# All Slavic: Peculiarities of spoken language



## cecoll

Hi everyone!

Here you can share some specific aspects of the everyday spoken language in your country that you consider to be somehow unique and unlikey to be met in any other slavic language...Well we shall see about that!  

I could have started this thread solely for bulgarian language but I think it will be more interesting for all of us to get to know and compare speech habits of our slavic family! 

Ok, let me start with my native language - Bulgarian! 

cvetan


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## cecoll

I've just read a research about some genuine characteristics in Bulgarian language that are believed to have middle east or eurasian origin (possibly persian) and that had been brought to us through speech markers in turkish language! Here is what I'm talking about:

1st. The so called "*contrariwise adress*" or "*reversed adress*" (not sure if that's the right term)

Example: When a mother is calling or adressing her child, she usually says: "Ела мамо! Ela mamo (Come mom!)" instead of "Ela sine (Come son!)" or "Ела дъще (Come daughter!)" The same thing is when a grandmother is adressing her grandson or granddaughter like "Kaжи баба..." (say granny...). It is also encountered when a father or grandfather is adressing his (grand)children but more rare.

Well I explain to myself that what led to this "phenomenon" is the fact that "Ela mamo" comes from "Ela maminoto" ( maminoto i.e. that belongs to mommy), "Ela babo" from "Ela babinoto", "Ela tate" from "Ela tatinoto", etc.

In the research it is stated that this "reversed adress" is only to be found in Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek, Turkish and Farsi languages. Well I still wonder if it does exist in another slavic language???  

2nd. The so called *"expressive double"* of one word, which role is more to belittle certain word rather than finding a rime for it.

Example: чаша-маша(ćaša-maša); къща-мъща; гребен-мебен;лебед-мебед;etc. (Mostly second word begining with *M*) The only example i can think of is a disappointed from the object kid that says for example "cup-mup" (чаша-маша) in order to decrease the importance of the object (i.e. disparage it).

According to the research the "expressive double"is to be found in Serbian language too , so I'm waiting someone to confirm it!


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## Maja

cecoll said:
			
		

> 1st. The so called "*contrariwise adress*" or "*reversed adress*" (not sure if that's the right term)...
> ...In the research it is stated that this "reversed adress" is only to be found in Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek, Turkish and Farsi languages. Well I still wonder if it does exist in another slavic language???



Not in Serbian.



			
				cecoll said:
			
		

> 2nd. The so called *"expressive double"* of one word, which role is more to belittle certain word rather than finding a rime for it...
> ...According to the research the "expressive double"is to be found in Serbian language too , so I'm waiting someone to confirm it!



 I don't think so. Maybe "cica-maca", but I can't think of any other at the  moment. I'll get back to you on that and on some solely Serbian peculiarities (if there are any ).

Pozdrav!


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## Encolpius

Very interesting Bulgarian exmaple, this could be an interesting thread.
The only thing what I can think about is now, that it's possible in the Czech language to use a masculine noun with a feminine adjective: 

Ty kluku pitom*á*! [kluk = boy, pitomý = stupid (m), pitomý (f.)] vocative case.

Will try to find more examples....


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## iobyo

I've always wondered if this existed in other languages. My father calls me _тате _and _тато._


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## Duya

I've heard it in BCS (Serbian in particular) with vocative of a possessive proper: _Dođi, mamino/babino/tatino/tetkino...!_, but it didn't evolve further than that.


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## vianie

Duya said:


> _Dođi, mamino/babino/tatino/tetkino...!_



What is tatino derived from and what does it mean? Tatina and father? Cheers.


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## Encolpius

I wonder if you can find this peculiarity in other Slavic languages than Czech, i.e. the word means something different what it means. 
The Czech word pětka [from pět five] is the name of a coin...every foreigner would think it is a *fiver*, but no, it is a *tenner*!!! 
The history will be explained by natives....


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## bibax

> "After several earlier attempts the Austro-Hungarian Empire adopted the gold standard in 1892 according to the plan of Sándor Wekerle minister of finance. This plan included the introduction of the new currency, the Krone. It consisted of 100 Heller (Austria) or Fillér (Hungary). The value of the Krone was set at 2 Kronen = 1 Gulden (Florin, or forint in Hungarian) of the previous silver-based currency." (Wikipaedia)


Thus 10 crowns (10 korun) was 5 gulden (5 zlatých).


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## marco_2

bibax said:


> Thus 10 crowns (10 korun) was 5 gulden (5 zlatých).



The same phenomenon existed in Polish in former Galicia for the same reason - the Poles from Lvov or Krakow used to say *szóstka *or *szóstak (6) *for a 20 Heller coin and *piątka (fiver) *for a 10 Kronen coin. Some elderly people used these expressions up to 1939. And "expressive double" is also used in colloquial speech, it expresses annoyance or the will to decrease the importance of the object, as cecoll wrote and it is considered to be rather rude. Such expressions are also popular in Odessa, especially in the language of local Jews.


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## Encolpius

Wow, fantastic, marco.


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## Duya

vianie said:


> What is tatino derived from and what does it mean? Tatina and father? Cheers.



Sorry, saw this question just now.

Yes, _tata_ = papa, dad. _Tatino_ =  papa's (neuter). Possibly a shortening from _tatino zlato_ 'gold', _luče_ 'baby' or another term of endearment.


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