Serbo-Croatian

Serbo-Croatian, also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a Western South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually intelligible standard varieties, namely Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin.

The western Balkans' turbulent history, particularly due to the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, led to a complex dialectal and religious mosaic. Due to population migrations, Shtokavian became the most widespread supradialect in the region, encroaching westward into the area previously dominated by Chakavian and Kajkavian.