Loanwords in Serbian

Most Serbian words are of native Slavic lexical stock, tracing back to the Proto-Slavic language. There are many loanwords from different languages, reflecting cultural interaction throughout history. Notable loanwords were borrowed from Greek, Latin, Italian, Persian, Turkish, Hungarian, Russian, English and German.

Overview

It is estimated that there are 900–1,200 Greek, 88–188 German, and an uncertain high number of Turkish and Persian loanwords in modern Serbian.

History

Proto-Slavic

Ancient Greek words in Proto-Slavic are identified through phonetic features, some related to Greek phonetic history, others possibly Scythian-Sarmatian or Gothic mediations. Ancient Greek, non-mediated words are korablja (ark), koliba (cottage, hut), and supposedly trem (porch); Scythian mediations are luk (onion), haluga (fence), koš (basket), talog (dregs), kurva (whore, slut, skank, hooker); supposedly Gothic mediations are crkva (church) and daska (plank). There exists loanwords in Proto-Slavic from non-Indo-European languages. Among Uralic and Turkic lexemes, estimated to have been adopted between the 3rd and 7th century, surviving into modern Serbian are čaša (cup, mug, glass), knjiga (book), kovčeg (chest), krčag (pitcher), sablja (sabre). Adoptions from Avaric in the 6th–7th centuries are the titles ban and župan, and klobuk (a type of hat). South Slavic was also influenced by Bulgar since their arrival in the eastern Balkans in the 7th century, e.g. beleg (landmark), beočug (shackle), bubreg (kidney), pašenog (co-brother-in-law), tojaga (bludgeon).

Old Serbian

The South Slavic languages were greatly influenced by Greek beginning in the Early Middle Ages, through translation of Byzantine works, leaving religious, philosophical and psychological terms. Late medieval speech had very few loanwords, rather replacing Greek words with calques for linguistical purity. German linguist Vasmer (1944) recorded 1,000 Greek words in Serbian, most of which were addressed in the Old Serbian form. Today, it is estimated that 900–1,200 Grecisms (grecizmi) exist in Serbian, more than 400 being in the church-religious section. In the economical section, apart from Greek, many words in Old Serbian were Romance. In mining, the majority of words were Germanic, arriving with Saxons.

Modern history

The Ottoman conquest began a linguistical contact between Ottoman Turkish and South Slavic; Ottoman Turkish influence grew stronger after the 15th century. Besides Turkish loanwords, also many Arabic (such as alat, "tool", sat, "hour, clock") and Persian (čarape, "socks", šećer, "sugar") words entered via Turkish, called "Orientalisms" (orijentalizmi). Also, many Greek words entered via Turkish. Words for hitherto unknown sciences, businesses, industries, technologies and professions were brought by the Ottoman Empire. Christian villagers brought urban vocabulary from their travels to Islamic culture cities. Many Turkish loanwords are no longer considered loanwords.

In the 19th and early 20th century Serbian, unlike the Croatian, version of the Serbo-Croat language continuum was much more open to internationalisms (words from Latin and Classical Greek) used in sciences and arts (cf. Serbian istorija vs. Croatian povijest = history and such).

Contemporary situation

English influence is seen in recent times, with the common suffixes -er and -ing. Examples are kasting, ketering, konsalting, listing, džoging, šoping, etc. Foreign loanwords are becoming more frequent in sports terminology.

Comparison with other Serbo-Croatian variants

The differences between Serbian and Croatian is mainly reflected in loanwords. Bosnian has the most Ottoman Turkish loanwords of all Serbo-Croatian variants.

Purism

Serbo-Croatian vocabulary is of mixed origin, with words borrowed from Greek, Latin, Italian, Turkish, Hungarian, and more recently Russian, Czech and German. Most loanwords have entered Serbian without resistance, while on the other hand in Croatian, linguistic purism was adopted as a policy during Austria-Hungary (against presumed Germanization) and later in Yugoslavia (against presumed Serbian domination). In Croatia, the term "Serbisms" is used for characteristically Serbian words, unwanted during World War II and the Yugoslav wars, many of which have been replaced by neologisms.

Examples

• alas, "river fisherman", from Hungarian halász
• alat, "tools", from Arabic آلة

• aÅ¡ov, "shovel, spade", from Hungarian ásó
• avlija, "yard", from Greek
• badem, "almond", from Persian bādām
• baksuz, "bad luck", from Turkish
• bakÅ¡iÅ¡, "tip", from Turkish
• barut, "gunpowder", from Turkish
• biber, "pepper", from Greek
• bitanga, "bastard, rascal, rogue, scum", from Hungarian bitang
• brak, "marriage", from Russian
• bubreg, "kidney", from Turkish böbrek
• budala, "fool", from Turkish
• bunar, "water well", from Turkish pınar
• bunda, "fur coat", from Hungarian
• burazer, "bro", from Turkish
• burma, "wedding ring", from Turkish burma
• bre, interjection, from Turkish or Greek
• čaj, "tea", from Persian or Turkish çay
• čak, "even" , "albeit", from Turkish çok
• čamac, "small boat", from Turkish
• ćao, greeting, from Italian ciao
• časopis, "magazine", from Czech
• čarapa, "socks", from Arabic جوراب
• čarÅ¡av, "sheet", from Persian chādorshab
• ćelav, "bald", from Turkish kel
• ćevapi, a grilled meat dish similar to sausages, from Turkish kebab
• čelik, "steel", from Turkish çelik
• cipele, "shoes", from Hungarian cipellő
• čizme, "boots", from Turkish çizme
• čoban, "shepherd", from Turkish çoban
• ćorav, "blind, near sighted", from Turkish kör
• čorba, "soup", from Turkish çorba
• crkva, "church", from Greek kyriakón
• čudoviÅ¡te, "monster", from Russian
• ćufta, "meatball", from Persian kufteh
• ćuprija, "bridge", from Tukish köprü
• cvekla, "beet", from Greek
• daska, "plank", from Greek
• drum, "road", from Greek drómos
• đak, "student, pupil", from Greek diákos
• đakon, "deacon", from Greek diákonos
• đubre, "garbage, trash, rubbish", from Greek kópros
• dugme, "button", from Turkish "düğme"
• duÅ¡ek, "mattress", from Turkish "döşek"
• duvan, "tobacco", from Persian dokhān
• džep, "pocket", from Arabic جَيْب
• džigerica, "beef", from Persian jegar
• episkop, "bishop", from Greek épískopos
• guma, "rubber", from Greek kómmi
• hartija, "paper", from Greek chartí
• hiljada, "a thousand", from Greek khiliás
• jeftin, "inexpensive, cheap", from Greek
• jok, "no", from Turkish yok
• kada, "bathtub", from Greek kádos
• kamata, "interest", from Greek kámatos
• karanfil, "carnation", from Sanskrit "kaá¹­uka-phala कटुकफल"
• kasarna, "barracks", from French caserne
• kesa, "bag, sack", from Persian kiseh
• kesten, "chestnut", from Greek kástana
• klisura, "gorge", from Greek kleisoúra
• kobila, "mare, female horse", from unknown, cf. Latin ', "horse"
• koliba, "cottage", from Greek
• kočija, "carriage, chariot", from Hungarian kocsi
• koljivo, "wheat", from Greek
• komad, "piece, parcel", from Greek kommátion
• korablja, "ark", from Greek
• koÅ¡, "basket", from Greek
• kravata, "necktie", from French cravate
• krevet, "bed", from Greek kreváti
• kruna, "crown", from Latin corona
• kum, "godfather", from Latin compare
• kutija, "box", from Greek koutí
• lapsus, "lapse, mistake in a speech", from Latin
• ličnost, "individual, personality", from Russian
• livada, "meadow, field of flowers", from Greek livádi
• lopov, "thief", from Hungarian lopó
• luk, "onion", from Ancient Greek
• majmun, "monkey", from Arabicمايمون
• majstor, "master, repairman", from German meister
• miris, "smell, aroma, odour", from Greek mýron
• nafta, "petroleum", from Greek náphtha
• nagrada, "reward, prize", from Russian
• nana, "mint", from Persian na'nā
• narandža, "orange", from Persian nāranj
• pantalone, "trousers, pants", from Italian
• papuče, "slippers", from Persian pāpush
• pasoÅ¡, "passport", from Hungarian passzus
• patos, "floor", from Greek pátos
• peÅ¡kir, "towel", from Turkish "peşkir"
• piljan, "godson", from Latin filianus
• pita, "pie", from Greek píta
• podrum, "basement", from Turkish "bodrum"
• pop, "priest", from Greek papás
• putir, "chalice", from Greek potḗr
• rovit, "weak, liquid, fluid", from Greek
• rajsferÅ¡lus, "zipper", from German
• sanduk, "chest", from Arabic صندوق
• Å¡ator, "tent", from Persian chādor
• Å¡ećer, "sugar", from Persian shekar
• Å¡iparac, "young boy'", from Turkish şıpar
• Å¡najder, "tailor", from German
• Å¡nicla, "steak", from German
• Å¡rafciger, "screwdriver", from German
• Å¡trudla, "strudel" (a type of pie), from German
• sidro, "anchor", from Greek sídiros
• simpatičan, "nice", from Italian simpatico
• sirće, "vinegar", from Turkish sirke
• snajper, "marksman shooter", from English (US) sniper
• soba, "room", from Hungarian szoba
• somun, "bread, loaf, bun", from Greek
• stanovniÅ¡tvo, "population", from Czech
• sunđer, "sponge", from Greek
• talas, "wind or sea wave", from Greek thálassa
• taÅ¡na, "bag", from German tasche taşın
• tiganj, "pan, skillet", from Greek tigáni
• top, "cannon" from Turkish top
• trpeza, "dining table", from Greek
• usled, "due to", from Russian
• varoÅ¡, "town, borough", from Hungarian város

See also

• Arabic-Persian-Greek-Serbian Conversation Textbook

References

Sources

Further reading