Slavic languages
That was created during the 20th century in some of the ex-Yugoslavian periods, but nobody actually speak such a language in those countries. When somebody says it, it reminds me of Czeco-Slovakian or Galego-Portuguese and only fools would say something similar.
...
you're right, honey
Just because Angolans and Mozambicans gave up their languages in favor of Portuguese (which according to most Spaniards is just a dialect of Spanish), that does not mean that nonSerbian people of former Yugoslavia should abandon their languages in favor of Serbian.
The origianl question was ARe Slavonic languages mutually intelligible? Not only Serbo-croatian!
Continental and Brazilian Portuguese also have different grammar and syntax, so they are different languages (according to French linguist Galves):
quem conhece você?
''who do you know'' in Lusitanian; and
''who knows you'' in Brazilian?
totally opposite things"
Dubrovenico, or Leonita or whoever you are. You're wrong.
The Portuguese language doesn't have strict rules for word order. In Portuguese, one change the position of the words. In this case, one can put the subject as last item of the sentence so as to stress it. It's not the passive case, but "Who knows,...(I mean) YOU? (Active sentence with the subject as 3rd item of the sentence)
2 - In can say it in both ways in Portugal and in Brazil, although the first case is correct for writing. The second case is more colloquial.
I've heard many Brazilians saying the 1st case while Portuguese were saying the 2nd case.
3 - In Portuguese, there isn't a specific syntax for questions. Often, an interrogative sentence is written in the same manner as an affirmative sentence. When it's written, the question mark identifies it as question. When it's spoken, the interrogative intonation identifies it as question.
4 - It makes no sense to write what you did for the Portuguese example because Portuguese does not use auxiliary verbs for interrogations. We do not use any equivalent for the verb "to do" (lol)
Conclusion: Your statement is wrong.
"Spanish and Portuguese were also considered one language when Portuguese was part of Spain and when many/most Portuguese writers wrote in Spanish, but when they separated, languages separated too."
Maybe between 1580 and 1640, when Portugal was part of Spain. It was maybe a similar situation with the Croatian language during YU times.
Many writers probably wrote in Spanish because it was fashionable to do it. But there was already a Portuguese language, very different for today's Portuguese, which exists since the XII century.
Conclusion: partially right (writing in Spanish), partially wrong (PT and SP one language in the XVI and XVII centuries)
Sorry about bringing off-topic Portuguese issue. I just reply because someone else bring that subject to this thread.
"Croatian and Serbian were different languages before unification (Yugoslavia) and they are different languages again, with all dialectal richness of each respective language.
Today's kids in Croatia (born after 1990) don't understand Serbian cartoons, because they're not familiar with that language. "
That's why I bought the subject because I wanted to know that. I did not know it. I had mentioned the word Serbo-Croat because it's an old word I had read in an newspaper article decades ago. It was just my ignorance to mention it, and I am learning with your answers.
Conclusion: right
I know Croats and Serbs have had a completely separated history, like two sides of a mirror. The border between both countries is more or less the border between the western Roman Empire and eastern Roman empire, between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, between Latin characters and Cyrillic, between the Austrian Empire and the Ottoman empire.
Despite that, the neighborhood and interchanges have made them speak a very simmilar language. I think Serbs and Croats had never been enemies before the break up of Yugoslavia, isn't it?
I have no time to read everything from the book you sent, but after a quick look:
1 - I do not see in the book any example showing any difference in word order between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese. Can you select the chapter and post it here (if there is)?
2 - The book shows only examples of differences between Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian.
3 - The book mentions what I said. The way of writing interrogative sentences is the same of writing affirmative sentences.
Maybe I did not read it carefully, but where are those differences? (lol)
Make a thread about the Portuguese language and its differences, because this thread is about Slavic languages.
I do not care if you insult (lol). It just makes me laugh, as you're the one that is pissed off. Not me (lol)
Sorry, it was me (Joao) who send the last post. I've put pescado by mistake. I am not a fisherman (pescador), so pescado wouln't make any sense for me.
pescado é uma palavra espanhola, quer dizer peixe
A sério? Em portugês também quer dizer o mesmo (lol)
Peço desculpa, esquecera-me dessa palavra em portugues
serbians would never understand croatian literature because it's written in the real CROATIAN. the old one, that some Croats don't understand nowadays. Till 20th century all Croatian literature was written in dialects, after Yugoslavia, poets and writers started to write in this new Croatian based od štokavski dialect which is very similar to Serbian and today, nobody writes in those beautiful dialects.
Coming back to the original question, Can for instance an educated Croat or SErb understand a Russian or a Czech and the other way around, when they speak slowly and use simple phrases?
Мой любимый славянский язык - итальянский!
yes, of course we can.
yesterday i was watching the news on croatian national television and then, they asked in croatian some czech guy on the coast and he understood everything and yet, he decided to answer in Croatian and it was obvoius he never took Croatian lessons, but still, he was capable to answer.
The same thing occurs with Croats in the Czech republic or in Slovakia.
The only difficult one is Polish, it's impossible to have a dialogue with them unless it's written lol
>>Today's kids in Croatia (born after 1990) don't understand Serbian cartoons, because they're not familiar with that language<<
Not true. They are unfamiliar with some vocabulary and expressions. But the grammar is practically the same, so they can learn few differences quickly and watch whatever they like; if their parents will let them.
>>Despite that, the neighborhood and interchanges have made them speak a very simmilar language. I think Serbs and Croats had never been enemies before the break up of Yugoslavia, isn't it? <<
Not really. It's more like, their political/economical surroundings (West vs. East) made the one language to develop different vocabulary and divide. In both C and S (and especially in colloquial language) most differences come from the influence of German, Italian, Hungarian on the Cro side (plus neologisms from NDH and Tudjman himself) and Turkish and Greek (via Orthodox Church) on Serb side.
The core of the language is still at present pretty much the same (grammar, syntax).
>>Coming back to the original question, Can for instance an educated Croat or SErb understand a Russian or a Czech and the other way around, when they speak slowly and use simple phrases? <<
Not to a great extent. This has been answered. Not more than an average English person can understand German.
>>yesterday i was watching the news on croatian national television and then, they asked in croatian some czech guy on the coast and he understood everything and yet, he decided to answer in Croatian and it was obvoius he never took Croatian lessons<<
Oh, please. The tourist has obviously spent every vacation in 30 years in Croatia. It's Croatian TV propaganda to inspire pro-EU sentiment.
>>The same thing occurs with Croats in the Czech republic or in Slovakia<<
Oh sure. LOL! How hard is it to order beer and dumplings?
>>Serbian people don't understand this Croatian sitcom, but Slovenian people do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7IBxHjoJ1k<<
Not this nonsense again? This is a heavy northern Croatian dialect from the Slovenian border. Even Croatians from other regions of Croatia cannot understand it. Still it has grammatically more in common with Serbian than it has with Slovenian.
clue: language continuum