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Croatian and Serbian were officially regarded until 1992 as one language (called Serbo-Croatian) with two scripts (Latin and Cyrillic), and “it” was the official language of Yugoslavia. Mutually comprehensible with Serbo-Croatian were Montenegrin and Bosnian, spoken in Montenegro and Bosnia-Hercegovina, respectively. Slovenian, spoken in the far north of the country, was closely similar.
After the violent 1991/2 break-up of Yugoslavia and associated war(s), efforts were made to re-differentiate Serbian and Croatian from each other. In 2023 I was told that using the name "Serbo-Croatian” in Croatia was insulting; one must say simply “Croatian.” Also in Croatia, public use of the Cyrillic (Serbian) alphabet is illegal except in areas with a population that is identified as 51% or more Serbian.
Understanding that these “other” languages are nearly identical with it, modern Croatian is reasonably well represented by the Latin alphabet. The following points should be noted:The letter J is used after L and N to "soften" them (so NJ is something like the Ñ in Spanish). For example the capital of Slovenia is Ljubjana —“lyoo-byah-na.”
The letter R is rolled but surprises English speakers because it can also serve as a full syllable all by itself. For example, Croatia’s most famous playwright was named Marin Držić. To an English ear, the name is Derr-zhich. The letter (and sound) H is sometimes found where it would be considered unpronounceable in English. For example, the Croatian name for Croatia is Hrvatska.
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