Yes, you can write Serbian in latin, but not on any documents… as in, you can do it, but informally.
You are correct about the politics part. Serbs and Croats understand each other perfectly, so do Bosnisnas. The odd balls out were Slovenian and Macedonian, with Slovenian (IMO) being a little bit harder to decypher than Macedonian.
Government issued documents are in Cyrillic by default in Serbia, but official documents can be written in Latin as well. It’s not forbidden to use either of the alphabets. Most of the ads, signs and similar material are written indeed in Latin.
I’d say it’s a habit now more than anything. It’s also more convenient not having to configure computer and phone, etc. Latin has become dominant. Everyone still learns both and has to know how to write in print and cursive. But no one writes print Cyrillic by hand anymore, or at least very few. I still prefer cursive Cyrillic to anything else, because it flows better. But print Latin is what most kids write these days from what I’ve seen. There has been suggestions of government incentive to keep Cyrillic. Proposal was to give some tax deductions if companies use Cyrillic for most things. Probably didn’t go far. But it is a cultural heritage worth keeping.
Yes, you can write Serbian in latin, but not on any documents… as in, you can do it, but informally.
You are correct about the politics part. Serbs and Croats understand each other perfectly, so do Bosnisnas. The odd balls out were Slovenian and Macedonian, with Slovenian (IMO) being a little bit harder to decypher than Macedonian.
Government issued documents are in Cyrillic by default in Serbia, but official documents can be written in Latin as well. It’s not forbidden to use either of the alphabets. Most of the ads, signs and similar material are written indeed in Latin.
For “backwards compatibility” I presume… and also catering to Croats and Bosnians that live in Serbia.
I’d say it’s a habit now more than anything. It’s also more convenient not having to configure computer and phone, etc. Latin has become dominant. Everyone still learns both and has to know how to write in print and cursive. But no one writes print Cyrillic by hand anymore, or at least very few. I still prefer cursive Cyrillic to anything else, because it flows better. But print Latin is what most kids write these days from what I’ve seen. There has been suggestions of government incentive to keep Cyrillic. Proposal was to give some tax deductions if companies use Cyrillic for most things. Probably didn’t go far. But it is a cultural heritage worth keeping.
Cyrillic is a must here (Macedoia). Sure, we text and may write in Latin (not all the time though), but other than that, yeah, we still use Cyrillic.
I just text in Latin. Can’t really get accustomed to the Cyrillic keboard, 4 more letters and my fingers are thick 😂.
Russians are die hard though, they don’t write Russian in Latin… ever 😂.
I should probably start typing more in Cyrillic, even my messages. Most people will laugh at me for doing so.
Yeah, mine as well 😂… cuz most know I type texts and chat client messages in latin only 😂.