Aha! Learning Croatian: VOCABULARY

Without vocabulary, there is no language.

At least, that is so as far as human language is concerned. I don’t know if we can say that the forms of communication among birds, or among whales, or among dogs have their vocabularies. Please enlighten me.

I guess I have over-simplified the situation because I immediately recognise that what I have said is problematic in relation to sign languages, computer programming languages, and probably a bunch of other forms of language.

So let me clarify that my opening statement refers to the various forms of language by which people talk with each other – to understand some intended meaning.
 

Emilija: Razumjela sam većinu onoga što si rekao, Ivane, ali što znači ta rijeć "me-meeee"?

​Emily: I understood most of what you said, Ivan, but what does that word "ba-baaaa" mean?

Što misliš ....... Što sugerira Ivan Emiliji?
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Image by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto from Pixabay

But we should also recognise that while vocabulary is an essential part of a language, communication needs more. I refer partly to the grammar, which provides the context for sense-making, and avoidance of ambiguity.

We native English speakers mostly find that the grammar of the Croatian language is overwhelming, and is why I have dedicated a section to this component of the language (See Croatian Grammar).

And there is another component that Croatians think characterises their language: they call it duh jezika, the spirit of the language.

I am often told that something I have said is logically and grammatically correct, but is not in the spirit of the Croatian language. When I come to realise what this means, I will open a section on it. Meanwhile, it remains an abstract construct to me.
 

In this section (Croatian vocabulary) I am writing posts about some aspects (general or specific) that have seemed to me useful, or curious, or challenging – and may strike a chord with others who are learning Croatian.
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Here is a road map of the posts in this section. CLICK on a title to go directly to the relevant post.
 

CROATIAN VOCABULARY   (HOME)
     
           Posts 1 - 15     HOME
                 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 the base verbs stati and stajati
                 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?
               011  Čak


           Themes    HOME     (New posts continually added)
               001 Vocabulary in the time of the coronavirus

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               Što je korijen riječi? The roots of words   HOME   (New posts continually added)
                001  Zora, prozor, zoran ........
              002  Nadimak​
              003  Uništiti          NEW 27.07.2023

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Aha! Learning Croatian

Bob invites your correspondence: [email protected]

acknowledging .......

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