# Serbian: uncle



## Setwale_Charm

Zdravo,
I am wondering: is there a Serbian word for addressing adult men by children, similar to the Russian word "uncle", meaning not so much a relative, but just any unknown male.


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## alexl57

Yes, we use "чи́ка". There is also "те́та" for "auntie", used with the same function.


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## Setwale_Charm

alexl57 said:


> Yes, we use "чи́ка". There is also "те́та" for "auntie", used with the same function.


so the form of address would be … чико?


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## alexl57

Yes, that is the vocative case of it.


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## Setwale_Charm

Хвала вам пуно.


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## Vilenjak

Just note tho, if you're addressing a person whose name you don't know, you would say "čiko" but if you DO know their name, you'd address them as "čika Branko" e.g. (that is to say, not "čiko Branko").


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## alexl57

I have one more thing to add to the last remark. When used before someone's name чи́ка becomes a proclitic чика: it is unaccented and has no declination whatsoever.


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## MartienVanW

I remember I learned the word čika about 50 years ago: I was about 16 years and learned some Serbian/Croatian from immigrants in the Netherlands (the country was still Yugoslavia and the immigrants themselves did not care much about the difference between Serbian and Croatian and besides a lot of them were from Kosovo). I started to address one of them, who was also a kind of chief in the residence, with just his first name and he told me that I should call him čika  as he was older. Strange enough some others,  who were older than this 35-years old "chief"  insisted that I could feel free to use just their first names and say "ti" rather than "vi". Maybe it varies by region?  For me it was a little bit weird that somebody who is older "claims" this respectfull way of addressing, many languages have this distinction between formal and informal you but people often will  hesitate to say "I am older than you, so don't call me by my name and don't use the informal 'you' " - even if they don't like it - unless they want to teach a learner of the language how to behave. Later I made a similar error with Turkish (were you often will say abi even to friends if they are just two years older than you)  and people hesitated to "reprimand" me  or it was said in a more gentle way "look Martien, personally I don't mind that you call me Ahmet but usually we say 'abi' to older people'.


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## cHr0mChIk

I wanna add that čika and teta are pretty much exclusively used by small children. I've never heard an adult use it, except ironically.


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## MartienVanW

@cHr0mChIk  when that man "required" me to say čika to him (and, by the way tetka to his wife) I was already 15 or 16 years old.


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## cHr0mChIk

@MartienVanW it's true that in our language it comes off as quite disrespectful to adress older people by name. 16 years old is still a kid so yeah, they'd use čika. Adults would probably adress them as "sir" (gospodine).


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## MartienVanW

cHr0mChIk said:


> @MartienVanW it's true that in our language it comes off as quite disrespectful to adress older people by name. 16 years old is still a kid so yeah, they'd use čika. Adults would probably adress them as "sir" (gospodine).


Could this be different in Croatia or Bosna-Hercegowina? Maybe this explains the different reactions I heared in the past


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## cHr0mChIk

MartienVanW said:


> Could this be different in Croatia or Bosna-Hercegowina? Maybe this explains the different reactions I heared in the past


I don't think so. Actually on the contrary, I've even heard these terms čika and teta even less frequently in there. But yeah they're also used, and in the same manner. Primarily by children.


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## polskajason

cHr0mChIk said:


> I don't think so. Actually on the contrary, I've even heard these terms čika and teta even less frequently in there. But yeah they're also used, and in the same manner. Primarily by children.


At least on the coast, Croats use the word "barba" like Serbs use the word "čika". "Teta" is used in much the same way.


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