Mini-project:

SLAVIC GUIDE

Danijela Mari
CZ-21-131-2013-R3
Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Danijela and I come from Bosnia and Herzegovina. I was an
EVS volunteer in Decko, Nachod ,Czech Republic.
In Decko my work mainly consisted of assisting in English language lessons in schools
(elementary &secondary), assisting in language lessons for adults in Decko and the Town
Hall, and leading private conversation lessons.
Besides that I was also helping our EVS coordinator, Katerina Hiebschova with more
administrative work concerning various events, the EVS of other volunteers of our
organization, looking for and preparing new EVS volunteers etc.

Idea about making Slavic guide came after meeting other Slavic speakers during my EVS and
realizing that some words in our languages have quite distinctive meanings, and also after
experiencing how confusing and embarrasing can some words be in other countries. After my
decision, I created a Slavic quest and asked my Slavic friends to fulfill it.

I hope the results are as interesting, fun and helpful to the others as they are for me.

I would like to thank all my participants, organization Decko, Nachod, and especially my
coordinator Katerina Hiebschova without who this project would never be done.


i
Cze
Zdravo

Ahoj

ao
ivjo
 We are Slavic

If you are Slavic you will understand:

How many times have you heard things like Oh, you speak Croatian, so you understand
Polish, you are all Slavic, right?
This lack of knowledge would somehow be acceptable to understand from the side of non-
Slavic speakers, but unfortunately I experienced another example.

While driving in a Polish tram I was asked for the ticket (which I didnt have), and of course,
it was hard to communicate because I dont speak Polish. The conductor was already getting
frustrated, for me not having the ticket and also for not being able to speak Polish, so she
wanted my documents. After seeing that I am from Bosnia and Herzegovina the she happily
exclaimed Oh, you speak Russian there, you should understand Polish. I am not sure which
part was more disturbing for me to hear. It took her some time to realize that I, actually, dont
speak Polish, and that apparently didnt help that we are all Slavics. (By the way, the story
had a happy ending, I didnt pay the fine).
I should also add that I understood her only because I had been living in Czech Republic for 9
months at that time.

How much do we actually understand each other, how are we all connected and how did it all
start? Well, thats what we will try to explore, so brace yourself - it begins.
 Our mother - Old Church Slavonic

When it comes to question how it all started we have to go back to Great Moravia
and the year 863. If you, by some chance, found yourself there at that time you could have
stumbled upon Cyril and his brother Methodius trying to translate religious literature to Old
Church Slavonic allegedly based on Slavic dialects spoken in the surrounding area of their
hometown, Thessaloniki, in the today's Greek region of Macedonia.

As part of the preparation for the mission, in

862/863, the Glagolitic alphabet was created.
The name comes from the word glagol, while the
verb glagoliti means to speak.

Glagolitic alphabet was used in Great Moravia till

885 when it was prohibited by the Pope. Many
students of Cyril and Methodius were jailed, but
some of them managed to reach Bulgaria, Croatia
and Bohemia from where Glagolitic alphabet
spread to many other parts.
Cyril and Methodius

One of the students of Methodius, Naum, who had settled in Preslav (Bulgaria) created the
Cyrillic script, which almost entirely replaced the Glagolitic during the Middle Ages.

Only in Croatia the Glagolitic alphabet was used until the 19th century. Nowadays, Glagolitic
is used only for Church Slavic.
So, what was this Glagolitic script all about? Lets learn it.
You might ask why? Well, why not? In the world of all kinds of communication, be unique,
use Glagolic.
Cyrillic script has, of course, suffered some changes, so now we distinguish between several
versions.
(As we will be discussing all main Slavic languages, you might find this list useful later.)
So who are we and where do we live?
 Comparison

Numbers

If you have experience in traveling to Slavic countries or talking to Slavic people you know
that the numbers are more or less similar. Lets see how much.

Bulgarian Croatian Serbian Slovakian Slovenian Ukrainian

1 Jedan Jedna Ena
2 Dva Dva dve
3 Tri Tri tri
4 etiri tyri tiri
5 Pet P pet
6 est est est
7 Sedam Sedem sedem
8 Osam Osem osem
9 Devet Dev devet
10 Deset Desa deset
11 Jedanaest Jedens enajst
12 Dvanaest Dvans dvanajst
13 Trinaest Trins trinajst
14 etrnaest trns tirinajst
15 Petnaest Ptns petnajst
16 esnaest estns estnajst
17 Sedamnaest Sedemns sedemnajst
18 Osamnaest Osemns osemnajst
19 Devetnaest Devtns devetnajst
20 Dvadeset Dvaca dvajset
 Belarusian Bosnian Czech Macedonian Polish Russian

1 Jedan Jedna jeden o

2 Dva dva dwa

3 Tri ti trzy

4 etiri tyi cztery

5 Pet pt pi

6 est est sze

7 Sedam sedm siedem

8 Osam osm osiem

9 Devet devt dziewi

10 Deset deset dziesi

11 Jedanaest jedenct jedenacie

12 Dvanaest dvanct dwanacie

13 Trinaest tinct t trzynacie

14 etrnaest trnct czternacie

15 Petnaest patnct pitnacie

16 esnaest estnct szesnacie

17 Sedamnaest sedmnct siedemnacie

18 Osamnaest osmnct osiemnacie

19 Devetnaest devatenct dziewitnacie

20 Dvadeset dvacet dwadziecia

As we can see, the numbers havent suffered any big changes and (with some knowledge of
Cyrillic script) are able to recognize them in any Slavic language.
 Months

Unlike the numbers some Slavic months have, under many influences, suffered a complete
change of the name. It would be interesting to get into an etymology of these expressions, but
thats a topic for a new guide.

Months will be written in alphabetical order, as follows:

Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Polish, Serbian, Slovakian,
Slovenian, Russian, Ukrainian

1. January
, Januar, , sijeanj, leden, , stycze, januar, janur, januar,
,
2. February
, februar, , veljaa, nor, , luty, februar, februr, februar,
,
3. March
i, mart, , oujak, bezen, , marzec, mart, marec, marec, ,

4. April
ik, april, , travanj, duben, , kwiecie, april, aprl, april, ,

5. May
, maj, , svibanj, kvten, , maj, maj, mj, maj, ,
6. June
, juni, , lipanj, erven, , czerwiec, jun, jn, junij, ,
7. July
i, juli, , srpanj, ervenec, , lipiec, jul, jl, julij, ,
8. August
i, august, , kolovoz, srpen, , sierpie, avgust, august, avgust,
,
9. September
, septembar, , rujan, z, , wrzesie, septembar,
september, september, ,
10. October
ik, oktobar, , listopad, jen, o, padziernik, oktobar,
oktber, oktober, ,
11. November
i, novembar, , studeni, listopad, , listopad, novembar,
november, november, ,
12. December
, decembar, , prosinec, prosinec, , grudzie,
decembar, december, december, ,
 Days of the week

Belarussian: , , , , i, ,

Bosnian, Croatian: Ponedjeljak, utorak, srijeda, etvrtak, petak, subota, nedjelja

Bulgarian: , , , , , ,

Czech: Pondl, ter, steda, tvrtek, ptek, sobota, nedle

Macedonian: , , , , , ,

Polish: poniedziaek, wtorek, roda, czwartek, pitek, sobota, niedziela

Russian: , , , , , ,

Serbian: ponedeljak, utorak, sreda, etvrtak, petak, subota, nedelja

Slovakian: pondelok, utorok, streda, tvrtok, piatok, sobota, nedea

Slovenian: Ponedeljek, torek, sreda, etrtek, petek, sobota, nedelja.

Ukrainian: , , , , , ,

Unlike the months, days of the week are not so distinctive and Slavic speakers are able to
recognize the meaning.
 Greetings

The most important phrases to learn in languages are some common greetings. At the
beginning you can read how to say informal hello in Slavic languages.
Now, we will extend the knowledge about greetings, more precisely we will do the following:
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night

Belarusian: i, i, , ,

Bosnian, Serbian: Dobro jutro, dobar dan, dobra vee, laku no

Bulgarian: , , ,

Croatian: Dobro jutro, dobar dan, dobra veer, laku no

Czech: Dobr rno, Dobr den, Dobr veer, Dobrou noc,

Macedonian: , , ,

Polish: Dzie dobry (used both for good morning and good afternoon), dobry wieczr,
dobranoc

Russian: , , ,

Slovakian: dobr rno, dobr de, dobr veer, dobr noc

Slovenian: dobro jutro, dober dan, dober veer, lahko no

Ukrainian: , , ,

.
 Animals

, maka, , pas, ,
, maka, pas, pes, ,
koka, m, pies, , pas,
kot, k, pes, pes,
maka, maka,
maka,

, konj, , konj,
k, , ko,
, konj, k,
konj,

, patka,
/
,
kachna,
, magarac, ,
, magarac osel, kaczka, ,
, osio, , patka, kaica,
magarac, somr, osel, raca,

 , pile, , , slon, ,
pile, kue, , slon, slon, ,
kurczak, , so, , ,
, kura, pianec, slon, slon,

ii, pingvin, , pingvin, tuk,

, pingwin, , ,
pingun, pingvin,

, takor,
, roda, , , takor,
roda, p, , krysa, ,
bocian, , , szczur, ,
bocian, torklja, , potkan,
podgana,
 Proverbs

Nothing defines a culture as distinctly as its language, and the element of language that best
encapsulates a society's values and beliefs - its proverbs. But how much are we similar,
considering the fact that we derived from a one single language?
Not all languages have equivalents, and as you will notice they are not even in the same order.
Good time to practice your ability to understand Slavic languages.

A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush

,
Lep vrabec v hrsti ako holub na streche.
, .
Bolje vrabac u ruci, nego golub na grani.
, .
Lepszy wrbel w garci ni gob na dachu.
- , .
Lep vrabec v hrsti, ne holub na stee.
.

A friend in need is a friend indeed

.
Pravi prijatelj se u nevolji poznaje.
V ndzi pozn priatea.
.
Prawdziwych przyjaci poznaje si w biedzie.
.
.
V nouzi pozn ptele.
 Better safe than sorry

, .
Bolje sprijeiti, nego lijeiti.
C , .
Dvakrt meraj, raz strihaj.
, .
Dvakrt m, jednou e.
.
.

Repetition is the mother of knowledge

.
.
Ponavljanje je majka znanja.
.
.
Opakovn je matka moudrosti.
.

It is raining cats and dogs

Leje jak z cebra.

Lije kot iz kafa.
, ..
Leje ako z krhly.
.
, .
Lije kao iz kabla.
.
Lije jako z konve..
 Save it for rainy days

.
Sauvaj za crne dane.
Privaruj za deevne dni.
Zachowa co na czarn godzin.
i .
.

Every garden may have some weeds

, .
U svakom itu ima kukolja.
.

The early bird catches the worm

.
, .
, .
Kdor prej pride, prej melje.
Tko rano rani dvije sree grabi.
Kto rano wstaje, temu Pan Bg daje
Rann pte dl doske.

Still water run deep

Tich voda behy mele

.
Tiha voda brege dere.
.
Cicha woda brzegi rwie
-.
 No pain no gain

Bez prce nejsou kole.

.
, .

, .
Bez muke nema nauke.
Bez pracy nie ma koaczy.
.
 Interesting facts

Slovenian is the only Slavic language which retained the dual number.

Slovenian is also the only Slavonic language in which they say yes as in German
ja. This probably dates from the very long period during which Slovenes interacted
with Germanic tribes.

Czech language is in a group of languages with the joint record for rarest speech
sound together with the language of Piraha (Amazon River) and !Xo (Kalahari
Desert). They all have sounds that occur only in those languages. They are,
respectively: rolled post-alveolar fricative, voiced apico-alveolar sublaminal labial
double flap, and bilabial click.

Bulgarian is the only Slavic language which has lost all its grammatical cases.

I bet you wondered, or you will start wondering now, why Czechs use Ahoj as
informal greeting. Well, the story says that a lot of young Czechs fled Bohemia during
World War I to serve in the British navy. They brought back the maritime greeting
with them and during the 20s and at least part of the 30s it was used exclusively for
people travelling by water. Eventually it hit land and stayed there.

Bulgarian and Macedonian are the only Slavic languages that have definite articles.
Bulgarian has both definite and indefinite articles, and Bulgarian verbs lack
infinitive.

Just random Polish tongue twister: W Szczebrzeszynie chrzszcz brzmi w trzcinie i

Szczebrzeszyn z tego synie.
 Help with finding drugs! Hmm?

What did I mean when I said for my tram ride that It didnt help we are all Slavic?
Well, here is one example:
If you happen to find yourself in Poland you might see this sign and, I personally know
people who would be happy to get some help with finding drugs, but (un)fortunately it is
only help on the road.

Slavic languages have a wide variety of expressions which are sometimes really confusing for
other Slavic speakers because for a moment you can think you know what it means. Quite
often, you are wrong.
 False friends - practice

Theoretically, false friends are pairs of words or phrases in two languages or dialects that look
or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning.

We dont really think about these phenomena until we meet with it. I asked my participants
to share some of their experience, but I would like to share some of my own:

I was visiting Poland with my friends and we didnt have any zloty. Since the place was quite
close to the Czech border we wanted to ask if it is possible to pay in Czech crowns. So, I
entered the coffee shop and asked. They answered mona. As it means maybe in Czech, I
thought I should wait until they ask the boss or something. So, I was there standing and
waiting for them to decide. When the woman came back, I asked for the second time. She
nodded and said mona again. Then I realized it means it is possible.

While riding a bike in Poland, one older gentleman stopped me and said Droga je tam. I
thanked him for this useful information and continued my way. Later I found out that droga
means road and that he meant I am on the wrong side of the road

Long time I was confused by the word pozor. In Russian it means shame but it means
attention in Czech. That is why I couldnt understand why people told me pozor too
often. Maybe something happened with me? Of course, no. I just didnt know the meaning of
the world.
Or for example bread and vegetables are erstvy everywhere in CR. In Belarusian it means
not good anymore but in Czech it means fresh.

My funniest experience with other slavic language (czech) was during a czech lesson when
they say voavka means parfume. I was shocked cause in bulgarian the verb means
stink, so voavka in my language (although we dont have exactly the same word) may refer
to something that smell very bad.
In one old Czech book ( B. Nmcov Babika) is written:
Babika ukala ve skni.
In old Czech it means, that grandmother was looking for somenting in wardrobe. But now it
means that grandmother had sex in wardrobe.

The only one which happened to me so far in Czech Republic was when headmaster of my
school asked me (of course in czech) if I came by bike and then she said: So I'll show you
sprcha, we have new one and may be you'll need it one day. I had no idea what she meant by
saying sprcha and it sounds similar to polish word szprycha which means part of bike so I
expected to see this kind of stuff ;)

I didn`t understand in the beginning in which meaning Czechs use no for example no
jo. In Russian no is but.

When I first arrived in Czech Republic there was a sign on the train Ne naskakuj. That
means dont jump on someone in a sexual way in Slovenian language. I was laughing all the
time.

Another experience from Czech Republic is they say Chlapec for a boy. In Slovenian
language that means slave. And that would make girls from Slovenia really smile.

In Serbian language they say molim as excuse me or hello when you answer the phone.
In Slovenian language molim means I am praying.

Once in the supermarket I was misled by ovoce because in Ukrainian its vegetable, but
there were the pictures, so it was not that bad.
 False friends theory

I asked my participants to say what following words mean in their languages. The results are
quite interesting.

Trudna While in some languages means hard or difficult, it can also mean pregnant in
Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian. In Slovenian it means tired.

ukat, sukat Confusing the first word would be quite embarrassing in some countries.
While in Polish, Ukrainian and Belarussian means to search, in Czech and Slovak it means
to have sex. Sukat can have different meanings. In Bosnian it can mean, roughly translated
to make dough for a pie, or to lie to somebody, and in Slovenian it means to spin.

Pozor If somebody says pozor to you in e.g. Slovenia or Serbia, it would mean that you
should pay attention, but if you hear the same word in Belarus or Russia you should think a
bit about your actions because it means shame or disgrace.

Grad In Belarussian, Ukrainian and Polish it means hail. In Croatian, Bulgarian, Russian
it means city, and in Slovenian, Czech and Slovakian it means castle.

Zahod Some distinctive meaning include, west in Slovenian and set or sunset in
Russian, while in many languages means toilet.

Puka While in most of the languages this means gun, in Polish it means tin or a can.

Droga Similar to the above mentioned example, this word in many languages means
drugs, but in Polish, Russian and Ukrainian means road.

Mona In some languages it means it is possible, but in Slovakian and Czech it means
maybe.
Laska Or from love to weasel. In Czech and Slovakian it means love, but in Russian it
means weasel. Other meanings: Polish walking stick , Slovenian flatter, Bulgarian and
Ukrainian caress.

Spawanie In most of the Slavic languages it can be understood as sleeping but in Polish it
means to weld.

Stan This word has few different meanings. In Czech and Slovakian it means tent, while
in Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Polish it can mean stature, condition or state. In
Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian it means apartment.

Stolica While in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Belarussian, and Bulgarian it means capital
city, in Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian and Bosnian it means chair.

Bulka In many Slavic languages this word means roll or pastry, but in Serbian means
scarf and in Bulgarian bride.

Rumena It is quite interesting that this word has meaning of colors in many Slavic
languages, but of completely different ones. While it means ruddy in Croatian, Bosnian,
Polish, Serbian and Bulgarian, it means yellow in Slovenian.

Pria Many Slavic languages dont have this word. In Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian it
means story, in Slovenian it means witness.

Umor Meanings of this word are divided between murder and fatigue. In Slovenian and
Czech it means murder, but in Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian and Bosnian it means fatigue.

Brati - This word can have different meaning, all verbs. In Slovenian to read, in Polish.
Ukrainian and Czech - to take, and in Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian roughly translated to
pick some fruit or vegetable.

Vonj In most of the Slavic languages this word means bad smell in Czech is a nice smell
or odour.
Vreden While in Slovenian and Serbian this word means valuable, in Russian, Ukranian
and Bulgarian it means harmful.

Skoro This word can have many different meanings e.g. in Polish since, in Serbian
recently, in Bulgarian soon, in Croatian almost etc.

Ovoce - In Czech, Polish and Slovakian this word means fruit, but in Russian and
Ukrainian it means vegetable.

Majka In some languages this word means mother, but in Russian, Ukrainian and
Belarussian means t-shirt.

Nudit se Maybe you should be careful with using these words in some languages. While in
Czech, Polish, Slovakian and Ukrainian it means to be bored, in Croatian, Slovenian and
Serbian it means to offer yourself.

Slovo This word exists in all Slavic languages, and with similar meanings in most of them.
It usually means word or a letter, except in Slovenian where it means goodbye.

Godina Czechs, Poles, Ukranians, Belarussian and Slovakian use this word to refer to
hour, but Croatians, Bosnians and Serbians use this word to refer to year.

Jagodica In Croatian this word means cheekbones, but in Russian it has meaning
buttock.

erstvy While in Polish, Czech and Slovakian this word means fresh, in Russian,
Ukrainian and Belarusian it means completely the opposite, stale.

alovanje In many Slavic languages this word means regretting or or mourning, in

Russian it means salary.

Zabit This word can have very distinctive meanings in Slavic languages. In Bulgarian it can
mean stabbed, in Croatian or Bosnian remote place or to score, in Polish and Czech to
kill, in Slovenian to hit really hard and in Russian to forget.
Otrok This word can mean child in some Slavic languages, but in Czech and Slovakian it
means slave.

Stol While this word means table in most of the Slavic languages, in Slovenian and
Bulgarian it means chair.

Nedjelja In most of the languages is means Sunday, but in Russian, Serbian and Bosnian
it can mean week.

Jutro It means morning in most of the languages, but in Polish it means tomorrow.

Uasny If somebody tells you that you are uasny, it can be either compliment or an
insult. It depends in which country you are. If you are in e.g. Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia or
Croatia it would mean you are horrible, but in Czech Republic or Slovakia it means
awesome.
 Sayings about nations

One of the things I asked my participants was to write some sayings they have in their
languages or regions about other nations.

Smokes like a Turkish man.

Dont pretend to be English. Dont pretend to be stupid
Dont be English Dont be stranger
Works like a Romanian He is hardworking.
Lazy as a Montenegrian.
Drinks like Russian. Drinks a lot.
To leave like a French. Leave without saying goodbye, or without paying.
To be greedy like a Jew.
English humor bad humor
God created a goat and Devil created a Russian.
Uninvited guest is worse than Tatar.
As many as Russians. A big amount or number of something or somebody
You are an Italian You are easily scared.
Stupid like Bosnian.
Lets love each other like brothers but lets count our money like Jews .
Russian year. long period of time
 Participants

All of this could not be done with great help of great people, so I would like to thank to each
one of them.

My name is Svetlana Lazarkova. Im

Belarussian. I was a part of NGO Civic
Belarus - organization which support
human rights in Belarus.

My name is Mirza Pali. I come from small town

called Livno. Now, I live in Sarajevo and I study
horticulture on Faculty of Forestry. I like watching
movies, tv-shows, walking and hiking.

My name is Alexander. I am from Bulgaria. I am an artist

working in the field of painting, graphic art, graphic
design and illustration. Also I have interests in the fields
of ornithology, ecology, history, philosophy, etc. I was
EVS volunteer in SVC Decko Nachod in 2013/2014. I
was making decoration for a lot of educational and
entertaining events, organized by Decko and I was
assistent in the drawing lessons.
Josipa Mari, student

- Karolna Hnykov, 18 let, student, Nchod

- My name is Vojtch Kliment, but I prefer the shorter

version of my name called Vojta. I am from the
Czech republic from Nchod, it is little town situated
on the border with Poland. I am 20 years old and I am
the university student. I study medicine on the
Charles university in Prague, the Faculty of medicine
in Pilsen. I am really proud of being Czech. I like
traveling, talking in foreign languages, keeping pets
and learning. My future plan is finish the school, I
need six years for it and become a doctor.

My name is Daria, I'm form Poland. I'm volunteer

in Nachod and I work in school in Zdakry. I
graduated pedagogy and Polish studies (Polish
language and literature).
 Ana Kraljevic, student

- I am Stanislava Goroshkevich. I work in

Deko with children activities, and I also help
teaching English and Russian language.
- My name is Maria Grigoryeva, I`m from
Russia, 23 years old. Now I`m a volunteer in
Czech Republic. My EVS project for one year
and I work with kids in children center

Aleksandar Radisavljevi, 28 years,

Smederevska Palanka
My name is Patrik Mesro I am from
Slovakia, and in this time I am working as a
EVS volunteer in environmental education
centre Kaprlv Mln in Czech republic.

ivjo! I am Daniel and I am from Slovenia. I am 27 years old.

I am an economist but currently I am on EVS in Czech
Republic. I decided for this because I like travelling and
meeting new people. In my free time. I like to spend time in
nature or do sports.

My name is Nataliia Chekalo and I am Ukrainian who is

deeply in love with EVS and everything connected with it.
I have graduated in 2013 and decided to do something
crazy like moving to different country and doing
something completely different from my previous
experience. Here I am, having my project in Prague that
influences my life greatly from all the possible points of
view.

Zbogom

Na shledanou

Do widzenia

Dovidenia
Nasvidenje