Croatian grammar
Feeling that the available materials on Croatian grammar in foreign languages are deficient, I got the idea to create a website where I try my own hand at supplying what's missing. The stuff that is available in English is usually aimed at learners, whereas my aim is purely technical, linguistic description (not that it can't help a learner, if I do my job well enough). Even worse, a lot of material that I've come across over time, even when done by serious linguists, has omissions and even gross mistakes. Admittedly, my own attempt will contain mistakes too, but at least I won't be paid for doing a bad job.
Croatian?
The very concept of "Croatian" language may be deemed problematic by many non-natives. Traditionally (across the 20th century, at least), this was considered to be a part of "Serbo-Croatian" language. Today, the views on the unity or disunity of the language, whether it is indeed "Serbo-Croatian" or just several different languages (Bosnian/Bosniak, Croatian, Montenegrin, Serbian) are determined mostly by one's nationality and general political views. I don't intend to pass any strict judgment in this area. As the languages are dialectally strongly connected, I will use any data and material that I find useful or relevant to any part of my description. The core and primary aim will be Croatian, including its non-standard elements that are omitted from standard Serbo-Croatian and Croatian grammars, and which are necessarily quite different from non-standard phenomena in the other three countries. I will describe those non-Croatian phenomena too whenever I feel like it, but I expect the overall result to be Croatian-focused. Either way, this page is not meant to be a methodologically rigid study, but merely a place to write about things that interest me regarding my native language and whatever related stuff catches my attention.
Bibliography
For a start, I'll compile a chronological bibliography of existing Croatian and BCMS grammar books, both native and foreign ones, with links to their digitally-available versions where legal (usually public domain, sometimes recent publications that have been put online by the publisher). A lot of crap is bound to end up on the list, of course.
- Bartholomaeo Cassio (Bartol Kašić): Institutionum linguae illyricae libri duo. 11604, 22002 (Cro. transl. and afterword Sanja Perić Gavrančić, also on Retrogram), 32005 (Cro. transl. Zvonko Pandžić).
- Shíme Starcsevich (Šime Starčević): Nòvà ricsôslovica iliricskà. 11812, 22002 (afterword Branka Tafra).
- Вук Сефановић Караџић: Српска граматика, in: Српски рјечник, истолкован њемачким и латинским ријечма. 1818 (omitted in the 1852 edition of the dictionary which is the basis of the later editions, but the 1818 ed. has been reprinted too, e.g. in 1969).
- Věkoslav Babukić: Osnova slovnice slavjanske narěčja ilirskoga. 11836 (in: Danica ilirska), 21836, 31839 (Ger. transl. and foreword Rudolph Fröhlich (Veselić)), 41846 (Ita. transl. Giovanni Ajosto Kaznačić), 51851 (IT), 61860 (IT), 71865 (IT), 82013 (repr. 21836, afterword B. Tafra).
- Věkoslav Babukić: Ilirska slovnica. 11854, 22014 (afterword B. Tafra).
- Antun Mažuranić: Slovnica Hèrvatska. Dio I. Rěčoslovje. 11859, 21861, 31866, 41869, 52008 (repr. 11859, afterword Željka Brlobaš).
- Adolfo Weber: Skladnja ilirskoga jezika. 11859, 21862, 32005 (repr. 11859, afterword Ivo Pranjković).
- Vinko Pacel: Slovnica jezika Hrvatskoga ili Srbskoga: I. diel. Nauka o prieslovu. 1860.
- Pietro Budmani (Pero Budmani): Grammatica della lingua serbo-croata (illirica). 1867.
- author not stated (Frane Vuletić): Gramatika bosanskoga jezika za srednje škole: Dio I. i II. Nauka o glasovima i oblicima. 11890 (lat. = alt / ћир.), 21898 (first two editions had both latin and cyrillic variants; IDK about 3rd and 4th), 31903, 41908 (Gramatika srpsko-hrvatskog jezika), 51994 (repr. lat. 11890), 62013(?) (repr. lat. 11890).
- Tomo (Tomislav) Maretić: Gramatika i stilistika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga književnog jezika. 11899, 21931, 31963 (Gramatika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga književnog jezika, ed. Mate Hraste & Pavle Rogić, without Stilistika section).
- Josip Florschütz: Gramatika hrvatskoga jezika: za ženski licej, preparandije i više pučke škole. 11905, 21907, 31916, 41921, 51940 (Gramatika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika: za srednje i slične škole, edited by Stjepan Ivšić), 61941 (Hrvatska slovnica, this is actually just the remnants of the 51940 printing with a new cover and a list of corrections to the text, to bring the text in line with the fascist state ideology (Samardžija 1993:23-25)), 71943, 82002 (repr. 31916, afterword by Ranko Matasović).
- August Leskien: Grammatik der serbo-kroatischen Sprache (1. Teil: Lautlehre, Stammbildung, Formenlehre). 11914, 21976.
- Степанъ Михайловичъ Кульбакинъ: Сербскій языкъ. Фонетика и морфологія сербскаго языка. 11915, 21917.
- Antoine Meillet, André Vaillant: Grammaire de la langue serbo-croate. 1924, 1952, 1969, 1980(?).
- Ivan Brabec, Mate Hraste, Sreten Živković: Gramatika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika. 11952, 21954, 31958 (Gramatika hrvatskosrpskoga jezika), 41961, 51963, 61965, 71966, 81968, 91970. (Since 21954 contains a (at the time) decent and systematic overview of accentual types, allegedly done by Bratoljub Klaić. In 41961 they've removed the OCS grammar sketch.)
- Ljudevit Jonke: Suvremeni naš književni jezik. 2023. Originally compiled from Jonke's lectures by Danijel Alerić in 1956.
- Thomas F. Magner: Introduction to the Serbo-Croatian Language. 11956, 21962 (Introduction to the Croatian and Serbian Language), 31972, 41991 (8th printing 2001).
- Михаило Стевановић: Савремени српскохрватски језик (граматички системи и књижевнојезичка норма): 1. Увод / Фонетика / Морфологија. 11964, 21970, 31975, 41981, 51986 = 1989, 61991.
- Stjepko Težak, Stjepan Babić: Pregled gramatike hrvatskosrpskog jezika. 1966, 51972, 61973 (Pregled gramatike hrvatskoga književnog jezika), 71992 (Gramatika hrvatskoga jezika), 162007, 182016.(rev.
- Josip Hamm: Kratka gramatika hrvatskosrpskog književnog jezika za strance. 1969.
- Михаило Стевановић: Савремени српскохрватски језик (граматички системи и књижевнојезичка норма): 2. Синтакса. 11969, 21974, 31979, 41986 = 1989, 51991.
- Eugenija Barić, Mijo Lončarić, Dragica Malić, Slavko Pavešić, Mirko Peti, Vesna Zečević, Marija Znika: Priručna gramatika hrvatskoga književnog jezika. 11979, 21990 (Gramatika hrvatskoga književnog jezika), 31995 (Hrvatska gramatika), 42003. (Danijel Alerić and Valentin Putanec also credited for accentuation in 1979 edition.)
- Stjepan Babić: Tvorba riječi u hrvatskom književnom jeziku [Nacrt za gramatiku / Velika hrvatska gramatika #2]. 11986, 21991, 32002 (...hrvatskome književnome...).
- Radoslav Katičić: Sintaksa hrvatskoga književnog jezika [Nacrt za gramatiku / Velika hrvatska gramatika #3]. 11986, 21991, 32002.
- Stjepan Babić, Dalibor Brozović, Milan Moguš, Slavko Pavešić, Ivo Škarić, Stjepko Težak: Povijesni pregled, glasovi i oblici hrvatskoga književnog jezika [Nacrti za gramatiku]. 1991. (substantially revised ed. 2007)
- Живојин Станојчић, Љубомир Поповић, Стеван Милић: Савремени српскохрватски језик и култура изражавања: уџбеник за I, II, III i IV разред средње школе. 11989, 21992 (revised without С. Милић, Граматика српскога језика), 192024.
- Pavica Mrazović, Zora Vukadinović: Gramatika srpskohrvatskog jezika za strance. 11990, 22007 (Gramatika srpskog jezika za strance; Z.V. not credited on front cover, edited by Milana Mrazović).
- Dževad Jahić, Senahid Halilović, Ismail Palić: Gramatika bosanskoga jezika. 2000. (2007 without Jahić's sections, only morphology + syntax)
- Svein Mønnesland: Bosnisk, kroatisk, serbisk grammatikk. 2002.
- Ivan Klajn: Gramatika srpskog jezika. 2005.
- Ronelle Alexander: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar: With Sociolinguistic Commentary. 2006.
- Josip Silić, Ivo Pranjković: Gramatika hrvatskoga jezika: za gimnazije i visoka učilišta. 12005, 22006.
- Stjepan Babić, Dalibor Brozović, Ivo Škarić, Stjepko Težak: Glasovi i oblici hrvatskoga književnoga jezika [Velika hrvatska gramatika #1]. 2007.
- Stjepan Vukušić, Ivan Zoričić, Marija Grasselli-Vukušić: Naglasak u hrvatskome književnom jeziku [Velika hrvatska gramatika #4]. 2007.
- Adnan Čirgić, Josip Silić, Ivo Pranjković: Gramatika crnogorskoga jezika. 2010. Basically a new edition of Silić-Pranjković 2005, with new section on phonology (A.Č.) and modifications in morphology (J.S.).
- Paul-Louis Thomas, Vladimir Osipov: Grammaire du bosniaque, croate, monténégrin, serbe. 12012, 22017.
- Предраг Пипер, Иван Клајн: Нормативна граматика српског језика. 12013, 22014, 32015 (ijekavian), 42022 (co-author Рајна Драгићевић).