# South Slavic languages: 'Gora' vs. 'Planina'



## YianniCart

I speak very little of the Slavic languages. I am most familiar with Macedonian, although still not very good at it.
I am wondering the difference between 'Gora' as in mountains, like Crna Gora, the Gora region of the Gorani people etc. and Planina, as in the Shar Planina and other mountain ranges.

I know Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Croatian use both, I am not too sure about the other South Slavic languages, but I assume they do.
Could someone please clear this up for me?


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## Orlin

YianniCart said:


> I know Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Croatian use both, I am not too sure about the other South Slavic languages, but I assume they do.
> Could someone please clear this up for me?


In Bulgaria _гора_ for _a mountain _is preserved only in some geographical names (e. g. _Средна гора_). In modern Bulgarian only _планина_ is _a mountain_, _гора_ is _a forest_.


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## yael*

I would say it's almost a synonym. But gora should be a mountain with a forest or highlands. But, similarly to Bulgarian, it's mostly preserved in toponyms, it's archaic. 
Goranci (Gorani people) is an ethnic group living in Gora, in the triangle between Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia. 
Gora can also mean forest, as in Bulgarian.


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## Marski

I had this discussion once with other native Macedonian speakers, and even we were baffled at first. Anyway, the consensus was that gora is partially synonymous with both planina (a mountain) and shuma (a forest), so it means something like a "wooded mountain". 

However, today it's an archaic word and it's mostly used in folk songs/stories and toponyms.


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## Istriano

yael* said:


> I would say it's almost a synonym. But gora should be a mountain with a forest or highlands. But, similarly to Bulgarian, it's mostly preserved in toponyms, it's archaic.
> Goranci (Gorani people) is an ethnic group living in Gora, in the triangle between Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia.
> Gora can also mean forest, as in Bulgarian.



Gorani live in Gorski kotar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorski_kotar


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## yael*

Istriano said:


> Gorani live in Gorski kotar:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorski_kotar



But I was talking about Goranci: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goranci


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## TriglavNationalPark

This is how it works in Slovenian:

*Planina* has two primarly meanings, referring either to a mountain (in which case it's more or less synonymous with *gora*), or a high-altitude pasture ("alp" in English or "Alm" in German). The well-known Velika Planina, for instance, comes from the second meaning.

*Gora* almost always refers to a mountain. _Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika_ also lists "mountain forest" or "wooded mountain" as an archaic meaning. In some dialects (namely in Bela Krajina and Dolenjska), *gora* also refers to a hillside vineyard.

(P.S. Yes, I've returned to the forum after a longish personal break.)


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## marco_2

Excuse my inclusion in your very interesting debate (cause I represent a Western Slavic language) - in Polish we call a mountain *góra*, but talking about subalpine meadows in the Eastern Carpathians we use a Ruthenian / Ukrainian word *połonina*, which without doubt is an Eastern Slavic version of *planina / планина. *Polish highlanders call such meadows *hala*, Ukrainian ones - *полонина.*


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## pawel_zet

Góra (gora) is a common slavic word for a mountain.
As for połonina its etymology is also very old. Basically, it means an infertile land. In Polish it means only "a mountain meadow" in Carpathians.


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## vianie

marco_2 said:


> talking about subalpine meadows in the Eastern Carpathians we use a Ruthenian / Ukrainian word *połonina*, which without doubt is an Eastern Slavic version of *planina / планина. *Polish highlanders call such meadows *hala*, Ukrainian ones - *полонина.*



To support the claims: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poloniny_National_Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podhale


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## DenisBiH

So,

gora - mountain forest
planina - mountain meadow

? 

According to HJP it seems that planina (Common Slavic *polnina) is etymologically related to *polnъ "deserted" and polje "field" (< PIE *pol-). As for gora HJP says it's from PIE *gwerH- (Lithuanian giria "forest", Sanskrit giri- "forest", Albanian gur "stone; rock")


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## pawel_zet

And some related Polish words:
"pełny" = "full"
"plon" = "a yield"
"płonny" = "unavailing", "useless" (rarely used)


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## DenisBiH

yael* said:


> I would say it's almost a synonym. But gora should be a mountain with a forest or highlands. But, similarly to Bulgarian, it's mostly preserved in toponyms, it's archaic.



One term that comes to mind where it is still actively used is _gorska služba spašavanja/spasavanja_ (mountain rescue service).

Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Croatia
Serbia
Montenegro


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## Orlin

DenisBiH said:


> One term that comes to mind where it is still actively used is _gorska služba spašavanja/spasavanja_ (mountain rescue service).
> 
> Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
> Croatia
> Serbia
> Montenegro


Kod nas je Планинска спасителна служба, i meni je zanimljivo zašto je u BCS zemljama _gorska_ umesto _planinska_?


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## yael*

Orlin said:


> Kod nas je Планинска спасителна служба, i meni je zanimljivo zašto je u BCS zemljama _gorska_ umesto _planinska_?


U opštem smislu može se reći i tako, ali se konkretno ta služba, kao što vidiš u kinku, i u Srbiji zove Gorska služba za spasavanje (iako bih ja rekla spašavanje). 
Videla sam da se u hrvatskom se koristi i geografski termin _gorje_, što mislim da odgovara našem _visoravan_.


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## DenisBiH

To me, _gorje _= "mountainous region; collection of mountains (and hills)" as in this example.


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## yael*

DenisBiH said:


> To me, _gorje _= "mountainous region; collection of mountains (and hills)" as in this example.


To bi bilo kod nas planinski predeo? Ali ima u hrvatskom i nešto što zovu staro gromadno gorje, a mislim da se odnosi na stare planine, tj. one koje nisu deo planinskih venaca.


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## Azori

vianie said:


> To support the claims:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poloniny_National_Park
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podhale


In Slovak

polonina = mountain pasture / meadow (in the Carpathians)

planina = area of flat highland - plain, plateau, like this one for example

Hora has two meanings - forest and mountain.

Mountain rescue service is horská záchranná služba in Slovak.


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## TriglavNationalPark

MOD NOTE: Posts about the verb *spašavati/spasavati* in BCS have been moved to THIS thread.


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## TriglavNationalPark

For the record, the Slovenian mountain rescue service is known as *Gorska reševalna zveza. *It was known as *Gorska reševalna služba* before a recent reorganization; this is a more generic term (with *služba* meaning "service" and* zveza* meaning "union").

I have no idea why "gorska" is more appropriate than "planinska" in such contexts.


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## Duya

yael* said:


> Videla sam da se u hrvatskom se koristi i geografski termin _gorje_, što mislim da odgovara našem _visoravan_.



Ja _gorje_ uopšte ne doživljavam kao hrvatsku reč (bar je ne svrstavam u istu klasu kao _tvornicaili podrijetlo_), samo se u srpskom možda nešto ređe koristi. Na .rs domenu ima oko 170 pogodaka, od kojih većina ne izgleda kao da su ih pisali hrvatski autori. I, osećaj je naravno subjektivan, ali mi je _gorje_ baš nekako lepa reč, pomalo arhaična ali deskriptivna.


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## DenisBiH

Duya said:


> Ja _gorje_ uopšte ne doživljavam kao hrvatsku reč (bar je ne svrstavam u istu klasu kao _tvornicaili podrijetlo_), samo se u srpskom možda nešto ređe koristi. Na .rs domenu ima oko 170 pogodaka, od kojih većina ne izgleda kao da su ih pisali hrvatski autori. I, osećaj je naravno subjektivan, ali mi je _gorje_ baš nekako lepa reč, pomalo arhaična ali deskriptivna.



Interesantno, ja _tvornica _ne doživljavam kao hrvatsku riječ, za razliku od _podrijetlo _koje mi je veoma markirano kao kroatizam.


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## Duya

Eh, kad god napravim digresiju, nekako nabodem pogrešan primer . U pravu si, generalno; prebacio sam se na poziciju govornika iz Srbije. (Vi'š da sam prešao na ekavicu, vidi se da sam podeljena ličnost ).


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## yael*

I meni gorje lepo zvuči, ali nikad nisam čula tu reč u oim krajevima i, verovatno, nikad je nisam izgovorila.Videla sam da se u hrvatskom ta reč koristi u geografiji, geologiji i tome slično - pokušala sam da u istom članku na SH vikipediji nađem ekvivalent, ali nažalost, tekst je mnogo kraći i ceo taj deo je preskočen. Reč je o starom gromadnom gorju i ja mislim da mi to zovemo stare planine. 
A što se tvornice tiče, ona mi je hrvatska reč koliko i žlica.


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## Marski

TriglavNationalPark said:


> In some dialects (namely in Bela Krajina and Dolenjska), *gora* also refers to a hillside vineyard.



In Macedonian vinogorje means a wine-growing region. For example, Tikvesko vinogorje means the Tikves wine-growing region. I think I've heard that word used in Serbian, too.


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## TriglavNationalPark

Marski said:


> In Macedonian vinogorje means a wine-growing region. For example, Tikvesko vinogorje means the Tikves wine-growing region. I think I've heard that word used in Serbian, too.



Slovenian uses another cognate of "gora" for a wine-growing region: *gorica* (usually plural: *gorice*). SSKJ marks this use as regional (found in "eastern dialects"). In standard Slovenian, the word refers to a hilly region, but again, there's a viticultural connection: "...usually with vineyards" (SSKJ).


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## yael*

Marski said:


> In Macedonian vinogorje means a wine-growing region. For example, Tikvesko vinogorje means the Tikves wine-growing region. I think I've heard that word used in Serbian, too.


Yes, you are right, we use the word _vinogorje_ too.


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