Linguists agree: Croats and Serbs speak the same language - Macedonian!

[Dejan]

Found a Croatian article where a linguist states that Croats and Serbs speak the Macedonian language

Link to article

An excerpt from the article translated with Google translate:

"Our research has no errors. I once thought that the Serbian and Croatian twin language, but I was wrong. This study and its conclusions are irrefutable. Serbs and Croats speak the same language - Macedonian".


The translated version is here

[Macedonian_Nationalist]

Don't they all ? (All Slavic speakers)

Macedonian is the original

[Dejan]

Exactly. Instead of the language group being labelled 'Slavic', a more accurate term would be 'Macedonic'

[Momce Makedonce]

Is this a legitimate claim? What are your views?

[Momce Makedonce]

Don't they all ? (All Slavic speakers)

Macedonian is the original

Something to do with the spread of the Cyrillic script invented by the Saints Kiril and Metodi?

[Gocka]

As I was reading I was in agreement but then when it came to the part where it was claimed that bulgarian is not similar to Macedonian, I had to stop for a second and question what I am reading. bulgarian is shockingly close to Macedonian, more so then serbo croation. Why is bulgarian so shockingly close? Because it is Macedonian, just a dialect of it. I really want a better explanation as to how they concluded that bulgarian is not similar to Macedonian but serbo croation is, I just cant see it.

What I have noticed many times is that whether it is bulgarian, serbian, croation or bosnian, we seem to understand them much more easily then they understand us, why that is I dont know but I've experienced it enough times to know its true.

Maybe some of the history buffs can chime and explain to my how bulgarian is not similar but serbo croation is.

[George S.]

what else could thelanguage be.IT was only called a serbo Croatian language but there was more.The missing link was Macedonian.

[Momce Makedonce]

I presume this concept/idea does not go well with the people of these two countries,especially Serbia

Are there any other linguists who agree with this claim ?

[Soldier of Macedon]

The article implies that Macedonian is closest to the old Slavonic language as it was spoken in the Balkans, which is not an unreasonable assessment. And that is the basis of the writer's argument.

.......it was claimed that bulgarian is not similar to Macedonian.....

That may have been in reference to the old Bulgar language. The article also suggests that the 'Slavicised Bulgarians' adopted their language by a Macedonian with a speech impediment (or different dialect perhaps?), and that even today they continue to speak a modified version of that language.

[Gocka]

The article implies that Macedonian is closest to the old Slavonic language as it was spoken in the Balkans, which is not an unreasonable assessment. And that is the basis of the writer's argument.

That may have been in reference to the old Bulgar language. The article also suggests that the 'Slavicised Bulgarians' adopted their language by a Macedonian with a speech impediment (or different dialect perhaps?), and that even today they continue to speak a modified version of that language.

Well then that does sound reasonable. I have always said that Bulgarians speak Macedonian but the Serbian part surprised me. I always thought Serbo Croation was its own Slavic dialect formed independently from ours.

[George S.]

lthe article shows why Macedonian was not close to Bulgarian.How about why the Macedonian language is so close.The king asked the brothers st kiril & Methodius a language for the loca population as they were illiterate.What kind of alphebat did they use the lod chrch Slavonic (Macedonian) especially the Cyrillic sides.THe Srbians were not admitting the Macedonian side but that was the language they were speaking with an accent.(Macedonian).Once again denial of Macedonian culture,history,language,

[Soldier of Macedon]

I have always said that Bulgarians speak Macedonian but the Serbian part surprised me. I always thought Serbo Croation was its own Slavic dialect formed independently from ours.

There are certain characteristics which separate the so-called Slavic languages of the Balkans into western and eastern groups, and then into further sub-groups. But they all form part of a continuum. It needs to be understood that people in the Balkans and further beyond were speaking similar tongues for centuries prior to the spread of the first Macedonian literary language created by Cyril and Methodius. Afterward, local languages continued to exist, but many of them were progressively standardised and experienced a somewhat homogenising effect, to varying degrees. As time went on, they again began to develop distinctly, but neighbouring dialects overlapped and still influenced each other. As there is very little evidence of what the so-called Slavic languages sounded like prior to the 9th century, it is difficult to determine the extent of their borrowings from old Macedonian (which was called Slavonic by those who spoke it at the time), but the significance cannot be understated given the widespread prestige of religious literature that was essentially based on a dialect spoken by people from Macedonia.