Our languages

Bosnian is one of the official languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in Montenegro and parts of Kosovo. Like Croatian, Serbian and Montenegrin, Bosnian was part of the unitary Serbo-Croatian language of the former Yugoslavia and developed into its own language standard following the dissolution of the republic. Bosnian, sometimes referred to as Bosniak, belongs to the South Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages.

From a linguistic standpoint, Bosnian is largely identical to Croatian and Serbian, although Bosnian and Croatian use the Ijekavian dialect while Serbian uses the Ekavian dialect. An important difference between the languages is the large number of Turkish, Persian and Arabic loan words Bosnian uses (known as orientalisms). In some cases, Bosnian vocabulary can be fundamentally different from Serbian and Croatian, while other words may prefer either the Serbian or the Croatian form may be preferred for other words. There is no rule about which version should be used when, and only native speakers have the necessary linguistic intuition to determine the correct term on a case-by-case basis.

Bulgarian is a South Slavic language with approximately 8 million native speakers in Bulgaria and another million worldwide. Bulgarian has been an official EU language since 2007.

In addition to their own country, groups of Bulgarian speakers can be found in Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine, as well as Greece, Montenegro, Israel, Turkey, Moldova, Canada and the USA.

The development of the Bulgarian language can be traced back to the 9th century, making it one of the oldest documented Slavic languages. The Bulgarians were the first of the Slavic people to adopt the Cyrillic alphabet, and with the admission of Bulgaria to the EU in 2007, Cyrillic became the third official script of the European Union, following the Latin and Greek scripts.

The modern Bulgarian language started to emerge in the 16th century and is similar to other Slavic languages, particularly Macedonian. The Bulgarian vocabulary is heavily influenced by Greek and Turkish, and in recent years, the language has started to adopt more Russian, French and German words.

Croatian is a South Slavic language that is closely related to Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin. In fact, all four languages used to be one and the same – known as Serbo-Croatian – when their speakers were united under the former Republic of Yugoslavia. However, after years of ethnic clashes that finally led to the dissolution of Yugoslavia near the end of the 20th century, each successor state claimed its own standard language.

Croatian is now the official and literary language of Croatia as well as an official standard in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Around the world, there are an estimated 7 million people who speak Croatian, with roughly 4 million living in Croatia itself. Groups of native Croatian speakers can also be found in large portions of Europe, esp. parts of Hungary and the Austrian Burgenland, as well as in North and South America, Australia and New Zealand. With Croatia's admission to the European Union on July 1, 2013, Croatian became the 24th official language of the EU.

Croatian is written using the Latin alphabet but includes several special characters, so-called diacritical marks, such as accents over certain letters.

Even though Croatia is a relatively small country, it is home to very distinct regional dialects. In fact, two native Croats from different parts of the country might have trouble understanding each other if they were to switch to their respective dialects during a conversation. This underscores the importance of hiring native speakers for translations, as they are familiar with these regional variations.

Czech is the official language of the Czech Republic, with approximately 13 million speakers around the globe. The language is also widely used in neighboring countries, esp. Slovakia and parts of Austria. In addition, large groups of native Czech speakers can be found in Germany, the USA and Canada. Czech has been an official EU language since 2004.

The first records of the Czech language are religious songs and short text documents dating back to the 12th century. In the 14th century, individual passages of the Bible were translated into Czech.

The Czech alphabet uses the Latin script with the addition of diacritical marks. The language itself is very similar to Slovak, and the two countries have special ties because of their common past as federal states in the former Czechoslovakia. In fact, the Czech Republic and Slovakia mutually recognize official documents written in the other country's language.

Although the two languages are almost indistinguishable from one another, you should only trust a native speaker when it comes to translating your documents. Even minor differences can have a major impact on your credibility.

Macedonian is a modern Slavic language, not to be confused with the ancient Macedonian language that was spoken around the time of Alexander the Great. The modern form of Macedonian is an Indo-European language with approximately 2.5 million native speakers. In 1945, Macedonian was implemented as the official language of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, which became a constituent republic in the Yugoslav Federation. Today, it is primarily spoken in Macedonia, one of the successor states that developed after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Other countries where Macedonian speakers can be found include Albania and Serbia, where it is an official minority language, as well as Bulgaria, Greece, the USA, Australia and Canada. The Macedonian Cyrillic script is similar to the Serbian Cyrillic script, though it differs in three letters.

Linguistically, Macedonian is most closely related to Bulgarian. In fact, Macedonian is occasionally referred to as a Bulgarian dialect, although this classification is incorrect. Together, these two linguistic standards belong to the Eastern South Slavic branch and are different from their neighboring languages.

Montenegrin is a standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language. It was recognized as the official language of Montenegro, the youngest of the autonomous Yugoslav successor states, in 2007. Montenegrin is also spoken in neighboring countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania.

Historically, the language spoken by the people of Montenegro had been called Serbian. In fact, many people in Montenegro still claim Serbian as their native language. Exact numbers of how many people speak Montenegrin are unavailable due to minimal differences between these two languages.

From a philological standpoint, the status of Montenegrin remains under debate. While some believe it has always been an autonomous language, others insist that it is nothing more than a regional dialect. In any case, speakers of Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin can communicate with each other without problems.

Both the Latin and the Cyrillic script are used in Montenegro, although the popularity of the Latin alphabet is increasing.

Many people falsely believe that the people of Romania speak Russian. However, the small country in the center of Eastern Europe has its own standard language. In fact, approximately 24 million people claim Romanian as their native language, esp. in Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and parts of Serbia. About 4 million people around the world speak Romanian as a second language. Romania has been a member of the European Union since 2007, making Romanian an official EU language and increasing its importance as an international business language.

Romanian is the only language in the former Eastern Bloc countries that is derived from the Romance languages. Throughout history, Romania was repeatedly conquered by stronger civilizations, which clearly left its mark on the language of its people. The most closely related language to Romanian is Italian, and Romanian native speakers can often understand simple Italian. However, Italians have a harder time understanding Romanians, as the Romanian language incorporates many Slavic words that are unfamiliar to Italian ears.

Serbian is the official language of Serbia and one of the official languages in the following successor states to the former Republic of Yugoslavia: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo. In Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, Serbian is a recognized minority language. Overall, there are roughly 12 million Serbian native speakers around the world, including in Western Europe, Australia and the USA.

The Serbian language is part of the South Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages and is closely related to Croatian and Bosnian. Many people erroneously consider Serbian and Croatian to be one and the same language. They may think of the Serbo-Croatian language standard, which was the official language in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, each successor state developed its own standard language, even though the differences between them are minor. In fact, Serbian and Croatian are so similar that they are mutually intelligible.

Serbian can be written with both the Cyrillic and the Latin alphabet. While Cyrillic is the official script of the Serbian government, the Latin alphabet has become more popular for daily use and in the media.

Slovak is the official language of Slovakia and an official EU language. Slovak emigrants have spread the language across the globe, and today, more than five million people worldwide speak Slovak as their native tongue. Groups of native speakers can be found in Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia and parts of Western Europe.

Together with Polish, Czech and the Sorbian languages, Slovak belongs to the Western Slavic language group. It is considered to be the most easily understandable Slavic language and is often referred to as the "Esperanto of the Slavic languages."

In spite of differences in their origin, Slovak is very similar to Czech. Both languages were spoken in the former Czechoslovakia and easily understood by all ethnic groups. However, subtle differences do exist, though they may only be apparent to native speakers. During the translation process, such linguistic nuances must be taken into consideration, which is why we only trust native speakers with the translation of your documents.

The Slovene language, also known as Slovenian, belongs to the Western subgroup of the South Slavic languages and is spoken primarily in the small country of Slovenia in southern Central Europe. Worldwide, there are an estimated 2.5 million native speakers of Slovene, particularly in neighboring states. In 2004, Slovene became an official language of the European Union.

Slovene is one of the oldest Slavic dialects still around today. The earliest records of written Slovene were found in the German town of Freising in Bavaria (hence they are known as Freising Manuscripts) and date back to the late 10th or early 11th century. The Slovene writing system is an extension of the Latin alphabet with additional accentual marks to distinguish between similar words that can have different meaning.

Unlike its linguistic neighbors Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, which are closely related to one another, Slovene is based on a different dialect and features differences in vocabulary, grammar, spelling and pronunciation that hinder mutual intelligibility with other Slavic languages.

Slovene may not be a widespread language, but its international importance has grown since Slovenia’s admission to the European Union. Our Slovenian translators are carefully selected and specialize in the subject areas of the projects they are assigned.