# Bosnian: Can baba be used for father as well as grandmother?



## bcslearner

From a little bit of research and talking with a friend, it seems like baba can be used for father as well as grandmother in Bosnian. Is this the case? If so, are there examples online that talk about this?

Thanks


----------



## Duya

Yes, but the word is _bábo_; the -a form is Serbian, where the word is much less used. 

Like many others in Bosnian, the term is of Turkish origin (presumably; I did not verify).

I'm not sure what online examples you are looking for. There is a recent internet meme "A da me vidi babo" ('What if daddy see me?!'), originating from a YouTube clip featuring a teenage girl confessing to heavy drinking and partying, uttering these words; it was later made into a turbo-folk song and even a football chant.


----------



## bcslearner

Hi Duya,

So baba being used for father is not used in Bosnian but just Serbian? I'm hoping for some examples online where baba is used for father.

Thanks


----------



## Duya

Google "Al se nekad dobro jelo" -- it's a song by Đorđe Balašević, referencing _baba_ a couple of times. I perceive it as an archaic regionalism by old Vojvodinians (the context of the song), not something you would often hear nowadays. 

I don't think it's used in Central Serbia; Bosniaks from Sandžak, an ekavian-speaking area, presumably use _babo_ as their compatriots from Bosnia.


----------



## bcslearner

I see. Hvala Duya.


----------



## luchadora

Hi,



Duya said:


> G referencing _baba_ a couple of times. I perceive it as an archaic regionalism by old Vojvodinians (the context of the song), not something you would often hear nowadays.
> 
> I don't think it's used in Central Serbia; Bosniaks from Sandžak, an ekavian-speaking area, presumably use _babo_ as their compatriots from Bosnia.



The song you are referencing I just had a listen to again, it sounds, given the accenting of the vowels, as if he refers to a grandmother. I wish these languages had some sensible accenting like spanish does.


----------



## Awwal12

Duya said:


> Like many others in Bosnian, the term is of Turkish origin (presumably; I did not verify).


Ultimately Arabic, most likely. Cf. Ar. ba:ba ) "dad".
Turkic languages, on the contrary, normally use just modified words for "father" (PT *ata) or, more rarely, derivatives of proto-Turkic *aba, so even if this word exists in Turkish or existed in the Ottoman literary language, it must have been loaned from Arabic anyway.


----------



## dragonlight

bcslearner said:


> Hi Duya,
> 
> So baba being used for father is not used in Bosnian but just Serbian? I'm hoping for some examples online where baba is used for father.
> 
> Thanks


It's two different words.
Baba and Babo.

In Bosnia, using baba for your grandmother is very very rare bcause it can have negative meaning here.
Instead words comonnly used are baka, nana, and majka.

Baba can have a bad meaning similar to old hag. It can be a short form for babuskara which stands for old crone or hag. Not a good word.

Babo on the other hand is only used for father by Bosniaks (Muslim Bosnians) and its not used by Bosnian Serbs or Croats.


----------



## Vanja

_Babo_ sounds like _dad_ in English, or _good old daddy_. And this is hard to hear in Serbia, thinking of father, hehee.. It is not used among Serbs and Croats. In Serbian it would be _ćale, _like the closest word.


----------



## Nev and Jo

I'm happy I found this thread.  My paternal Grandfather was called Baba, with a long first "a", like Baaba.  He was born in 1907 and was from Melenci, near Zrenjanin and ended up living in Novi Sad.  I always wondered why they called him that, actually I never got to meet him.  My other grandfather was from Montenegro but moved to Ada with his parents in 1901 when he was 2 years old, then shortly afterward to Idjos, Vojvodina and they called him "Chikuctza".  Go figure !  Do both "Baaba" and "Cikuca" or "Chikuctza" both mean dad ???


----------

