List of Serbo-Croatian words of Turkish origin

Serbo-Croatian vernacular has over time borrowed and adopted a lot of words of Turkish origin. The Ottoman conquest of the Balkans began a linguistical contact between Ottoman Turkish and South Slavic languages, a period of influence since at least the late 14th up until the 20th century, when large territories of Shtokavian-speaking areas became conquered and made into provinces of the Ottoman Empire, into what was collectively known as Rumelia. As the Ottoman Turkish language itself extensively borrowed from Arabic, Persian and Central Asian Turkic languages other than itself, many words of such origins also entered Serbo-Croatian via Turkish.[1] Numerous migrations in the war-torn Western Balkans helped spread Shtokavian and its enriched vernacular. Some Turkisms in Serbo-Croatian have entered the language through other languages, such as Italian, while some words of Greek origin have been adopted in their Turkish forms.

Over the passage of time, many Turkish loanwords were completely adopted into standardized varieties of Serbo-Croatian and are no longer considered loanwords, if not for lack of true synonyms.[2] Numerous such Turkisms (e.g. bakar, alat, sat, čarape, šećer, or boja) are often preferred to later introduced Germanisms and Latinisms (farba, kolur, tinta, pigment). This is mostly the case with the Croatian variety of Serbo-Croatian, which has historically been more stringent to internationalisms. Out of all four varieties of the language, Bosnian has by far introduced and retained the most of Turkisms, largely due to its cultural Islamic ties. Turkish loanwords underwent pronunciation changes, principally on gender suffixes and adaptations of ö, ü, ı that are non-existent in Serbo-Croatian. Turkisms are also commonly called "Orientalisms".

Characteristics

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Turkisms often end in one of the following suffixes: –luk, –ci, –li, which come from the original –lik, –çi, –lı.[3] Other suffixes include –ak, –hana, –ija, –suz and –uk. Persian –dār is also a common suffix. Many Serbo-Croatian words that are not of Turkish, Arabic or Persian origin have adopted these suffixes (e.g. kamiondžija, bezobrazluk, lopovluk), showing that influence of Turkish onto Serbo-Croatian extends past loanwords, into morphology and other linguistic characteristics.[4][5]

Number of Turkish loanwords

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Turkisms in the Serbo-Croatian language by Abdulah Škaljić

There is an uncertainly high number of Turkish loanwords (a lot of which are themselves loanwords from Arabic and Persian) in the modern Serbo-Croatian language,[2] mostly contained within the prestige Shtokavian dialect, and fewer in Kajkavian and Chakavian. The first edition of Srpski rječnik from 1818 listed around 2,500 Turkisms among 26,270 total words (~9,5%), while the second edition from 1852 listed around 3,700 out of 40,000 (~9,25%).[6][7]

Orientalist expert Olga Zirojević deems that a lot more Turkish loanwords have been used in Serbia's distant past - around 8,000 - than in the present,[8] which is estimated to be around 3,000.[9][10] First dictionary of Turkisms in Serbia was written by Djordje Popović-Daničar in 1884, called Turkish and other Eastern words in our language (Turske i druge istočanske reči u našem jeziku). The book contains around 6,000 words. Another academic, Dušan Marjanović, compiled a corpus of 5,000 Turkisms in early 1930s.[11]

A prominent Sharia and jurist writer Abdulah Škaljić [sr] spent several years at the Institute for the study of folklore of University of Sarajevo thoroughly documenting Turkisms in the folk literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He subsequently created the most comprehensive dictionary of Turkisms, first published in 1957 in two volumes, then called Turkisms in the vernacular and folk literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Turcizmi u narodnom govoru i narodnoj književnosti Bosne i Hercegovine). Encouraged by great interest among domestic and international scientists and the demand for the dictionary, Škaljić expanded his research to the entirety of Serbo-Croatian-speaking area. In 1965 he published the dictionary named Turkisms in the Serbo-Croatian language (Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku), which after several additions and revisions ended up having 8,742 words and 6,878 terms.[12]

An academic research in the Croatian dialectological field was done by Silvana Vranić and Sanja Zubčić at the University of Rijeka. They analyzed a corpus of 443 Shtokavian, 122 Chakavian and 95 Kajkavian phrasemes typical of Croatian speech, in which they found 118, 45 and 29 Turkisms respectively. The ratio of phrasemes per Turkisms was found to be 4.1, 2.7 and 3.3 respectively, showing that Shtokavian contains the most Turkisms, although not equally distributed along regions where it is spoken - the most were found in Dalmatian Hinterland at 39%, then Slavonia at 36%, and Lika at 25%.[13]

List of loanwords

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Only a number of Turkish loanwords are common to all four standardized varieties of Serbo-Croatian. Many more Turkisms lie in the vernacular speeches, which vary across regions and cultures. A large number of such loanwords are mainly found in the Bosnian standard, and are considered colloquial or non-existent in other varieties. The following is a non-exhaustive list thereof.

Serbo-Croatian[14] Turkish Origin English meaning
alat alet arab. ʔāla tool
amidža amca turk. Amca (father's brother,uncle)[15] uncle (father's side)
aršin arşın arşın (unit of length)
avlija avlu courtyard
babo baba turk. baba [16] father, grandfather
badava bedava pers. bādihäwā gratis, free
bajagi, kobajagi bayaǧı as if, apparently, quasi
bakar bakır copper
baksuz bahtsız jinx
bakšiš bahşiş pers. bahšīš tip, fee
barem, bar bari at least
barjak, bajrak bayrak turk. batrak, batruk[17] banner, flag
baška başka aside
bašta, bašća bahçe pers. bāǧçe garden
bećar, bećarac bekar turk. short version of bekaret[18] drived from arab. bikr بكر bachelor, reveler
bedem beden arab. badan defensive wall
bekrija bekriya pers. bakravi from arab. bikr tippler, drunkard
belaj bela arab. balāʔ trouble
bešika beşik bladder
bilmez bilmez dimwit, goof
boja boya color
bre bre more (interjection)
bubreg böbrek kidney
budala budala arab. budalāʔ fool
bumbar bumbar pers. būnbār, būmbār̕ bumblebee
bunar pınar a well
burazer birader pers. birāder brother in law
burma burma wedding ring
čak çak turk. çak[19] or çok[20] even
čalabrknuti, čalabrcnuti çala fast + bite
čamac çamac small boat
čarapa çorap arab. cawrab جورب or cūrāb جوراب[21] sock
čaršija çarşı bazaar
čekić çekiç hammer
čelik çelik steel
česma çeşme fountain, faucet
čiča, čika, čiko çiçe uncle (both sides)
čičak çiçek burdock
čizma çizme boot
čoban, čobanac çoban pers. šubān shepherd, shepherd's stew
čukun-, šukun- kökün great-great- (kinship)
ćelav kel bald
ćenifa kenef, tuvalet arab. kanaf toilet
ćorav kör, körlük pers. kūr blind
ćošak köşe pers. kūše corner
ćup küp turk. kūp[22] jar
ćuprija köprü turk. köprüg [23] bridge
dadilja dadı pers. dādā nanny, babysitter
darmar tarumar pers. tār-u mār higgledy-piggledy
dernek dernek fair, festivity
deva deve camel
dućan dükkan arab. dukkān shop
dugme düğme turk. tukme,düğüm[24] button
duhan, duvan duhan, nargile arab. duḵān / duḵḵān tobacco
dušek döşek mattress
dušman düşman pers. dušmen enemy
džaba çaba free, for nothing
džep cep arab. jayb pocket
džin cin arab. jinn giant
džukela cahil,cühela arab. juhalāʔ mutt, big dog
džumbus cümbüş pers. ǧunbiš uproar, disorder
đon gön sole (of a shoe)
đubre gübre garbage
ekser ekser nail
fišek fişek ice cream cone
fitilj fitil arab. fatīl fuse
galama ağlama noisiness
hajde, ajde haydi go ahead, come on
hajduk haydut hajduk
hajvan, ajvan hayvan arab. ḥaywān animal (pejoratively)
halka, alka halka arab. ḥalqa / ḥalqa quoit, alka
hašiš haşiş, esrar arab. ḥašīš hashish
inat inat arab. ʕinād spite, defiance
jarak yarak trench
jastuk yastık pillow
jok yok nope, no
jorgan yorgan quilt
jorgovan ergüvan pers. ergevwn lilac
juriš yürüyüş rush, onslaught, storm
kajiš, kaiš kayış belt, strap
kaldrma kaldırım turk. kaldırmak(to uplift)-kaldırım[25] cobblestone
kandža kanca claw
kapak kapak eyelid
kapija kapı gateway, gate
karaula karavulhane, saat kulesi watchtower
karavan karavan caravan
kat kat storey
kavez kafes arab. qafaṣ cage
kazan kazan turk. kazğan-kazan[26] cauldron, kettle
kesa kese pers. kīse bag, sack
kesten kestane greek. kástana chestnut
kiosk köşk pers. kūšk kiosk
komšija komşu neighbor
kopča kopça buckle
krevet kerevet, yatak greek. kreváti bed
kula kule arab. koleh[27] tower
kusur kuruş germ. Grosch[28] change (money)
kutija kutu greek. kouti box
lakrdija lakırdı a variety of farce
lepeza yelpaze handheld fan
leš leş pers. läše corpse
lula lüle pers. lūle tobacco pipe
makaze makas arab. maqaṣṣ scissors
majmun maymun arab. maymūn monkey
mamuran mahmur arab. maḵmūr hungover
marama mahrama, başörtüsü arab. maḥrama scarf
mušterija müşteri arab. muštari(n) customer
nanule nalin, sandal arab. naʕlayn wooden sandals
nišan nişan pers. nišān gunpoint
odžak, odžačar ocak chimney, chimney sweep
oroz, horoz horoz pers. hurūz rooster
ortak ortak partner
pamuk pamuk pers. pambeh cotton
pandža pençe pers. penǧe claw
papuča pabuç, ayakkabı pers. pāpūš slipper
pare para pers. pāre money
pazar pazar pers. bāzār bazaar, piazza, marketplace
pendžer pencere pers. penǧere window
peškir peşkir, havlu pers. pīšgīr towel
raja raya, kalabalık arab. raʕiyya rayah, commoners, crowd
raskalašan kalleş pers. qalāš profligate
sačmarica, sačma saçma shotgun, shot pellets
saksija saksı flowerpot
sanduk sandık arab. sandūq / sundūq chest, crate, box
sapun sabun lat. sapo soap
sat saat arab. sât[29] clock
sevdalinka sevdalı sevdalinka
sokak sokak arab. zuqāq alley
sunđer sünger sponge
surla zurna pers. sūrnā trunk (of an elephant)
šamar şamar slap, smack
šah şah pers. šah chess
šator, čador çadır turk. çatır,çaşır[30] tent
šuga şuga pers. šūg scabies
taban taban sole (of a foot)
taman tamam arab. tamām just right
tambura, tamburica tambur tamboura, tamburica
tava tava pers. tābe pan
tavan tavan attic
testera testere pers. destere saw
top top cannon
trampa trampa ital. tramuta barter, exchange
tulipan tülbent, lale pers. dülbend tulip
tulum tulum, parti party (having fun)
turpija törpü file (tool)
zanat sanat arab. ṣanʕa trade, occupation, profession
zumbul sümbül pers. sunbul hyacinth

Food and cuisine loanwords

[edit]
Serbo-Croatian Turkish Origin English meaning
ajran ayran ayran
ajvar havyar ajvar
avan/havan s tučkom havan ve tokmak mortar and pestle
badem badem almond
baklava baklava baklava
batak bacak drumstick (poultry)
biber biber greek. péperi black pepper
boranija, buranija borani pers. borâni green bean stew
bostan bostan, karpuz, kavun pers. būstān watermelon, melon
boza boza turk. buza[31] boza
burek börek börek
čaj çay chin. chá tea
čorba çorba pers. šūrbā, šūrbaǧ chorba
ćevapi kebap arab. kabāb ćevapi
ćufte köfte pers. kūfte meatballs
dolma dolma dolma
đulabija gülabi pers. gulābī rose apple
đuveč güveç güveç
džezva cezve arab. jaḏwa / jiḏwa cezve
džigerica ciğer pers. ǧiger liver (food)
fildžan, fildižan, findžan fincan arab. finjān < pers. pingān orientally decorated cup
halva, alva helva arab. ḥalwā halva
ibrik ibrik arab. ʔibrīq < pers. ābrīz ibrik
jogurt yoğurt yogurt
kafa, kava, kahva kahve arab. qahwah coffee
kajgana kaygana scrambled eggs
kajmak kaymak kaymak
kajsija kayısı apricot
kašika kaşık spoon
kefir kefir kefir
limun limon arab. laymūn < sanskr. nimbū निम्बू lemon
meza, meze meze pers. mazzeh meze
naranča naranciye, portakal Arab. nāranc نارنج < pers. nārenǧ, nāreng < Sanskr. nāgaranga or nāranga नागरङ्ग[32] orange
nana, nena (metvica) nane arab. naʕnaʕ / naʕnāʕ spearmint
pastrma, pastirma pastırma pastirma
patlidžan patlıcan pers. bādinǧān, bâdendžân eggplant
pekmez pekmez jam
pilav pilav pers. pilāw< sanskr. pulāka पुलाक pilaf
pita pide greek. pita< assyr. pītā פִּיתָּא pie
ratluk lokum arab. rāḥa(t) al-ḥulqūm turkish delight
rakija rakı arab.ʕaraq rakia
sarma sarma sarma (food)
šafran safran arab. zaʕfarān saffron
šećer şeker pers. šekar or sanskr.śakkharā sugar
šerbet şerbet arab. šarba sharbat
sirće sirke turk. sirke[33] vinegar
sudžuk sucuk sujuk
sutlijaš sütlaç rice pudding
tepsija tepsi casserole
tulumba tulumba tulumba

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Brozović, Dalibor (19 October 2000). "Odoše Turci, ostaše turcizmi" [The Turks left, Turkisms remained]. Vijenac (in Serbo-Croatian). No. 173. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b Nomachi, Motoki (2015). ""East" and "West" as Seen in the Structure of Serbian: Language Contact and Its Consequences" (PDF). Slavic Eurasian Studies. 28.
  3. ^ Škaljić, Abdulah (1966). Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku [Turkisms in the Serbo-Croatian language] (in Serbo-Croatian). Sarajevo: Svjetlost. p. 24. ISBN 978-8651510475.
  4. ^ Despotović, Ivana (18 July 2012). "Turcizmi u jezicima balkanskih naroda" [Turkisms in languages of Balkan nations] (in Serbo-Croatian). Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  5. ^ Vajzović, Hanka (1999). Orijentalizmi u književnom djelu [Orientalisms in literary works] (in Serbo-Croatian). University of Michigan: Language Institute. ISBN 9789958620010.
  6. ^ Amarilis, Dragana (2020). "Turske reči, turcizmi u srpskom jeziku" [Turkish words, Turkisms in the Serbian language] (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  7. ^ Peco, Asim (1986). Germanizmi u Vukovu srpskom rječniku iz 1852 [Germanisms in Vuk's Serbian Dictionary from 1852] (PDF) (in Serbo-Croatian) (14 ed.). Zagreb: Filologija.
  8. ^ Talović, Violeta (13 August 2011). "U srpskom jeziku više od 8.000 turcizama" [More than 8,000 Turkisms in the Serbian language] (in Serbo-Croatian). Novosti.rs. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Srbija i Turska: Šta je sve opstalo posle nekoliko vekova turske vladavine" [Serbia and Turkey: What remained after several centuries of Turkish reign] (in Serbo-Croatian). BBC News in Serbian. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  10. ^ Đinđić, Marija (2013). "Turcizmi u savremenom srpskom književnom jeziku: Semantičko-derivaciona analiza, doktorska disertacija" [Turkisms in the contemporary Serbian literary language: Semantic-derivative analysis, doctoral thesis]. University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  11. ^ Zukorlić, Mensur (9 April 2020). "Turcizmi u govoru bosanskog, srpskog, albanskog, crnogorskog, makedonskog i hrvatskog jezika" [Turkisms in the speech of Bosnian, Serbian, Albanian, Montenegrin, Macedonian and Croatian languages] (in Serbo-Croatian). Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Predgovor Abdulaha Škaljića u riječniku Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku" [Foreword by Abdulah Škaljić in the dictionary Turkisms in the Serbo-Croatian language] (PDF) (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  13. ^ Vranić, Silvana; Zubčić, Sanja (2013). "Turcizmi u frazemima hrvatskih govora" [Turkisms in phrasemes in speeches of Croatia] (in Serbo-Croatian). Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Rijeka. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  14. ^ Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Croatian). Znanje [hr], Srce. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  15. ^ [1] Nişanyan Dictionary "amca"
  16. ^ [2] Nişanyan Dictionary "baba"
  17. ^ [3] Nişanyan Dictionary "bayrak"
  18. ^ [4] Nişanyan Dictionary "bekar"
  19. ^ [5] Nişanyan Dictionary "çak"
  20. ^ [6] Nişanyan Dictionary "çok"
  21. ^ [7] Nişanyan Dictionary "çorap"
  22. ^ [8] Nişanyan Dictionary "küp"
  23. ^ [9] Nişanyan Dictionary "köprü"
  24. ^ [10] Nişanyan Dictionary "düğme"
  25. ^ [11] Nişanyan Dictionary "kaldırım"
  26. ^ [12] Nişanyan Dictionary "kazan"
  27. ^ [13] Nişanyan Dictionary "kule"
  28. ^ [14] Nişanyan Dictionary "kuruş"
  29. ^ [15] Nişanyan Dictionary "saat"
  30. ^ [16] Nişanyan Dictionary "çadır"
  31. ^ [17] Nişanyan Dictionary "boza"
  32. ^ [18] Nişanyan Dictionary "narenciye"
  33. ^ [19] Nişanyan Dictionary "sirke"