The Bosnian Language

The modern Bosnian language uses both Cyrillic and Latin alphabet. However, scripts other than Latin were used much earlier, most notably the indigenous Bosnian Cyrillic called Bosančica (literally "Bosnian script") and dates back to the late 10th and early 11th centuries AD. The Humac tablet, one of the oldest Bosnian literacy monuments, is written in this script. The script is of the greatest significance to Bosnian history and linguistics, since it is the one script that is purely native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and is linked to the Bosnian medieval monarchy and the medieval Bosnian religion where it was used abundantly. It can also be found in many royal state documents and as well on old stećaks. The substantial influence of bosančica on medieval Bosnia has unfortunately made it a target of controversial debates and propaganda throughout the history which has led to the tendency of some Croat and Serb philologists and paleographers to deny the exclusivity of association of the script with medieval Bosnian state, and associate it to Croatian and Serbian cultural provenience, despite its geographical origin and the historical prevalence of usage. Other scripts used include: begovica (used by Bosniak nobility) and arebica, or Arabic script adjusted to write Slavic speech, also chiefly used by Bosniak nobility during the Ottoman era.

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