Croatian language, script, and national symbols
This domain checks knowledge of the Croatian language, its alphabet, its dialects and the official state symbols. Questions are often simple counting or matching tasks, so precision matters.
Language and script
- Croatian is a South Slavic language and the official language of Croatia. It is written in the Latin script using Gaj's alphabet of 30 letters.
- The alphabet includes the digraphs dž, lj and nj, each counted as one letter. The letters are: a, b, c, č, ć, d, dž, đ, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, lj, m, n, nj, o, p, r, s, š, t, u, v, z, ž.
- The three main dialects are štokavian, kajkavian and čakavian. The standard language is based on ijekavian štokavian.
- National minorities have the right to use their own languages and scripts.
National symbols
- The flag is a red-white-blue tricolour with the coat of arms in the centre.
- The coat of arms is a checkerboard shield of 25 red and white fields, topped by five smaller shields representing Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia.
- The anthem is "Lijepa naša domovino", with lyrics by Antun Mihanović and music by Josip Runjanin.
Worked example
Question: "How many letters does the Croatian alphabet have?" Reasoning: count the 30 entries above, treating dž, lj and nj as single letters. The answer is 30, not 27 or 32.
Traps
The flag is not a plain tricolour: it carries the coat of arms. The anthem is not "Bože pravde". Croatian is not written in Cyrillic.