LL-L "Resources" 2007.08.15 (02) [E]

Wed Aug 15 14:37:14 UTC 2007

L O W L A N D S - L  -  14 August 2007 - Volume 02
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: "Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc." <roger.thijs at euro-support.be>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties and standardization"

I have to be at an aircraft maintenance conference in Zagreb for a couple of
days in September and I plan to learn some basic Croatian.

Last Saturday I was looking for a Teach Yourself Croatian or similar at the
Mayrische (http://www.mayersche.de) in Aachen. They have an extensive
selection for the languages they support.

As supported Slavic languages by a significant number of books and CDs in
the shop, I found:

Russian, Polish, Bulgarian, Czech, Slovenian and Croatian.

I didn't see references for:

Sorbian; Bunjevac, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Slovakian, Serbian, Bosnian,
Montenegrin or Macedonian.

A double reflection:

- For some languages the will for survival may be limited, as one sees what
efforts there are made to russify Belarusian (cf.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_language)

- For others an inverse process may be on the way: one hardly talks anymore
about "*Serbo-Croatian"* as a language. *Croatian*, *Bosnian* and
*Serbian*tend to become independent languages.

Since I prefer manuals with audio CD, and since they did not have a "Teach
Yourself" for Croatian, I bought:

- Hueber, *Einstieg Kroatisch,* ISBN 3-19-005359-6, 166 pp. + 2 CD.(21.95euro).

- Reise Know How – Kauderwelsch Band 98, *Kroatisch Wort für Wort*, ISBN
3-89416-886-2, 192 pp.,7.90 Euro with (sold separately) CD
"Kauderwelsch *Kroatisch
Aussprachetrainer",* ISBN 3-8317-760053, also 7.90 euro.

When available, I like to buy book for kids, since they help acquiring basic
vocabulary in a natural way.

I found:  "*Dein buntes Wörterbuch, Deutsch – Bosnisch/Kroatisch/Serbisch*",
Fleurus Verlag, ISBN 3-89717-274-7, 132 pp., 11.90 euro.

It is actually not a 1 to 3 dictionary, but a 2 to 3.

For the German name for the illustrations they give German and Austrian when
different:

e.g. die Bonbons / die Zuckern

die Pflaumen / die Zwetschken

die Aprikose / die Marille

die Spüle / die Abwasch

das Lätzchen / das Barterl

For the Serbo-Croatian side the give up to 3 names in the order Bosnian –
Croatian – Serbian, when there are 3 different forms, Croatian-Serbian when
there are only 2 forms *("wobei die bosnische Ausdruck jeweils entweder im
kroatischen oder serbischen Ausdruck bzw. synonym in beiden Sprachen wieder
findet"),* and obviously the common form when there is only one variant.

e.g.  "mljevana kafa / mljevana kava / mlevana kafa" for "das Kaffeepulver"

"hljeb / kruh / hleb"   for "das Brot"

"francuski hljeb / kruh-francuz / francuski hleb" for "das Baguette /  die/das
Baguette"

or just 2:

e.g. "svježi sir / mladi sir" for "der Quark / der Topfen"

"karmenica / ostriga" for "die Auster"

"krumpir / krompir " for "die Kartoffel / der Erdapfel"

"rajčica / paradajz" for " die Tomate / der Paradeiser/die Tomate"

I have also been looking for common Indo-European roots, but most vocabularu
is VERY different,

e.g.

"mrav" - die "Ameise" (but "mier" in Dutch, "moemèèt" in my Limburgish)

"osa" - "die Wespe"

"muha / muva" – "die Fliege"

"pauk" – "die Spinne"

"zec" – "die Hase"

"lisica" – "der Fuchs"

"mačka" – "die Katze"

"pijetao / petao" – "der Hahn"

"ovce" / "die Schafe"

common roots may have:

"kunić" – "das Kaninchen"

"svinja" – "das Schwein"

But I doubt it all will be very helpful. The *Zagreb* street language is not
the official "*Croatian-Stokavian*", but "*Kajkavian*"

Further references:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajkavian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shtokavian_dialect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differences_in_official_languages_in_Serbia,
Croatia_and_Bosnia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differences_in_official_languages_in_Serbia,+Croatia_and_Bosnia>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_languages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Slavic_languages

Regards,

Roger
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