are fully literate in two different alphabets. There are approximately 12 million people worldwide who speak Serbian as their native language.
The journey of the Serbian language begins with the arrival of the South Slavs in the Balkan Peninsula during the 6th and 7th centuries. They spoke a common Proto-Slavic language, which, over time, began to differentiate into the various Slavic tongues we know today.
The first significant linguistic and cultural milestone for the South Slavs came in the 9th century with the mission of the Byzantine monks, Saints Cyril and Methodius. They created the first Slavic alphabet, Glagolitic, and translated religious texts into Old Church Slavonic, a literary language based on a South Slavic dialect.
Old Church Slavonic became the liturgical and literary language for many Slavic peoples, including the Serbs. However, as it was a written language, it soon began to incorporate features from the local spoken dialects. Old Church Slavonic included specific Serbian phonetic and grammatical traits becoming the earliest documented form of written Serbian.It's in this period that we see the first examples of Serbian literature, such as the Miroslav Gospel from the 12th century.
During the medieval Serbian state, under the Nemanjić dynasty, saw a flourishing of literature, art, and law, with the language evolving alongside. The use of the Cyrillic alphabet, which was developed from Glagolitic and Greek scripts, became predominant.
This period saw the development of various literary genres, from hagiographies and chronicles to legal codes like the Dušan's Code, all written in a form of Serbian that was a blend of Old Church Slavonic and the spoken vernacular.
However, the fall of the medieval Serbian states to the Ottoman Empire in the late 14th and 15th centuries brought a new chapter. While the Serbian language continued to be spoken, its written and literary development slowed considerably. For centuries, the language existed in a state of diglossia: the spoken language, rooted in everyday life, and the written language, which remained largely confined to religious and historical texts and retained many archaic features. The lack of a centralized state and the influence of Ottoman culture meant that the language was largely preserved in folk traditions, epics, and oral history.
When the 18th and 19th centuries came along it was a time of national awakening across Europe including Serbia. The need for a standardized, modern language became paramount.
The key figure in this linguistic revolution was Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. Vuk, inspired by the ideas of the European Enlightenment, championed a radical reform. Vuk's reforms were based on the spoken language of the common people, specifically the Shtokavian dialect, which was the most widespread among Serbs. He created a new Cyrillic alphabet, a phonetic one-to-one correspondence where each letter represents a single sound. He also compiled a grammar and a dictionary of the Serbian language, effectively creating the modern literary standard. This was a monumental and controversial step, as it faced opposition from conservative church figures who favored the older, more archaic language. However, Vuk's efforts ultimately prevailed, and his reforms laid the foundation for the modern Serbian language.
In the 20th century, the Serbian language became one of the key pillars of the Serbo-Croatian language, the official language of the former Yugoslavia. This period saw a significant effort to unify the languages of the South Slavs, with the Ijekavian and Ekavian dialects of Shtokavian being standardized. However, the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the 1990s led to the re-establishment of separate official languages: Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. Today, while these languages are mutually intelligible and share a common history and grammatical structure, they have developed distinct national standards, with specific differences in vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.
Like many Slavic languages, Serbian is highly inflected. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives change their endings depending on their grammatical function in a sentence. Serbian has seven grammatical cases: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative, Instrumental, and Locative. This allows for flexible word order, as the case endings clarify the relationship between words, regardless of their position.
Unlike languages with silent letters or complex spelling rules (like English or French), Serbian spelling is straightforward. If you know the alphabet, you can almost always pronounce a word correctly just by looking at it.
Alphabet:
Cyrillic
А Б В Г Д Ђ Е Ж З И Ј К Л Љ М Н Њ О П Р С Т Ћ У Ф Х Ц Ч Џ Ш
а б в г д ђ е ж з и ј к л љ м н њ о п р с т ћ у ф х ц ч џ ш
Latin
A B C Č Ć D Dž Đ E F G H I J K L Lj M N Nj O P R S Š T U V Z Ž
a b c č ć d dž đ e f g h i j k l lj m n nj o p r s š t u v z ž
Serbian Literature
The beginnings of Serbian literature are deeply intertwined with the development of the Serbian state and the Orthodox Church. Early works were primarily religious, written in Old Church Slavonic with Serbian recensions. Key genres included hagiographies, chronicles, and liturgical hymns.
Notable authors from this period include Saint Sava, who wrote the first hagiography of his father.
Princess Milica, a poet and patron of the arts was the author of A Mother's Prayer and a famous poem of mourning for her husband, My Widowhood's Bridegroom.
After the fall of medieval Serbia with the Ottoman conquest, written literature declined, but a vibrant oral tradition flourished. This period is defined by heroic epic poems, or gusle epics, which were passed down through generations.
These songs served as a historical record and a source of national identity, celebrating heroes and lamenting national tragedies like the Battle of Kosovo. The folk tradition became the bedrock of Serbian culture and profoundly influenced later literary developments. Its themes of patriotism, struggle, and heroism resonated deeply with the Serbian people.
The 18th century saw a revival of Serbian written literature, particularly among Serbs living in the Habsburg Monarchy.
This period was marked by Enlightenment ideals, championed by writers like Dositej Obradović, who advocated for education and a new literary language based on the spoken vernacular.
However, the true linguistic and literary revolution came with Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. Vuk's reforms in the early 19th century created the modern Serbian language and alphabet. His extensive collection and publication of Serbian folk songs and tales introduced this rich oral tradition to the wider European world, influencing major literary figures like Goethe and the Brothers Grimm.
The subsequent Romantic movement produced foundational works by poets such as Branko Radičević was one of the first authors to write poetry in the simple language of the common folk.
Petar II Petrović Njegoš was also significant whose epic poem The Mountain Wreath is considered a masterpiece.
Following Romanticism, Serbian literature entered the age of Realism.
Writers like Laza Lazarević and Stevan Sremac focused on depicting the lives of ordinary people, often with a critical and satirical eye on social issues and small-town life. This period also saw the rise of modernism, with writers exploring more complex psychological and philosophical themes.
The 20th century, particularly after World War I, brought new literary currents, including Expressionism, Surrealism, and social literature. This era is defined by giants like Miloš Crnjanski, a major modernist writer.
Ivo Andrić, won the 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature for his novel The Bridge on the Drina, a masterful historical epic exploring life in Bosnia under the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires.
After World War II and during the existence of Yugoslavia, Serbian literature continued to evolve, often grappling with political and social themes under the socialist regime.
Writers like Borislav Pekić and Danilo Kiš explored complex historical and existential questions with stylistic innovation. In the post-Yugoslav period, Serbian literature has diversified, with a new generation of writers tackling the trauma of the 1990s conflicts, as well as themes of globalization, identity, and personal memory.
Serbian Art
The earliest and most significant period of Serbian art is from the 12th to the 15th centuries. The art was predominantly religious, created for the Serbian Orthodox Church. It's best seen in the stunning frescoes that adorn the walls of medieval monasteries, which were built and patronized by the Nemanjić dynasty.
Studenica monastery
Sopoćani monastery
Mileševa Monastery
The art is an extension of Byzantine art, but with a unique Serbian character. Artists moved away from strict Byzantine formality to incorporate more emotional and narrative elements.
A prime example is the iconic fresco "The White Angel" from Mileševa Monastery, which depicts an angel on Christ's tomb and is renowned for its serene and humanistic portrayal.
Following the Ottoman conquest, Serbian art experienced a long period of stagnation. The revival began in the 18th century, particularly among Serbs living in the Habsburg Monarchy, where they were exposed to Western art movements. This era saw the emergence of Baroque and Rococo influences in church painting and portraiture. The 19th century was a pivotal time for Serbian art. As national identity grew, artists embraced Neoclassicism and Romanticism. They began to focus on secular themes, including historical events, portraits of the new middle class, and genre scenes.
Paja Jovanović is one of the best European painters of oriental scenes at the end of the 19th century. He painted many historical events of Serbian history.
Uroš Predić is considered the most important Serbian painter of realism. Predić's portraits capture the essence of Serbian society.
At the turn of the 20th century, a key figure was Nadežda Petrović, an early 20th-century painter whose bold, expressive style and vibrant use of color set her apart as a pioneer of Serbian modern art.
Sava Šumanović created works that blended Serbian themes with a unique take on French post-Impressionism and Cubism.
After World War II, the rise of socialist Yugoslavia saw the emergence of various artistic movements, including socialist realism, but also abstract and conceptual art. In recent decades, Serbian contemporary art has continued to evolve, with artists exploring new media and themes of globalization, identity, and social commentary.
Marina Abramović, a world-renowned performance artist, is a prominent figure from this period, although her work is global in its scope and influence.
Roman Emperors, Skulls, and Cheese
The Birthplace of Roman Emperors: An astonishing number of Roman emperors approximately 18 or more were born on the territory of modern-day Serbia. The most famous is Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, who was born in the city of Niš.
The Skull Tower (Ćele Kula): In Niš, there’s a real tower made of human skulls built by the Ottomans from Serbian rebel heads after the 1809 Battle of Čegar. It still stands today.
The World's Most Expensive Cheese: In the Zasavica Special Nature Reserve, Serbia produces a type of cheese called "Pule." Made from Balkan donkey milk, it is incredibly rare and expensive, costing thousands of dollars per kilogram.