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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Colours in Serbian

Friday, May 15, 2009

Idiot's Guide to the Cyrillic Alphabet

Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet


During my sojourn in Montenegro, I encountered both the use of Latin and Cyrillic versions of the alphabet. This was a great opportunity to pick up and understand more of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Signs for streets & squares were in the Cyrillic alphabet, which is based on the one sound, one letter system. I had a steep learning curve in reading Cyrillic, particularly when I was trying to read the inscriptions on the Partizan memorials for my English compatriots!

Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet




Now I am sharing with you, dear blog readers, on how I started to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. I found it easier by breaking down the alphabet into sections. All in all, it took me just over 1 hour to get myself acquainted with the alphabet.
Click here to hear the audio


ћирилица
..................................................................................
THE FRIENDLY LETTERS (As they are exactly the same as in the latin alphabet)
K M T O A E J
Examples words: ATOM, MAJKA

THE FALSE FRIENDS (Be aware - although they look the same as their counterparts in the latin alphabet, they represent different letters!).

В P С X У
V R S H U

Can you work out the following words?

CECTPA, BУK, BPATA

THE COMMON CYRILLIC CORE (That's what I call these set of letters as they are common to other Cyrillic based languages).

Б Г Д 3 Л П Ф И H Ж Ч Ш ц

B G D Z L P F I N ž č Š C

Here are some means of transportation:

B
БРOД
TAKCИ
AУTOБУC
ABИОН
and some other words

XBAЛA
ДAН
KPEBET
ПЕКAРA
KAПУЋИНО
ЧAJ
ЖИВОТ
ПОШТA
БУЛEBAP
ЛЕП

THE SERBIAN CYRILLIC SET (Unique to the language and quite distinct).

Џ Ђ Ћ Љ Њ
Dž Đ Ć LJ NJ

Here are a selection of words for you to work out:

HOЋ
ЉУБАВ
ЂAK
ЏEMПEP

KOЊ

The sort order of the ćirilica (ћирилица) alphabet:
Cyrillic order (called Azbuka (азбука): А Б В Г Д Ђ Е Ж З И Ј К Л Љ М Н Њ О П Р С Т Ћ У Ф Х Ц Ч Џ Ш

The sort order of the latinica (латиница) alphabet:
Latin order (called Abeceda (абецеда): A B C Č Ć D Dž Đ E F G H I J K L Lj M N Nj O P R S Š T U V Z Ž

The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is based on the simple principle of:
"write as you speak and read as it is written"
Пиши као што говориш и читај како је написано.
Piši kao što govoriš i čitaj kako je napisano.


Don't forget that there's always Serbian Phrases List in the Cyrillic version with slow pronunciation ! Those who know how to write "FaithfulFollower" in Serbian (in the Latin alphabet) will get a significant discount :)

If you would like to get all my video lessons with explanations in English, translations and additional exercises like the ones above, in the meaningful order, consider joining me on Patreon. HVALA!

Proverbs - Poslovice

Кад мачке нема, мишеви коло воде. - Kad mačke nema, miševi kolo vode.

o Translation: When cat is absent, mice dance. (When the cat is away, the mice will play.)
o Le chat parti, les souris dansent.


Нема ватре без дима. - Nema vatre bez dima.

o Translation: There is no fire without smoke. (Where there is smoke there is fire.)
o Il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu


Није злато све што сија. - Nije zlato sve što sija.

o Translation: Gold is not all that shines. (All that glitters is not gold.)
o Les apparences sont trompeuses.


Правити од комарца магарца. - Praviti od komarca magarca.

Translation: To make a donkey out of a mosquito. (To make a mountain out of a molehill.)
o Faire d'une mouche un elephant.


Што можеш данас, не остављај за сутра. - Što možeš danas, ne ostavljaj za sutra.

Translation: What you can do today do not leave off for tomorrow. (Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.)
o Il ne faut jamais remettre au lendemain ce qu'on peut faire le jour même.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Crna Gora - Montenegro

After one week in the splendid mountains of Crna Gora, I am now missing the food! So I would like to share with you some visual displays of some of foods that I tried while I was in Crna Gora.


Crna Gora style Pita (Pie)

Posle nedelju dana u prelepim crnogorskim planinama, nedostaje mi hrana! Zbog toga bih želela da podelim sa vama nekoliko fotografija jela koje sam probala dok sam bila u Crnoj Gori. Pita u crnogorskom stilu (pie):

Only try this at home if you have a kitchen workspace or table enough! Simply amazing to watch!

Probajte samo u slučaju da imate dovoljno velik kuhinjski prostor ili sto! Prosto neverovatno za gledati!


A similar kind of method is also used to make Burek. I noticed that the bureks in Montenegro are different to the Serbian ones.

Sličan metod se takođe koristi za pravljenje bureka. Primetila sam da se burek u Crnoj Gori razlikuje od srpskog.


And then there is : Priganice (a kind of doughnut) that is eaten with the local cheese, honey and walnuts.

A tu su i priganice, vrsta krofni, koje se jedu sa lokalnim sirom, medom i orasima.
http://www.coolinarika.com/recept/crnogorske-priganice
http://www.coolinarika.com/recept/ustipcifritulepriganicevarijacije-na-temu

Prijatno! (Bon appétit!)

Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

Gde je ključ? Где је кључ? - Učimo srpski sa Marinom
Gde je ključ? ...
Where is the Key?-...
By Marina Petrović
Photo book