Sounds and symbols

Sanja   Tuesday, November 16, 2004, 17:42 GMT
In ex-Yugoslavia it was easy for me to name my native language, because everyone called it Serbo-Croat (even though that maybe wasn't fair enough to other Yugoslav republics besides Serbia and Croatia, so I think it should have been called Yugoslavian... but that's another question). Now I don't find it that easy, because if I say Bosnian, some foreigners don't know which language that is, and I find it inappropriate to keep calling it Serbo-Croat because I don't live neither in Serbia nor in Croatia, I live in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Besides, these are now separate countries and no one calls it Serbo-Croat anymore. But the fact is that it is the same language, so no matter if I say Bosnian, Serbian or Croatian, you know it's the same language. LOL :)
Adam   Sunday, November 21, 2004, 05:08 GMT
Korean is uses an absolutely phonetic alphabet. Each symbol represents one sound only. It is an alphabet unique to korean however.
Denis   Sunday, November 21, 2004, 19:09 GMT
<<But the fact is that it is the same language, so no matter if I say Bosnian, Serbian or Croatian, you know it's the same language.>>

I'd like it to be called Yugoslavian which means south slavonic, doesn't it?
Unless they differ.
Ed   Sunday, November 21, 2004, 21:27 GMT
<<I'd like it to be called Yugoslavian which means south slavonic, doesn't it?
Unless they differ. >>

That's exactly what it means and people sometimes call it that, but it has a political connotation, so it's not always acceptable, I think.
Jim   Monday, November 22, 2004, 03:18 GMT
There are some deviations from Corean orthography's being 100% phonemic. I couldn't tell you what they are but I've been told by native speakers that they exist. Also only in the North do they use Hangul exclusively. In South Corea Chinese characters are also used.

Sanja,

You "find it inappropriate to keep calling it Serbo-Croat because I don't live neither in Serbia nor in Croatia ..." I don't live England but I've never been troubled calling my language "English". I'm not saying you're wrong: it's just interesting.
Sanja   Monday, November 22, 2004, 14:01 GMT
Yes, everything has a political connotation here... LOL :) And yes, it is called South Slavic languages (Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian and Macedonian), but Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian are actually the same language. They have some differences in usage, like I said before, but they are not different from each other any more than British is different from American.
Sanja   Monday, November 22, 2004, 14:08 GMT
And Jim, that's a good point, but our case is quite special. However, this is a forum about languages, not about politics, so I will not go any further. LOL :)