The Writing and Numeral System of the Serbian Language: An In-Depth Study

Introduction

The Serbian language holds a unique position in the realm of Slavic languages for a variety of reasons, one of the most notable being its dual writing system. Written in both Cyrillic and Latin scripts, Serbian is a fascinating subject for linguists and cultural historians alike. This article aims to provide an in-depth exploration of the Serbian writing and numeral systems, delving into their history, key features, and contemporary usage.

Dual Writing System

Cyrillic Alphabet

The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet consists of 30 letters and is one of the few alphabets in the world where each phoneme corresponds to a single grapheme. In other words, Serbian is written phonetically, and each letter represents a unique sound.

Key Features:

• The alphabet: 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, and Ш.
• Diacritical marks: No diacritical marks are required, except in instances where they are necessary for disambiguation, such as in language education or poetry.
• Special letters: Serbian Cyrillic includes special letters such as Љ, Њ, and Џ, which are considered single letters.

Latin Alphabet

The Latin alphabet in Serbian also consists of 30 letters and closely parallels the Cyrillic in representing the phonemes of the Serbian language. Gaj’s Latin alphabet is used, named after Ljudevit Gaj who standardized it.

Key Features:

• The alphabet: 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, and Ž.
• Diacritical marks: The Latin alphabet includes diacritics, specifically the caron (ˇ) in Č, Š, and Ž; the acute accent (´) in Ć and Đ; and the digraph Dž, which is treated as a single letter.

Official Status and Usage

• Both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets have equal official status in Serbia.
• In practice, the Latin script is more widely used in digital media and international communications, while the Cyrillic script is used in formal government and legal documents.

Orthographic Rules

• Accentuation: Serbian has dynamic accentuation, which means that stress in words can be either rising or falling, and it can be on different syllables depending on the grammatical form of the word.
• Punctuation: Serbian uses standard European punctuation marks, including full stops, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, and quotation marks. However, Cyrillic text often uses the so-called “angular quotes” („“).

Numeral System

Arabic Numerals

Arabic numerals (0–9) are used for most everyday counting and mathematical operations.

Serbian Cyrillic and Latin Numerals

In Serbian Cyrillic and Latin scripts, numbers can be written out as words. For example, ‘1’ can be written as “jedan” (Latin) or “један” (Cyrillic).

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are formed by adding suffixes to the cardinal numbers, like “-i” or “-ti” for masculine, “-a” for feminine, and “-o” or “-to” for neuter genders.

Influence of Other Languages

• Loanwords: Serbian has adopted words from other languages, notably Turkish, German, Hungarian, and English. These loanwords are generally written as they are pronounced.
• International Symbols: In scientific and mathematical texts, international symbols and units are used.

Conclusion

The Serbian language’s dual writing system and its highly phonetic nature make it an intriguing subject of study. The Cyrillic script connects it to the Orthodox Christian heritage, while the Latin script offers a bridge to Western Europe. The numeral system is straightforward, employing Arabic numerals for most practical purposes. All these elements collectively make the Serbian writing and numeral systems a fascinating blend of tradition, pragmatism, and adaptability.