Hands up who gets requests to translate from languages that no longer officially or even don't exist?
I do 🙋🏻
29 November is, well, was Dan Republike (Republic Day), the official national day of the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (to use its official name). Nowadays in the republics that once formed Yugoslavia it’s more a day of retrospection, even if this usually involves many just posting on their social media profiles a clip of legendary Sarajevo rock band Zabranjeno Pušenje’s 1987 hit song dedicated to the now former holiday.
Effectively, Yugoslavia’s national language was ‘Serbo-Croatian’, the native tongue of 3 out of every 4 Yugoslavs.
However, when Yugoslavia collapsed Serbo-Croatian was no more and four nation-defined languages took its place:
🇧🇦 Bosnian
🇭🇷 Croatian
🇲🇪 Montenegrin
🇷🇸 Serbian
One question I'm often asked is...
👉 If it no longer exists, then why do I still list Serbo-Croatian as a language I work from?
The main reason is because I still receive requests from clients for translation from ‘Serbo-Croatian’.
When it involves historical texts or documents that pre-date the 1990s, they are absolutely justified to state as such.
But many of these requests come from people who are not from the region and are simply unaware that the term 'Serbo-Croatian' is obsolete, anachronistic or, for some, offensive.
I've even received requests to translate from 'Yugoslavian'!
I can assure you that there's never been a language with that name.
⭐️ So is there an alternative term that can be used when you know the text comes from ex-Yugoslavia but don't know exactly in which out of the four successor languages?
💡 In that case, do what some international organisations do and use the acronym BCSM. That saves from writing out the names of all four languages, and professionals in the respective languages will understand.
⚠️ Note: it's not possible to translate into 'BCSM'.
They're now four separate languages, albeit very similar, but each with their own specific vocabulary and traits. Language is a major part of national identity and people can be very defensive about this.
✨ Are you into BCSM like me?
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