# Bulgarian: И винаги ме кара



## SweetCherry

Please, could someone translate this to English?

Context: _I vinagi me kara da se zamislya dali sum jiv, ako nikoi ne govori ili ne si spomnia za men_.

Thank you.


----------



## Darina

"It makes me think if I am alive, when someone neither talks (about me) nor remembers me."

In this context "kara me da se zamislja" would be also something like "makes me hesitate" if you prefer.

"Karam" is "to make (s.o. do something)".

Don't be shocked! I know the meaning of the word in Serbian.


----------



## SweetCherry

Darina said:


> "It makes me think if I am alive, when someone neither talks (about me) nor remembers me."
> 
> In this context "kara me da se zamislja" would be also something like "makes me hesitate" if you prefer.
> 
> "Karam" is "to make (s.o. do something)".
> 
> Don't be shocked! I know the meaning of the word in Serbian.


Thank you very much! 
I admit I was afraid to ask because of the verbs meaning in Serbian.
These two should go to the "False friends" thread.


----------



## Christo Tamarin

SweetCherry said:


> Darina said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SweetCherry said:
> 
> 
> 
> Please, could someone translate this to English?
> 
> Context: _I vinagi me kara da se zamislya dali sum jiv, ako nikoi ne govori ili ne si spomnia za men_.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "It makes me think if I am alive, when someone neither talks (about me) nor remembers me."
> 
> In this context "kara me da se zamislja" would be also something like "makes me hesitate" if you prefer.
> 
> "Karam" is "to make (s.o. do something)".
> 
> Don't be shocked! I know the meaning of the word in Serbian.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you very much!
> I admit I was afraid to ask because of the verbs meaning in Serbian.
> These two should go to the "False friends" thread.
Click to expand...


This was a demonstration that Bulgarian should be written in Cyrillic script. Otherwise, it is very hard to read and understand Bulgarian. 

*И винаги ме кара да се замисля дали съм жив, ако никой не говори или не си спомня за мен.
*
"It [always] makes me think if I am alive when nobody talks [about me] nor remembers me."

About these False friends.

The original meaning of *карати* is preserved in Russian: *карать *(karati) is to *punish*, *кара* (kara) means *punishment*.

Later, in Bulgarian and Serbian, that word changed its meanings in different ways.

The explanation for Bulgarian follows the childish approach. Everyone starts his/her life as a child. (S)He acquires the language as a child. In a given moment, childish speech can slightly differ from the speech of adults, but that childish tongue can become the normal tongue for the next generation when those children grow up.

Let us suppose a child makes a mischief. Let us suppose the parents scold the child first and then punish the child. The punishment is making the child do some work: "Your punishment will be doing that job!"

The child sustains the scold and the punishment. For the next generation, the reflexive verb *карати сę *(karati sę) acquires the meaning *to scold*, and the *карати *(karati) verb itself acquires the meaning *to make s.o. do something*.

Later on, let us suppose a coachman makes the horses move. Move fast or move slowly. Move right or move left. Thus, the *карати *(karati) verb in Bulgarian acquired also the meaning *to drive*. "I am driving a car" - "Карам кола".

The explanation for Serbian may follow a more adult approach.


----------



## SweetCherry

Christo Tamarin said:


> This was a demonstration that Bulgarian should be written in Cyrillic script. Otherwise, it is very hard to read and understand Bulgarian.


 
I agree. I always have a problem when reading Russian written in Latin, so I know what you mean. But this sentence was coppied from another site, and I didn't know how it should be written in Cyrilic, I don't speak any Bulgarian. However, it is great to know that I can understand a lot. 



Christo Tamarin said:


> About these False friends.
> 
> The original meaning of *карати* is preserved in Russian: *карать *(karati) is to *punish*, *кара* (kara) means *punishment*.
> 
> Later, in Bulgarian and Serbian, that word changed its meanings in different ways.
> 
> The reflexive verb *карати сę *(karati sę) acquires the meaning *to scold*, and the *карати *(karati) verb itself acquires the meaning *to make s.o. do something*.
> 
> Later on, let us suppose a coachman makes the horses move. Move fast or move slowly. Move right or move left. Thus, the *карати *(karati) verb in Bulgarian acquired also the meaning *to drive*. "I am driving a car" - "Карам кола".
> 
> The explanation for Serbian may follow a more adult approach.


 
In Serbian, this verb has two variations, and two meanings.
They are *карати *and *покарати*.
*Покарати *means *to punish*, and it is used only for the punishment that comes from God.
_Бог ће те покарати_. (God will punish you). It is used very little today because it sounds archaic.
As for *карати*, it has a vulgar meaning, and I have no idea how it started being used in that way. It is also used very rarely, almost not at all.

Thank you for your contribution. 

p.s. It is also possible to find the verb *карати* (with the meaning *to scold) *in the old books, or hear it in the old songs.


----------



## TriglavNationalPark

SweetCherry said:


> p.s. It is also possible to find the verb *карати* (with the meaning *to scold) *in the old books, or hear it in the old songs.


 
This meaning (*karati* = to scold) still exists in Slovenian. In my grandmother's dialect, it also means "to argue". 

By the way, the word is not vulgar in Slovenian.


----------



## SweetCherry

TriglavNationalPark said:


> This meaning (*karati* = to scold) still exists in Slovenian. In my grandmother's dialect, it also means "to argue".
> 
> By the way, the word is not vulgar in Slovenian.


 
That's very interesting.  I wonder if the other Slavic languages have the same verb.
Thank you for joining the discussion.


----------



## jazyk

Kárat means to scold in Czech as well.


----------



## dacheff

TriglavNationalPark said:


> This meaning (*karati* = to scold) still exists in Slovenian. In my grandmother's dialect, *it also means "to argue"*.
> 
> By the way, the word is not vulgar in Slovenian.



In bulgarian as well. "Карам се с някого за нещо" - "to argue with s.o. about s.th." 
N.B. When used in the meaning of *scold*, like in - "Карам ти се, защото си направил беля", is to notice that "карам ти" should be written always separate, as the "ти" part has the meaning of "you" - not a part of the verb, but pronoun.


----------



## marco_2

In Polish *karać *means "to punish" and, according to Brückner, it is akin to *upokarzać *(to humilate) and the primary word was *kor *- "disgrace" which hasn't existed in Polish for ages.


----------



## Awwal12

In *Russian*:
"Карать" (kar*a*t') [kɐɾ'atʲ] (imperfective), "покарать" (pokar*a*t') [pəkəɾ'atʲ] (perfective) - to punish.

It is an obvious loanword from Old Church Slavonic. Just like most of these words, it isn't used in everyday life and sounds archaic, but is still preserved for high, poetical or religious speech.  Its common Russian analogue is "наказывать" / "наказать" (nak*a*zyvat' / nakaz*a*t' , imp./perf.).

P.S.: The related nouns are "кара" (k*a*ra) and "наказание" (nakaz*a*niye) respectively.


----------



## SweetCherry

Awwal12 said:


> In *Russian*:
> "Карать" (kar*a*t') [kɐɾ'atʲ] (imperfective), "покарать" (pokar*a*t') [pəkəɾ'atʲ] (perfective) - to punish.
> 
> It is an obvious loanword from Old Church Slavonic. Just like most of these words, it isn't used in everyday life and sounds archaic, but is still preserved for high, poetical or religious speech.  Its common Russian analogue is "наказывать" / "наказать" (nak*a*zyvat' / nakaz*a*t' , imp./perf.).
> 
> P.S.: The related nouns are "кара" (k*a*ra) and "наказание" (nakaz*a*niye) respectively.



Spasibo, Awwal12!


----------

