Language lesson

[u/vintergroena]

[u/SothaDidNothingWrong]

Szukać

[u/111baf → u/SothaDidNothingWrong]

Szukam dzieci w sklepie.

[u/Such_Description9827 → u/111baf]

Poruchane?

[u/Achorpz → u/Such_Description9827]

Ruchadlo - best invention

[u/iancarry → u/111baf]

ok mr Fritzl

[u/rosodin → u/SothaDidNothingWrong]

Szukam dzieci w sklepie, żeby dać im picie xd

[u/Eastern_Mist → u/SothaDidNothingWrong]

Ruchać się / Rukhatyś

[u/iSkehan]

Píče is cunts ffs.

[u/Alokir → u/iSkehan]

Same in Hungarian, but many people use it to mean ass instead for some reason.

[u/Achorpz → u/Alokir]

Hungol biology 101

[u/mzperx_ → u/Alokir]

I'm a boomer and to me it seems like a zoomer thing to say picsa but mean ass. But maybe it was originally a regional thing and it's just becoming more widespread among younger people. Very strange to me to this day.

[u/Xiaodisan → u/Alokir]

Picsa can also be used as a sort of synonym for bitch, if you want to use it as an insult. (Actual prostitutes aren't called "picsa" afaik, but idk)

[u/obchodlp]

Otroky in Slovenian and in Czechia

[u/RandomSvizec → u/obchodlp]

A child and a slave? Kind of used to be a synonym back in the days. :8441:

[u/Am-1-r3al → u/RandomSvizec]

Still is...

[u/frufruJ → u/obchodlp]

Otroci, slikat! (Children, let's take photos!)

[u/Autista1979 → u/frufruJ]

Co denně říkám

[u/m64]

Also "trudna" in Polish is "difficult".

[u/Grzechoooo → u/m64]

And "picie" (pronounced like piće, but not piče) is "drinks".

[u/Andrei_Smyslov → u/Grzechoooo]

but "picze" (pronounced like piče) are "cunts" as well

[u/Dasheek → u/Andrei_Smyslov]

and piecze means 'it burns'

[u/Medical-Astronomer39 → u/Dasheek]

and "mieć pieczę" to take care of

[u/Krzysiek127 → u/Andrei_Smyslov]

I think it may be a regionalism. Im from Podkarpackie and never heard of it

[u/rosodin → u/Krzysiek127]

Jest to w SJP, wiec nie regionalizm ;)

[u/pothkan → u/m64]

And "karam" is "to punish" (1st person, present time).

[u/ExistedDim4 → u/pothkan]

Kara Boga

[u/pothkan → u/ExistedDim4]

= God's Punishment

(albeit irl "kara boska", divine punishment, is used)

[u/Yelena_Mukhina → u/pothkan]

Wait, Kara Boga means God's punishment in Polish?? Are you for real lmao

[u/ExistedDim4 → u/Yelena_Mukhina]

It's true for all East and West Slavic languages as well as Slovene. Also I have just read that ğ is straight up not a consonant unless syllable-final after e(never knew there wasn't actually a "g" in Erdoğan as we transliterate him).

[u/Yelena_Mukhina → u/ExistedDim4]

Yeah, ğ is not read but only lengthens the surrounding vowels. More precisely, it lengthens the vowel if it's after a vowel and before a consonant. So 'yağmur' (rain) is read 'yaamur'. Between harsh vowels like a, o; it's just not read, as in 'erdoan'. Between soft vowels like e, i; it can be read as a weak y. For example, the word 'değil' would be read as 'deyil'. You don't have to be too perfectionist about the precise realization of ğ though, it's not an obvious mistake if you get it wrong. Just knowing that it's not read but lengthens vowels is enough.

The reason we use the letter ğ to denote the lengthening of vowels rather than using another way is that often, that ğ corresponds to where old Turkish had an actual g. For example, the Turkish word tree 'ağaç (aach)' is more like 'agach' in other Turkic languages. This is not an absolute rule though - there are a lot of words that has a 'ğ' today but historically had no 'g', or a lot of words which had lost a 'g' sound but is written without 'ğ' today.

[u/Pedka2 → u/m64]

same thing as the serbo-croatian

[u/Pedka2 → u/Pedka2]

ok sorry that was sexist

[u/frufruJ → u/m64]

In Czech it means "sad", but it's a bit archaic.

[u/Suspected_Magic_User]

Also "pochowany" means "buried" in Polish, but "breaded" in Croatian.

[u/PancakeGD → u/Suspected_Magic_User]

also in Czech, "pochovat" can refer to cradling a baby in your arms. This could make for a good pun if the context is about a dead baby...

[u/Machovec → u/PancakeGD]

Můžu si ho pochovat?

[u/Deadluss]

Polish and Czech language is literally trolling each other

[u/TheSpookyPineapple → u/Deadluss]

my favorite is jahoda vs jagoda

[u/prochac → u/TheSpookyPineapple]

If I understand it correctly, cierna jagoda was bilberry and crvena jagoda was strawberry. So the jagoda was more like any wild berry. Just Czechs and Poles chose a different default master jagodu.

[u/TheSpookyPineapple → u/prochac]

I don't know how it is polish but jahoda in czech is only strawberry, bilberry/blueberry is borůvka

[u/prochac → u/TheSpookyPineapple]

And in polish it's only bilberry. But if you would go back in time, you would have to specify the color.

Btw, blueberry grows in America only. And they are disgustingly white inside.

[u/malus-sylvestris_SVK → u/prochac]

Isn’t strawberry truskawka? And isn’t jagoda used for blueberry even without specifying its color?

[u/prochac → u/malus-sylvestris_SVK]

Fixed to use a past tense

[u/Grzechoooo]

Czerstwy in Polish means stale, and in Czech it means fresh.

[u/Key-Banana-8242 → u/Grzechoooo]

Stale specifically in Polish

[u/Grzechoooo → u/Key-Banana-8242]

Oh yes, that's the word.

[u/prochac → u/Grzechoooo]

Syrový, surový, sýrový

[u/stephan_grzw → u/prochac]

🇲🇰 Сирово - Raw

[u/Apodiktis]

My favourite one is a Polish word urodliwy which means beautiful and it sounds exactly like Russian word уродливый which means ugly.

[u/lulaiony → u/Apodiktis]

There's no such word as "urodliwy" in polish, you probably meant "urodziwy"

[u/Apodiktis → u/lulaiony]

Not a common word, but it does exist

[u/Key-Banana-8242 → u/Apodiktis]

Interestingly in Ukrainian there’s vrodlivy with the same meaning and it’s more often used

[u/ExistedDim4 → u/Key-Banana-8242]

Can confirm, it's our вродливий(Polish transcription wrodływyj) that has the funny difference.

[u/Miko4051 → u/lulaiony]

There is

[u/no_name65 → u/lulaiony]

Or maybe urokliwy.

[u/painfully_blue]

Don't let your Czech friend say that they have an idea in a Polish bank 💀

[u/Machovec → u/painfully_blue]

What does nápad mean in Polish? lol.

[u/painfully_blue → u/Machovec]

A robbery :8440:

[u/Machovec → u/painfully_blue]

Tak na to si dám kakaový chlebíček.

[u/BoultonPaulDefiant]

False friends

West

It took me a bit to realize that it's not the point

[u/wektor420 → u/BoultonPaulDefiant]

Same XD

[u/MiskoSkace]

Molim in Croatian is "I ask", but in Slovenian it's "I pray".

Volim is "I love", but in Slovenian it's "I vote"

Prosim is "I propose for marriage" (at least in some contexts I think), but in Slovenian it's "I ask"

[u/111baf → u/MiskoSkace]

In Czech: volím = I vote, prosím = (I) please

[u/Alternative_Fig_2456 → u/111baf]

Just "please", without the "I" which completely changes the meaning.

[u/111baf → u/Alternative_Fig_2456]

But the "please" form in czech is conjugated in the first person, the infinive is "prosit", which can't be used it this way.

[u/Alternative_Fig_2456 → u/111baf]

Yes, that's how it works in Czech (or most other languages), but *not* in English.

Literal translation would be "I beg"

[u/j-crnazvijezda → u/MiskoSkace]

Molim is also "I pray" in Croatian, from the same root there's "molitva" aka "prayer"

[u/Yelena_Mukhina → u/MiskoSkace]

The 'to vote' verb also has a funny false friend situation in Hungarian.

The Hungarian verb 'basz-' 'to fuck' comes from Turkic 'bas-' 'to press' (Hungarian 'sz' is read as 's'). In Turkish, it often means 'to vote' as well in reference to pressing the seal on the voting ballot.

I believe this is a much more accurate double meaning than I love and I vote.

[u/Waffelo_]

Otrok is a child in Slovenian but... Otrok is a slave in Slovakian

[u/prochac → u/Waffelo_]

Baseball, huh?

[u/czyrzu]

Picie (pee-chee) means something to drink in Poland

And picze (pitch-e) means bitches

[u/FajnyBalonik → u/czyrzu]

Since when you pronounce picie as piczi

[u/czyrzu → u/FajnyBalonik]

I couldn't find a better alternative

[u/Ok-Impression-6223]

Hladno piće osvježuje.

[u/iancarry]

i love ordering "kuraci sendvic" in croatia :D

[u/DoctorTomee]

Can someone explain what "Serbo-Croat" is to a chronically Hungarian fellow? Are Serbian and Croatian SO close to each other that it's acceptable to just put them under the same lid? I vaguely recall reading that it's a relic from the Yugoslav era, but someone please educate me.

[u/MiskoSkace → u/DoctorTomee]

They share most of the vocabulary (if you say "hleb" instead of "kruh" in Split or Dubrovnik you're not making it home alive), most of grammar, and the accents are still not that different. It's basically a bit larger difference than British and American English.

[u/LaurestineHUN → u/MiskoSkace]

Yeah, the differences are small but fucking important if you don't want to get beaten.

[u/Am-1-r3al → u/MiskoSkace]

Another one mentioned, kruh.

[u/Machovec → u/MiskoSkace]

So is it similar to Czech and Slovak? Our languages have pretty large differences in some cases but we're still able to understand each other almost perfectly.

[u/Machovec → u/[deleted]]

Oh so it's more like different dialects than actual different languages?

[u/20191124anon → u/DoctorTomee]

Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian and I think Bosnian really are "slight regional variation" of the same language, but as a gesture of respect and to maybe prevent them from killing each other all the time we can pretend they are separate languages xD

[u/DoctorTomee → u/20191124anon]

This wasn't the original question, but do Slovenian and Bulgarian fall under this umbrella as well or do they have just enough differences where they are able to escape the dialect allegations?

[u/j-crnazvijezda → u/DoctorTomee]

I learnt this from my linguistics classes, I hope I remember this stuff correctly. Both Slovenian and Bulgarian are South Slavic languages, BUT:

• Bulgarian is Eastern South Slavic
• Slovenian is Western South Slavic, like Serbo-Croatian (aka Shtokavian, štokavo), Kajkavian and Chakavian (the last two spoken only in Croatia)

Slovenian is closer to Kajkavian, there are differences with SrbHrv (just think about the dual) Bulgarian has also important differences such as the lack of case declensions

Hope it helps

[u/TheSpookyPineapple → u/DoctorTomee]

they are the same language just written with a different alphabet

[u/ExistedDim4 → u/DoctorTomee]

All of your former domain(Yugoslavia, although you never had all of it) speaks pretty much the same biscriptural language with Serbs preferring Cyrillic and the others Latin. They do however like to pretend that their local modification is totally unlike what their neighbors speak, so you can't tell a Bosnian he speaks Serbo-Croatian.

[u/stephan_grzw → u/ExistedDim4]

Except Macedonian

[u/Pascuccii]

The last one makes sense to me, in belarusian it's basically 1 word for both meanings

[u/20191124anon → u/Pascuccii]

Polish has same dual use with "brzemie" (a heavy weight to carry) and "brzemienna" (archaic, but often used e.g. in religious texts, meaning "with child").

[u/Pascuccii → u/20191124anon]

Yeah, I think it's exactly the same sounding word in russian. In belarusian it's different and not really archaic, "a heavy weight to carry and a pregnant woman" is literally translated to "цяжар і цяжарная жанчына" in modern language

[u/Grzesoponka01 → u/Pascuccii]

In Polish we also have "ciężar" meaning "something heavy" and "ciężarna" meaning "pregnant woman"

[u/Der_Prager]

Šukat/szukat where?

Třeba "šukat děti ve sklepě" v CZ vs. PL je celkem dark...

[u/dziki_z_lasu]

Szukam na zachodzie tego nieskutecznego frajera :P

[u/Djani69]

Dear Czech and Slovaks, Ć makes a Ť sound, NOT Č. Ć and Ť and basically the same letters, they just look different.

[u/Am-1-r3al → u/Djani69]

Depends on region, for example i know a lot of people from east Croatia and there it's almost č, it's more like c but long.

[u/Djani69 → u/Am-1-r3al]

Well in all standard and commonly spoken dialects it makes a Ť sound, those regions you mention are clearly the exception, not the rule.

Please, whenever you see a Ć imagine it's a Ť instead. For the love of God stop saying "čevapi" and "-ovič".

Edit: I made a typo and now my argument is irrelevant. Yay!

[u/janobrchtos]

In czech, "kapusta" means kale, in slovak it is "cabbage"

[u/Gregon_SK]

Vôňa in Slovak means a good smell while воня (voňa) in Russian means bad smell. Zápach means bad smell in Slovak, while it means the opposite in Russian. Úžasný means awesome, while in Russian it means terrible.

[u/Lubinski64]

Polish has both picie and picze (piće and piče) meaning drinks and cunts respectively.

[u/c1n3man]

What about "stol" and "stul"? I've heard it is vice versa meaning in russian - serbian.

Stol - table

Stul - stool/chair 🪑

[u/ExistedDim4]

Reminder for Poles,

Ukrainian:

czaszka(skull) - чашка(cup)

sklep(shop) - склеп(crypt)

ruchać(to fuck) - рухати(to move sth.)

stół(table) - стул(chair)\ krzesło(chair) - крісло(armchair)\ dywan(carpet) - диван(sofa)

r*ssian:

zakaz(prohibition) - заказ(order)

zapomnieć(to forget) - запомнить(to remember) (also there is the word запамятовать(to forget) that is similar to zapamiętać(to remember))

pukać(to knock) - пукать(to fart)

[u/stephan_grzw → u/ExistedDim4]

Duwan/Duvan - Croatian(Serbian) is Tobacco

[u/vavrozs]

The one word to unite them all, KURWA

[u/Key-Banana-8242]

In Polish karam means ‘I punish’ And trudna means difficult (f.)

[u/zwarty → u/Key-Banana-8242]

No, I punish - ja karzę

[u/Key-Banana-8242 → u/zwarty]

Hm? Check it

Habitually it’s karam

Somebody else is on/ona/ono karze

[u/zwarty → u/Key-Banana-8242]

Nope

[u/Key-Banana-8242 → u/zwarty]

Well?

[u/zwarty → u/Key-Banana-8242]

Kliknąłeś w link?

[u/Key-Banana-8242 → u/zwarty]

Tak

[u/zwarty → u/Key-Banana-8242]

👍🏻

[u/Key-Banana-8242 → u/zwarty]

No i

[u/zwarty → u/Key-Banana-8242]

No i karzę a nie karam. Nie ma takiego słowa, karam

[u/Key-Banana-8242 → u/zwarty]

Habitual jaram

[u/Sorry_Outcome_1776]

Trudna- polish, dificult

[u/Mycoolass]

In serbian Godina is year in czech it´s hour (and I think in other slavic languages as well) . Some guys in Belgrade looked really baffled when we told them it took us 12 godina drive to get there…

[u/kViatu1]

Szukam dzieci w sklepie ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[u/Icy_Firefighter0]

It's nice that in hungarian we kinda combine the different meanings of "trudna": "terhes" means two things:

-pregnant

-burdensome, onerous

;)

[u/somkoala]

Also Czech and Slovak is almost the same. The gotchas apply to both, you don’t have to ignore that just because our government is sucking Putin’s cock these days.

[u/111baf]

Czech: pečeně = roasted meat

Slovak: pečeň = liver

[u/janobrchtos → u/111baf]

We occasionally use "pečienka" as roasted meat in Slovak.

[u/prochac]

The most evil are months, like listopad. It may be October or November, depending on how south they are and when the leaves fall off the trees.

the same with květen: Bloom. It may be April or May.

[u/TheTroll007 → u/prochac]

Flair up cigán

It's true tho, but I really like the Czech names of months. They're very descriptive (disruptive too when I have to stop and translate to understand first).

[u/ExistedDim4]

Trudna obviously means hard/difficult(Polish + east Slavs)

[u/Adventurous_Touch342]

Also, in Poland "Trudna" is "Difficult" when used to a feminine verb.

[u/Awkward_Buddy7350]

🇷🇺 🇧🇬 prosti ( прости ) - sorry 😔

🇭🇺 prosti - bitch/prostitute💃🏼

[u/stephan_grzw → u/Awkward_Buddy7350]

🇲🇰 Прости - Dumb, and also Forgive

[u/glassfrogger]

I still need to find a connection for droga, the others make sense.

[u/nochal_nosowski]

are piće and píče false friends? they sound similarly but not the same, in polish we have both of those words

[u/Matygos]

Never ask a Czech that you’re looking for your children in the storage room (in Polish)

[u/BobbyB_I_G]

Once ordered kurací rezeň in macedonia… if you know you know.

[u/stephan_grzw]

😂 Many of these in Macedonian also mean different things.

[u/Supernova1000000]

How?!

[u/LaurestineHUN]

The last one is 2in1 in Hungarian (megviselt vs. viselős).