Montenegro Language

The sole official language of Montenegro is called Montenegrin while Serbian, Albanian, Croatian, and Bosnian are recognized minority languages. All these languages are subsets of the Serbo-Croatian language.

The language in Montenegro is written in both Cyrillic and the Latin alphabets. The latin alphabet is more commonly used, for example in restaurant menus, street signs, and bureaucracy.

Montenegro has a large Serb minority with about 30% of the population identifying as Serbs. At the last census of 2011, 42% of the population considered Serbian to be their native language. 37% voted for the Montenegrin language.

According to a poll by ‘Matica Crnogorska’ in 2014, the distribution was as follows

The Government of Montenegro has since introduced two new letters (ś and ź) to their alphabet which now counts 32 letters in total. This was seen by many as a political move to distance themselves from Serbia.

source:  Wikipedia

Montenegrin is spoken mostly around the old royal capital of Montenegro, Cetinje. That region has always opposed Serbian hegemonic tendencies and portraits the highest level of patriotism.

Is Montenegro language Serbian?

The Montenegro language is similar to Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian. In fact, the overwhelming majority of linguists do not consider them a separate language.

The former official nomenclature according to the constitution in Montenegro (and the former states it was part of) was Serbian until 1974, Serbo-Croatian till 1992, and Serbian until 2007. The Constitution ever since recognizes Montenegrin as the sole official language of Montenegro.

in 2017, numerous prominent figures from Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia signed a declaration stating that all these Balkan states spoke the same language that is part of the Shtokavian dialect.

There is however one considerable dialectal difference between regions on the territory of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Some speakers use the Ekavian and others the Ijekavian dialect. In Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia, the Ijekavian is the prevalent dialect while in Serbia it’s the Ekavian.

Let’s look at one example:

• Ekavian: mleko (=milk)
• Ijekavian: mlijeko (=milk)

Language is tied to identity, especially in the heterogenous Balkan region. The discussion about linguistic demography is highly politicized in Montenegro with factions of the population wanting to distinguish themselves based on language. There is a very high correlation between ethnicity and language identity.

Residents of Montenegro who identify as Serbs are more likely to speak ‘Serbian’ whereas Montenegrins will speak ‘Montenegrin’. 

Do they speak English in Montenegro?

English is widely spoken in Montenegro, the proficiency levels vary according to age, education level, and location. At the coast where locals interact with tourists on a daily basis, the level of English in most cases is more than acceptable.

In other parts of the Montenegrin territory, especially in those that are of a more rural nature, it is harden to find proficient English speakers. Even though Montenegro has not been listed, by taking the results of neighboring Serbia and Croatia, one can assume that levels in Montenegro are somewhere in between.

Serbia ranked 27th (high proficiency) and Croatia ranked 11th (very high proficiency) in the EF English Proficiency Index.

What language is Montenegro similar to?

The language spoken in Montenegro is part of the Slavic fork of Indo-European languages. Other Slavic languages include Russian, Polish and Ukrainian. Montenegrin is a member of of the South Slavic subset of Slavic. Slovene, Macedonian, and Bulgarian are also South Slavic languages.

Indo-European –> Slavic –> South Slavic –> Serbo-Croatian –> Montenegrin

source: Wikipedia

While it is easier for a Montenegrin to pick up Russian for example and there are many interchangeable words, there are still considerable differences in grammar and vocabulary.

How do you say hello in Montenegrin?

‘Zdravo’ is a formal and informal ‘hello’ and also translates into ‘healthy’ if you use it as an adjective. In Montenegrin, you speak everything the way you write. The letter ‘Z’ is pronounced as in ‘Zoom’.

As in most other languages, you would greet someone you meet early in the morning with ‘Dobro jutro‘ (= Good Morning), someone you meet during the day with ‘Dobar Dan‘ and someone you meet in the evening hours with ‘Dobro veče‘. Zdravo is a formal ‘hello’ but it can absolutely be used in informal settings.

The letter ‘R‘ is rolled the way Italians or Spaniards pronounce it. The ‘č‘ is just the same as your ‘ch’ as in ‘chocolate’.

In coastal Montenegro, many people use the Italian-inspired ‘ćao‘. Notice how it is written slightly different. The letter ‘ć’ is a soft such as in ‘capuccino’. 

The regular ‘c‘ is always pronounced (cee) such as in ‘Vitamin C’, not as in ‘Carolina’. Since everything is written as it is spoken, Montenegrins would spell it ‘Karolina’, even if the spelling is different in English. For example, ‘British Airways’ would be written ‘Britiš Ervejs‘.

Other basic words and sentences

• Hvala – Thank you
• Molim – Please
• Da – Yes
• Ne- No
• Kako Si? – How are you?
• Ne razumijem – I do notunderstand.
• Da li govorite Engleski? – Do you speak English?
• Koliko je sati? – What’s the time?
• Koliko košta? – What doe it cost?
• Račun, molim vas – The check, please
• Sunce – Sun
• Kiša – Rain
• Planine – Mountains
• Taksi – Taxi
• Plaža – Beach
• Stan – Apartment
• Kuća – House
• Stari grad – Old Town

There are some letters that are not to be found in the English alphabet such as the following:

• Š – sh – Shoe
• Ž – zh – Casual
• Dž – dzh – Journal
• Č – ch – Chocolate
• Ć – cc- Cappuccino

If you want to learn the basics, it is best to start with the pronounciation of each letter separately. Later, you can just add up the sounds (letters) to construct every word you want.

Montenegro language alphabet

The language alphabet underwent a major reform in the 19th century. The goal was to equalize the relationship between letters and the sounds in spoken language. At the same time, the linguists introduced a one-to-one correspondence between the symbols in the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. 

The Latin Alphabet: A B C Č Ć D Dž Đ E F G H I J K L Lj M N Nj O P R S Š Ś T U V Z Ž Ź

The Cyrillic Alphabet: А Б Ц Ч Ћ Д Џ Ђ Е Ф Г Х И Ј К Л Љ М Н Њ O П Р С Ш С́ Т У В З Ѕ Ж З́