# Croatian (BCS): hiljada or tisuća?



## sladdie

Hello everyone! One question.
My father was born in Croatia and lived their for much of his childhood till he moved to Canada. When I asked him the word for one thousand in Croatian he told me it was 'hiljada', though some Croats whom I've met have said it is 'tisuća'. So which is it?


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## alby

Hi Sladdie,

We say *tisuća*, but hiljada is still in use here. Hiljada is prefered in Serbia.

Nataša


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## Aldin

tisuća is a slavic word,and hiljada is a foreign,
tisuća is primarly used in Croatia,hiljada in Bosnia,Montenegro and Serbia


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## el_tigre

In Herzegovina is used *tisuća* , in Bosnia *hiljada*!
The word tisuća is btw, mentioned in lawbook of serbian emperor Dušan.(_Zakonik cara Dušana_)
But , today in Serbia people rarely use it


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## Mirna

el_tigre said:
			
		

> In Herzegovina is used *tisuća* , in Bosnia *hiljada*!


 you're right there!


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## natasha2000

Sladie,

You can use both hiljada and tisuća, everyone who speaks S/C/B will understand you.


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## Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

I imagine it's a matter of religion - hiljada is a Greek word in origin, so I guess it would be preferred in traditionally Orthodox areas where the language was influenced more by Greek than Latin. Am I correct?


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## Mirna

hiljada was used in ex-Yugoslavia, when Sebo-Croatian exsisted.
It has nothing to do with religion. Just hiljada is a serbian word, tisuća is Croatian word. But we do understand each other.


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## natasha2000

Mirna said:
			
		

> hiljada was used in ex-Yugoslavia, when Sebo-Croatian exsisted.
> It has nothing to do with religion. Just hiljada is a serbian word, tisuća is Croatian word. But we do understand each other.


 
Mirna, I would say that Croats and Bosnians have always used tisuća, now and in ex-Yugoslavia. I have relatives in Sarajevo, and some friends Croats, and I used to go to summer holidays to Croatia, and as far as I remember, they never used hiljada, but tisuća.

So, this has nothing to do with Serbo-Croat or ex-Yugoslavia. It is just Croatian and Serbian, nothing more, notihing less.


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## Mirna

Iit does depend on person I think...my granny always used hiljada, she still does. Don't know why really.


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## natasha2000

In Bosnia (as I see you come from Bosnia), there is a mixture... Some people speak more as Croats, and some more as Serbs. Maybe it depends on the place they live. If they live closer to Croatian border, they say tisuća, if they live closer to Serbian border, then they use hiljada... Maybe there are some other reasons apart of the closiness to the respective border.
On the other hand, I also think that, as a matter of fact, tisuća is old Serbian word, but it is changed for hiljada a long time ago, who knows why. Croatian has manz words that were originaly used in Serbia, too, and are Serbian words, too, but they were changed for some foreign words, like štednjak, for example...
Maybe it has something to do with different oppresors we had - Croatian under Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Serbs under Ottoman Empire... There are a lot of words in Serbian that are of Turkish origin, while Croats are still using the Slav word for the same thing...
But then... It's another subject.
Cheers.
N.


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## Mirna

Just a little correction! I live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not Bosnia. Thank you!


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## natasha2000

Mirna said:
			
		

> Just a little correction! I live in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not Bosnia. Thank you!


 
Sorry... There is no need to be so touchy....

You live in BiH. Is this ok?


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## Mirna

yeah, BiH is ok. Not touchy is just matter of nationality or whatever...Just like maybe people from Montenegro insult if you call them Serbs


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## natasha2000

Mirna said:
			
		

> yeah, BiH is ok. Not touchy is just matter of nationality or whatever...Just like maybe people from Montenegro insult if you call them Serbs


 
Whatever.

Now they have their own state, too, so from now on, I doubt you can make an error like this.


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## Mirna

Was just making an example.


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## Camillo

In Polish it is: *tysiąc

*Similarities are obvious


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## el_tigre

In russian is tjesjuča (тысяча)

Anyway , word *tisuća *is mentioned in lawbook of serbian medieval emperor Dušan(_Zakonik Cara Dušana_)
Why today Serbs do not use it? I do not know....


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## el_tigre

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> In Bosnia (as I see you come from Bosnia), there is a mixture... Some people speak more as Croats, and some more as Serbs. Maybe it depends on the place they live. If they live closer to Croatian border, they say tisuća, if they live closer to Serbian border, then they use hiljada... Maybe there are some other reasons apart of the closiness to the respective border.
> On the other hand, I also think that, as a matter of fact, tisuća is old Serbian word, but it is changed for hiljada a long time ago, who knows why. Croatian has manz words that were originaly used in Serbia, too, and are Serbian words, too, but they were changed for some foreign words, like štednjak, for example...
> Maybe it has something to do with different oppresors we had - Croatian under Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Serbs under Ottoman Empire... There are a lot of words in Serbian that are of Turkish origin, while Croats are still using the Slav word for the same thing...
> But then... It's another subject.
> Cheers.
> N.


I think this is the right explanation .

After all , territory Serbia and Bosnia&Herzegovina was under turkish administration for abiout 500 years.
But, the fact is that croatian language most close to the current croatian standard is spoken in The west Herzegovina.


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## Maja

el_tigre said:
			
		

> In Herzegovina is used *tisuća* , in Bosnia *hiljada*!



I disagree, because people who live in the Eastern Hercegovina which is a part of  the Republic of Srpska (or Serbs if you like) DO NOT use word tisuća but  hiljada. But I guess that Croats in, for example, Mostar (which is also  Hercegovina), do use it.

Pozdrav!


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## Aldin

You all speak about Croats and Serbs in Bosnia,but in reality there are Bosniaks too.They mostly speak hiljada and it doesn't have to anything with religion.My parents speak hiljada and all Bosniaks that I know.I never heared any Bosniak to say hiljada.And one more thing.Bosnia is a historical region north of Neretva river and Herzegovina(historicly HUM) is southern part the river(southeast).Today situation is a bit different.
If you live in Mostar you can't be Bosnian,and if you live in Banjaluka you can't be Herzegovian.But in reality you only can be Bosniak,Croat,Serb or the others.Bosnian and Herzegovian are terms that legally do not exist.
tisuća is western variant and hiljada eastern.Because Bosnia is in the middle,both words are used.


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## el_tigre

Maja said:
			
		

> I disagree, because people who live in the Eastern Hercegovina which is a part of the Republic of Srpska (or Serbs if you like) DO NOT use word tisuća but hiljada. But I guess that Croats in, for example, Mostar (which is also Hercegovina), do use it.
> 
> Pozdrav!


 You are right Serbs in (Eastern) Herzegovina probably never use word *tisuća*. (Here is say *probably* because I have never been in eastern Herzegovina )



But the title of this topic is Croatian: hiljada or tisuća?

So , here we are based on speech of  Croatian people.
And in *standard *croatian language thousand  is* tisuća* not hiljada.
but  still Croats in Bosnia still use it in major cases.
I do not know where sladie's father comes from...
Pozdrav također!


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## българин

Anyway, I just thought I'd add my input....In Bulgarian we also say hiljada (хиляда). But I would have never known what tisuća is untill I saw this forum. The origin of hiljada is Greek ===> χιλιάδα  (translates into "hiliada")


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## mirodjija

Mirna said:
			
		

> yeah, BiH is ok. Not touchy is just matter of nationality or whatever...Just like maybe people from Montenegro insult if you call them Serbs


 Sorry Mirna but I have to agree with Natasha...you were a little touchy.
This is a forum and the current subject is 'hiljada' & 'tisuca' (not about political nonsense)
Be a little more flexible & all will be well.
And, by the way, I know many Montenegrins who identify themselves as Serbians.


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## Stormrage

It's simple In Croatia it's tisuća, in Serbia it's hiljada, and in Bosnia both forms are valid (it's the same situation like with the names of months, or word for bread: *kruh- hljeb*.)


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## farisca

The best word for 1000 is "milja" xD

But, seriously, in Bosnian both versions are correct, even though "tisuca" is rarely used among Bosniaks. 

(It reminds me of the old Bosnian hymn:
Zemljo *tisućljetna*
Na vjernost ti se kunem
Od mora do Save
Od Drine do Une)

It is in Bosnian, but the word "tisuca" is used... )

Pozdrav


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## Athaulf

el_tigre said:


> So , here we are based on speech of  Croatian people.
> And in *standard *croatian language thousand  is* tisuća* not hiljada.
> but  still Croats in Bosnia still use it in major cases.





Stormrage said:


> It's simple In Croatia it's tisuća, in Serbia it's hiljada, and in Bosnia both forms are valid (it's the same situation like with the names of months, or word for bread: *kruh- hljeb*.)



It's true that _tisuća _is preferable in formal standard Croatian, but in many, if not most parts of Croatia, _hiljada _is used along with _tisuća _in everyday speech. This is not limited to Croats coming from outside of Croatia -- in Zagreb, I've heard people of many different regional backgrounds using it. When I moved from Bosnia to Zagreb, I made an effort to switch from saying _hiljada_ to _tisuća _(alongside many other words, of course), but then I realized that many Zagreb natives were using _hilljada_, so nowadays I use them both interchangeably in everyday speech. 

Also, many classic Croatian writers have used _hiljada_, so I definitely wouldn't consider it wrong in standard Croatian or avoid it as a matter of principle. The only contexts in which I would recommend using only _tisuća _are formal, non-artistic documents.


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## trance0

Isn`t hiljada of Turkish origin? Someone mentioned it comes from Greek, but I think it actually comes from Turkish.


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## Athaulf

trance0 said:


> Isn`t hiljada of Turkish origin? Someone mentioned it comes from Greek, but I think it actually comes from Turkish.



No, _hiljada_ definitely comes from Greek. I don't know any online references about Croatian etymology, but English has borrowed the same word in the form _chiliad_, and you can see its etymology e.g. here.


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## sokol

Athaulf said:


> It's true that _tisuća _is preferable in formal standard Croatian, but in many, if not most parts of Croatia, _hiljada _is used along with _tisuća _in everyday speech. (...)



It is nice to hear that the _"hiljada-tisuća"-"war"_ seems to not be "fought" any more.
In the late 1990ies when I did some background research on Croatian and Serbian I found some that suggested that _tisuća _finally had been "declared Croatian" while _hiljada _had been "declared Non-Croatian".

But what I gather from your posting nevertheless would be: _tisuća =_ Croatian standard language while _hiljada =_ substandard Croatian, right? Or would _hiljada _nowadays be acceptable in Croatian standard language too? That is: do Croatian media use _hiljada? _(I would be surprised if they did in newspapers and on TV news, but probably it is different with soap operas and TV shows.)

(It is obvious to both of us that _hiljada_ of course is native also to some Croatian dialects - and we are not speaking of Bosnian Croatian dialects only, of course; I'll just mention it here for those who don't know.)


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## Athaulf

sokol said:


> It is nice to hear that the _"hiljada-tisuća"-"war"_ seems to not be "fought" any more.
> In the late 1990ies when I did some background research on Croatian and Serbian I found some that suggested that _tisuća _finally had been "declared Croatian" while _hiljada _had been "declared Non-Croatian".
> 
> But what I gather from your posting nevertheless would be: _tisuća =_ Croatian standard language while _hiljada =_ substandard Croatian, right? Or would _hiljada _nowadays be acceptable in Croatian standard language too? That is: do Croatian media use _hiljada? _(I would be surprised if they did in newspapers and on TV news, but probably it is different with soap operas and TV shows.)



In the media and in formal documents, you'll most likely hear and read only _tisuća_. However, in everyday speech in Zagreb and many other places in Croatia, you'll hear both _hiljada_ and _tisuća_. Also, you'll find both words in the works of great Croatian writers. 

Thus, I recommend sticking to _tisuća_ in formal writing (e.g. when writing a newspaper article, a scientific paper, or a bureaucratic document), but you can liberally choose between _hiljada_ and _tisuća_ when writing poetry or prose and in everyday speech.


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## Lazar777

this is a very interesting topic.  I myself am Serbian and all we use is "hiljada".  We know tisuca to be Croatian.  However as there are many many many dialects of Serbo-Croatian, it varies place to place.   To say tisuca or hiljada is just croatian or just serbian is imposible to say.  I know for instance krajina serbs say "tisuca" so it really depends.


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## el_tigre

Athaulf said:


> In the media and in formal documents, you'll most likely hear and read only _tisuća_. However, in everyday speech in Zagreb and many other places in Croatia, you'll hear both _hiljada_ and _tisuća_. Also, you'll find both words in the works of great Croatian writers.




Yes, it is surprising.  Even is non-štokavian speaking region is used-that made quite surprised. I have hear  insular "klapa" a cappela song using "hiljada".


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## torat

Hi all!

Just to note that in English, too, there is an echo of this thread: the rarer Eng. *chiliad* and, of course, the much more frequent *thousand* are cousins, etymologically, of *hiljada * and* tisuća*, respectively.


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## slavic_one

All is said, just a little sum up:
In Croatian you can hear (in all parts) both "tisuću" and "hiljada". On TV, newspapers and so on you'll probably hear only "tisuću". I use "tisuća" and "milja" more often than "hiljada" but I use all of them.
Way back I heard that actually "hiljada" is Croatian and "tisuća" Serbian word, but it doesn't make much sence because of the Greek (Orthodox) origin of "hiljada" and "tisuća" as word used in all other north Slavic lngs (Czech, Slovak, Polish, Russian...), so it goes with history and religion as previously mentioned.


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## TriglavNationalPark

el_tigre said:


> Yes, it is surprising.  Even is non-štokavian speaking region is used-that made quite surprised. I have hear insular "klapa" a cappela song using "hiljada".


 
Same here! A couple of years ago, I was surprised to hear "hiljada" used by a native Istrian in Croatian Istria. Before then, I had always assumed the word was only used in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia.



slavic_one said:


> Way back I heard that actually "hiljada" is Croatian and "tisuća" Serbian word, but it doesn't make much sence because of the Greek (Orthodox) origin of "hiljada" and "tisuća" as word used in all other north Slavic lngs (Czech, Slovak, Polish, Russian...), so it goes with history and religion as previously mentioned.


 
Exactly. Slovene also uses the Slavic word "tisoč" and has never used any derivatives of the Greek _chīliad._


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## el_tigre

TriglavNationalPark said:


> Same here! A couple of years ago, I was surprised to hear "hiljada" used by a native Istrian in Croatian Istria. Before then, I had always assumed the word was only used in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia.



2 months ago I have heard a deputy Croatian parliament( a native of Istria) using word "hiljada" during his speech. Nobody protested because of it.


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## bolegr

http:
//jezicnisavjetnik.mojblog.hr/arhiva-2-2009.html
Vocabulary is a realy treasure, enjoy it.  Uzivajte u bogatstvu jezika.


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