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Learning Croatian: 001 KOSA, KOZA, KOŽA

25/11/2018

1 Comment

 
This post concerns vocabulary, but has a much broader significance to we who are learning Croatian: that is, how a change of just one letter in a word can change the meaning dramatically. To Croats, the two words are entirely unrelated, although we might might wonder why they can't realise what we really mean. And of course, the same applies for a Croat learning English. In language, precision matters!

This post could well be entitled Bloopers I have made, #1. 

 
Just occasionally (ok, often) during lessons with my teacher Mateja (at SpeakCro Online Language School) I make a horrible blunder that causes her to break into laughter – with me, of course, and not at me..
 
One day she came up on my screen at the start of a lesson sporting a new hairdo. I was impressed, and exclaimed “Joj! Sviđa mi se tvoja koza”. After an initial look of puzzlement, she laughed her head off.
 
I came to realize that, while I had intended “I like your hair”, I had actually said “I like your goat”!
 
Well perhaps she does have a goat that appeals to me? OK, so I should have said “Sviđa mi se tvoja kosa”.
 
Kosa, koza – Is the difference so significant? [Well yes it is]

​
Picture










Sviđaju mi se Matejine koze. I kosa je lijepa također, zar ne
?
I like Mateja’s goats. And her hair is nice too, isn’t it?

Mateja does not own goats: this picture was captured in Corvara in the Italian alps, when she was there with friends.


The trouble is that I will probably make the same mistake again. Or perhaps I’d even say “Sviđa mi se tvoja koža”! (I like your skin.)
 
Wow …na slici možemo vidjeti njezinu kosu, njezine koze i njezinu kožu! In the picture, we can see her hair, her goats, and her skin.

​
Of course this single example (of which there are many) can be generalized to learning any language.

Can you just imagine a Croat learning English who, struggling to find vocab in his mind as he talks, says "mouse" instead of "house", or "hill" instead of "pill", or "melon" instead of "lemon", or "shop" instead of "stop" of "chop"!

And can you just imagine why a Croat is frustrated that we are befuddled when he/she says "The mouse" has 5 rooms."
​

Croatian language 101, Test 1:
 
Here are three photos - one of kosa, one of koza and one of koža. Which word goes with which photo?


Picture
Picture
Picture

​I console myself with the thought that I’m sure I am not the only one who gets confused. Am I?
 
And I’m certainly not the only one who avoids saying “I am writing…” in Croatian. Naravno, I would say “Pišem”, wouldn't I? Or have I just made that dreaded mistake!? You know what I mean..
. 

Answer to Test 1:
Just in case you are not sure (and to remind myself)…
     kosa is hair
     koza is a goat
     koža is skin, or leather




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  • HOME
    • Navigation: A ROAD MAP
    • Contacts
  • LEARNING CROATIAN
    • CROATIAN: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Kosa, koza, koža
      • 002 Pronouncing 'au'
      • 003 Can language influence behaviour?
      • 004 First day of the week
      • 005 Do Croatians assign gender to objects?
      • 006 Za četiri dana, na dva dana
      • 007 My brain becomes full!
      • 008 Sretan rođendan ti
      • 009 Na kavu, po kavu, za kavu?
      • 010 Until you don't do it
    • CROATIAN: Posts 11 - 20 >
      • 011 Nazvati nekoga, telefonirati nekomu
      • 012 If she were a man ....
      • 013 Streets with two names?
      • 015 Tri, četiri, sad!
      • 016 I feel like crying!
      • 017 I felt like crying, I will feel like crying
    • DAKLE ŽELIŠ BITI KAO PRAVI HRVAT, JE L' DA? HOME >
      • 001 Ovako!
      • 002 Je l' tako?
      • 003 Tako je!
      • 004 Izvoli! Izvolite!
      • 005 Eto!
    • CHALLENGES FOR YOU >
      • 001 Crossword puzzle 1
  • GRAMMAR
    • GRAMMAR POSTS 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Where are the pronouns?
      • 002 Padeži and noun endings
      • 003 Endings of pronouns and adjectives
      • 004 "u" ili "na" ?
      • 005 The declensions of Tko? and Što?
      • 006 Ja sam na Trgu bana Josipa Jelačića
      • 007 Going and coming: u-iz, but na-sa
      • 008 Sav - All, every
      • 009 Number of subjects and the verb 'biti'
      • 010 Koga nazoveš? Komu telefoniraš?
    • GRAMMAR POSTS 11 - 20 >
      • 011 Declension of place names
    • GRAMMAR TITBITS - HOME >
      • 001 Dati - dativ
    • GRAMMAR REFERENCE SECTION HOME >
      • 001 Questions that define the case of nouns
      • 002 All nouns have gender
      • 003 Nouns in the nominative case
      • 004 Nouns: Declension categories
      • 005 Declension of regular nouns
  • SAYINGS
    • SAYINGS: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Ne daj se!
      • 002 U tom grmu leži zec!
      • 003 Baš me briga!
      • 004 Mačji kašalj!
      • 005 Što je, tu je!
      • 006 Eto ti ga na!
      • 007 Na licu mjesta
      • 008 Sve si to ti kriv!
  • VOCAB
    • Vocabulary: POSTS 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Even dying is not easy!
      • 002 To laugh or to smile?
      • 003 Nahraniti, sahraniti .... schmahraniti
      • 004 Prefixes that modify verb meanings
      • 005 Prefixes on base verb stati
      • 006 Country names - noun or adjective?
      • 007 Names of towns: A grammatical nightmare
      • 008 Countries: What do we call their citizens?
      • 009 Baš
      • 010 What a joke! vic or šala?
    • Vocab THEMES: HOME >
      • 001 In the time of coronavirus
    • Što je korijen riječi?: HOME >
      • 001 Nadimak
      • 002 Zora, prozor, zoran, ….
  • STUFF
    • STUFF: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Bookara
      • 002 Crossies?
      • 003 Jučer ili sutra?
      • 004 Ućitelji
      • 005 Požuri polako
      • 006 Kakav stil!
      • 007 The people of Magorje
      • 008 Where did the "j" go?
      • 009 koliko je kiše 50 litara po kvadratom metru?
      • 010 The dark side of the moon
    • Vicevi (Jokes)
  • EXPERIENCES
    • EXPERIENCES: POSTS 1 - 10 HOME >
      • 001 Licitarska srca
      • 002 My Aussie accent
      • 003 The upside down SIM card
      • 004 Buying fritule in Split
  • ABOUT CROATIA
    • Republika Hrvatska: HOME >
      • 001 Anthem: LIJEPA NAŠA
      • 002 Map of Croatia
      • 003 Županije: The counties of Croatia
    • Where/What/Who is that? HOME >
      • Where/What/Who? Pages 1 - 10 >
        • 001 A girl and a bird
        • 002 His left foot
        • 003 A rebel
        • 004 Čuvarica Omiša
        • 005 Giorgio or Juraj?
        • 006 Tovar and friend
        • 007 Up on high
        • 008 On an island
        • 009 Water wonderland
    • REGIONS, CITIES, TOWNS: HOME >
      • ZAGREB: HOME >
        • 001 Zagreb cathedral
        • 002 Advent in Zagreb
        • 003 Interliber book fair
        • 004 On the tramvaj in Zagreb
      • Dalmacija: HOME >
        • BEING AND SPEAKING DALMATIAN: HOME >
          • 001 Molin?
          • 002 Eleven Dalmatian commandments
          • Dalmatinski rječnik HOME >
            • Keywords A - J
            • Keywords K - N
            • Keywords O - R
            • Keywords S - Ž
            • English to Dalmatian
      • Zagorje: HOME >
        • 001 Autumn tones
    • SPORT: HOME
    • CULTURE: HOME >
      • 001 A night at the ballet
  • TKO SAM JA?
    • Tko sam ja? Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 The way we spoke