Serbo-Croatian | the name of a South Slavic language

Despite the current linguistic assessment of the problem, the term Serbo-Croatian is hardly used anymore, especially in Croatia and Serbia. In line with the variable use of the linguistic term, the internationally established glossonym has become a contested expression today. According to some linguists, it is a summary term for Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian. It is disputed whether Serbo-Croatian is a language or a language subfamily. The written varieties of Serbo-Croatian are all based on forms of the štokavian dialect and agree in most of the grammar and vocabulary, but differ in other parts of the vocabulary, in many details of the linguistic norm, and in the use of different alphabets (in Croatian and Bosnian the Latin alphabet, in Serbian mainly the Cyrillic alphabet).

Whether they are varieties of a single language or four closely related languages in their own right is a matter of dispute both in linguistics (especially at chairs within the countries concerned) and among some speakers themselves. For example, the differences between Standard Serbian and Standard Croatian are much smaller than the differences between several Croatian dialects.

The alternative term Central South Slavic or Central South Slavic was coined by Dalibor Brozović in 1992 to replace the term "Serbo-Croatian", "compromised by a tortuous past". So far, however, it is mainly used by the latter himself, while linguistics sometimes uses the abbreviation B/K/S for Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.

Many of the universities that have a Slavic Studies department also offer Serbo-Croatian alongside other Slavic languages. Sometimes the designation B/K/S (for Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian) or Croatian/Serbian is used for this, i.e. one language is assumed for which there are several designations.

Serbo-Croatian is offered as an independent subject at the following German universities (as of 2012): Hamburg, Göttingen, Gießen, Mainz, Heidelberg, Munich, Regensburg, Halle, Jena and Leipzig. As part of a general Slavic studies program, the language can be learned at the following universities: Bochum, Trier, Saarbrücken, Freiburg, Tübingen, Bamberg, HU Berlin and Cologne.

In Austria, Serbo-Croatian or B/K/S can be studied in Vienna and Graz, as well as in Innsbruck and Klagenfurt as part of a general Slavic studies programme.