Serbians

The term Serbians in English is a polysemic word, with two distinctive meanings, derived from morphological differences:

* Morphology 1: Serb- ian- s, derived from the noun ''Serb'' and used interchangeably to refer to ethnic Serbs, thus having a synonymous ethnonymic use.

* Morphology 2: Serbia- an- s, a demonym derived from the noun '' Serbia'', designating the population of Serbia, in general.

In English, the use of term ''Serbians'' depends on the context, with demonymic use being more common, but not exclusive.

Demonymic use

The term ''Serbians'' is used in English as a demonym for all citizens of Serbia, regardless of their ethnic, linguistic, religious or other cultural distinctions.

In Serbian, however, the term ''Srbijanci'' ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, link=no, Србијанци, Srbijanci) is also used for ethnic Serbs from Serbia, or in a narrower sense, Serbs from Central Serbia ( Serbia proper). The term thus excludes ethnic Serbs in the neighboring countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, for which the common term ''Srbin'' () is used. In English, the two are commonly used interchangeably, with the term "Serbians" sometimes applied to ethnic Serbs outside Serbia (such as "Bosnian Serbians" for Bosnian Serbs). Likewise, the term "Serbs" has been erroneously applied to all citizens of Serbia regardless of their ethnicity.

The term and usage of ''Srbijanci'' is controversial in Serbian-speaking areas.

In Croatian usage, while ''Srbi'' is the term for ethnic Serbs, including Serbs of Croatia, ''Srbijanci'' are Serbs specifically from Serbia, but because no such distinctions exist for other nations, it is inconsistently applied and the main meaning is to indicate something specific to citizens of Serbia as opposed to ethnicity.

The term is used in the province of Vojvodina.

In response to Tomislav Nikolić using the term '' Bosanac'' for Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgrade linguist Ivan Klajn said that this type of demonym and distinction between ethnicity and nationality are only found in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia as opposed to other European countries, even other former Yugoslav republics.

The 1852 ''Srpski rječnik'' includes the following:

A popular Serbian folk song contains a chorus " ...'' jelek'' (vest), ''anterija'' (short vest), and ''opanci'' (traditional moccasins), is how you recognize a ''Srbijanac'' (Serbian)...", describing the Serbian folk costume.

Variant terms like ''Old Serbians'' ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, link=no, Старосрбијанци, Starosrbijanci) and ''Southern Serbians'' ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, link=no, Јужносрбијанци, Južnosrbijanci) were used as designations for populations from historical regions of Old Serbia, and Vardar Macedonia respectively.

See also

* Demographics of Serbia
* Serbian diaspora
* Prečani (Serbs)
* Pan-Serbians

Notes

References

Literature

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External links

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{{Serbia topics

Ethnic groups in Europe