Serbians

Serbians (Serbian, Bosnian: Срби, Srbi; Hungarian: Szerbek; Albanian: Serbët) typically is used as a demonym of the people of Serbia of any ethnic heritage, be they Serb, Bosniak, Hungarian, or Albanian. However it may be used as reference to ethnic Serbs.

However it could also be used as the translation of Serbian word "Србијанци" - Srbijanci, especially when distinction is made between the two. In a similar way, adjectives "Serb" and "Serbian" could be used to mean "of Serbs" and "of Serbia", respectively, though they too are used interchangeably.

In the Serbian language, Srbijanci are Serbs from Central Serbia, or broader, from Serbia. Not all Serbians are Serbs, nor all Serbs are Serbians. The term Serbians (Srbijanci) excludes ethnic Serbs who are from neighboring countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro or Macedonia. An English speaker might use the word "Serbians" to mean "Serbs". Further confusions issues as in English the word "Serbs" may be used to refer to ethnic Serbs, or to citizens of Serbia regardless of their ethnicity, and going from there, word "Serbians" could be used in the same way.

Vuk Karadžić's Srpski rječnik (Serbian Dictionary) from 1818 had the entry:

Srbijanac - čovek iz Srbije; srbijanski - koji je iz Srbije.

meaning

Srbijanac - man from Serbia; srbijanski - that which is from Serbia.

A folk song from Central Serbia has in its refrain the words "..jelek, anterija i opanci, po tome se znaju Srbijanci...", meaning "...jelek, anterija, and opanaks –, is how you recognize a Srbijanac...". The song describes the Serbian dress of people from Central Serbia, and the term Srbijanci is used as a literary expression and its definition is uncertain.

The term Srbijanci is not part of the modern Serbian mainstream language as its frequency and usage is minimal. An explanation might be that many Serbs from Serbia would find the term insulting.

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