Learning Serbian Family Words

Listen to this podcast about Jeremija's family and write in the comments the names of your relatives.

For example: Tatin brat se zove Slobodan. On je moj stric/čika.

A single uncle splits into two branches of the tree

Serbian kinship words often identify the exact family branch. Your father’s brother is stric, while your mother’s brother is ujak. A parent’s sister is tetka. The wives of stric and ujak are strina and ujna respectively.

Čika is a warm informal word for an adult man and may be used for an uncle, family friend or familiar older man; it does not specify the biological relationship. Forms such as tatin, mamina and bakino agree with the possessed noun: tatin brat, mamina sestra, bakino unuče.

Tatin and mamin reveal the route to each relative

Latinica	Ћирилица	English
Mamin brat Predrag je moj ujak iz Zrenjanina.	Мамин брат Предраг је мој ујак из Зрењанина.	My mother’s brother Predrag is my uncle from Zrenjanin.
Tatina mlađa sestra zove se Gordana i ona mi je tetka.	Татина млађа сестра зове се Гордана и она ми је тетка.	My father’s younger sister is called Gordana, and she is my aunt.
Strina Vesna svake jeseni okuplja celu porodicu.	Стрина Весна сваке јесени окупља целу породицу.	Aunt Vesna, my father’s brother’s wife, gathers the whole family every autumn.
Ujna je pokazala nećaku fotografije sa starog putovanja.	Ујна је показала нећаку фотографије са старог путовања.	The aunt by marriage showed her nephew photographs from an old trip.
Dedin najstariji unuk upravo je postao otac.	Дедин најстарији унук управо је постао отац.	Grandfather’s eldest grandson has just become a father.

Hide the labels and ask a partner three chained questions such as Ko je brat tvoje mame? A correct answer should identify both the person and the relationship.
Marina Petrović