šatrovački
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''Šatrovački'' (;
Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...
: шатровачки) or ''šatra'' (;
Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...
: шатра) is an
argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...
within the
Serbo-Croatian language Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutuall ...
comparable to
verlan The verlan word "pineco" comes from "copine". () is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of in ...
in French or
vesre Vesre (from Spanish ''(al) revés'' 'reverse') is the reversing of the order of syllables within a word in Spanish. It is a feature of Rioplatense Spanish slang and Tango lyrics, and is associated with lunfardo. Vesre is mostly from Buenos Air ...
in Spanish. Šatrovački was initially developed by
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...
and various marginal
subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...
s and criminal groups in
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
, who employed it a device of secret communication. The term "Šatrovački" is attested in Serbian literature since as early as the year 1900, as a secret language of
gamblers Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...
in
Aleksinac Aleksinac ( sr-Cyrl, Алексинац) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of Southern and Eastern Serbia, southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 43,258 inhabitants. History Preh ...
. As late as 1954 for instance, a German-Croatian dictionary translated "šatrovački" as " Yenish speech". By the year 1981 however, one could find elements of šatrovački in the speech of very different strata of
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
society, from prostitutes and prisoners to scientists and professors. With each generation, more elements are added to the Šatrovački register. It is more widespread in urban areas, such as
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
and
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
(Serbia),
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
(Croatia) and
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
(Bosnia and Herzegovina).


Usual šatrovački

Words are formed by replacing the syllable order. For example: ''pivo'' (beer), becomes ''vopi''. The new word has the same meaning as the original word stem. Since the spelling is nearly phonetic it does not change. However, sometimes one of the vowels is changed to make the new word easier to pronounce, avoid ambiguity, or if the stem word is not in
nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...
. For example, ''trava'' ("grass", marijuana) would become ''vutra'' instead of ''vatra'' ("fire"). Some words are more commonly spoken in Šatrovački than others, but there is no specific rule. Examples of transformed sentences (although, most of the words in a single sentence are rarely transformed) are: *''Brate, neću da igram fudbal. — Tebra, ćune da grami balfud.'' ("Bro, I don't want to play football.") *''Zemun zakon brate. — Munze konza tebra.'' (literally: "
Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...
is the law, bro" - meaning: "Zemun rules, dude") *''Pazi brate, murija! — Zipa tebra, rijamu!'' ("Watch out mate - cops!", ''murija'' slang for police)


Examples

* - (''
Dizelaši __NOTOC__ Dizelaši (; singular dizelaš, ) was an urban street youth sub-culture popular in the 1990s in Serbia. It has been described as a mainstream fashion and social subculture, that of a working class, similar to the British ''chav'', French ...
'',
chav "Chav" (), also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear. * * * * Julie Burchill descri ...
s) * - (throw; imperative) * - (don't; imperative) * - (a little, few) * - (brother;
vocative In grammar, the vocative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numeral ...
) * - (Gypsy) * - (peasant,
redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term mainly applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ''Dictionary of American ...
) * - (watch out, pay attention; imperative) * - ( retard) * - (
fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...
) * - (
psychopath Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality Construct (psychology), construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with boldness, bold, disinhibited, and egocentrism, egocentric traits. These traits are often ma ...
) * - (head, derived from
accusative In grammar, the accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: "me", "him", "her", " ...
) * - (
slut ''Slut (archaic: slattern)'' is an English-language term for a person, usually a woman, who is sexually promiscuous or considered to have loose sexual morals. It is predominately used as an insult, sexual slur or offensive term of disparageme ...
) * - (
weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...
, marijuana) * - (
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
) * - (drugs) * - (beer) * - (beans) * - (hello) * - (stinks) * - (say, speak; imperative) * - (law, great, excellent) * - (soccer) * - (device, spliff) * - (cunny, pretty girl, usually
pejorative A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hosti ...
) * - (cops, pejorative) * - (suck; imperative) * - (
hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...
, usually
vocative In grammar, the vocative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numeral ...
) * - (hypocorism, usually vocative) * - (hypocorism) * - * - (
Block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
rules) * - (
Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...
rules) * - (gold) * - (
asshole The word ''asshole'' (in North American English) or arsehole (in all other major varieties of the English language) is a vulgarism used to describe the anus, and often used pejoratively (as a type of synecdoche) to refer to people. History ...
) * - (dick, penis) * - (cunt, pussy) * - (husband) * - * - (no shit, cut the crap; imperative) * - (pig) * - (smoke, blow; imperative)


Utrovački

Utrovački (Утровачки) is a more complex form of ''šatrovački''. Words are formed using: U + last part + ZA + first part + NJE. E.g. vikipedija (Wikipedia) becomes ukipedijazavinje. Today, utrovački is not widely used. Alternative Utrovački is same as above, but without "ZA", e.g. pivo (beer) becomes uvopinje, or cigare (cigarettes) becomes ugarecinje.


Syllable omission

A more simplified version of šatrovački is using only parts of the word, while excluding the first syllable, and is most commonly used among young people in
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. For example, koncert (concert) would be shortened to cert. The rules of creating a new word that can be used in
nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...
while the stem is not apply similarly to standard šatrovački. An example of a full sentence would be: :: (My friend and I are going to a concert on the Fortress) :: This is particularly characteristic of
Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...
youth subculture, and is very rarely spoken outside of
Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
.


Common examples

* - (music) * - (concert) * - (fortress, almost exclusively refers to
Petrovaradin fortress Petrovaradin Fortress ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Петроварадинска тврђава, Petrovaradinska tvrđava, ; ), nicknamed "Gibraltar on/of the Danube", is a Bastion fort, bastion fortress in the town of Petrovaradin, itself part of the City of ...
in Novi Sad) * - (friend) * - (news stand) * - (diminutive of juice) * - (station) * - (shirt) * - (trousers) * - (sneakers) * - (
Diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...
for Vinjak, an alcoholic drink similar to
Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...
) * - (box) * - (ashtray) * - (thousand) * - (small bag) * - (cunt, pussy) * - (printer) * - (crêpe, pancake) * - (drug dealer, usually of
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
) * - (package or anything packed or wrapped) * - (usually refers to Pizza capricciosa, but can be used for any kind of pizza)


Adding syllables

A very rare but present form of expression found in the Belgrade projects (blokovi). Words are reconstructed by adding various suffixes so that the original word remains relatively intact. Usually, the basis is šatrovački. The resulting words have a generally diminutive meaning.


Examples

* kajblo or kićblo - blok (Blok of suburb
Blokovi Blokovi ( sr-Cyrl, Блокови, lit=Blocks) or Novobeogradski blokovi ( sr-Cyrl, Новобеоградски блокови, lit=New Belgrade Blocks) is the semi-formal plural name for a group of urban neighborhoods in Belgrade's municipality ...
or
New Belgrade New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...
) * kićso or kajso - sok (juice) * pajdo - dop (heroin) These diminutives can later be combined using the Šatrovački method, resulting in words like ''kajblo'', or ''kićblo''. It is hard to locate the origin of this version of the urban dialect, but it is found in neighbourhoods of Karaburma,
Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown ...
and
New Belgrade New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...
. Also there is another type of šatrovački, where the words are reconstructed by addition of letter P followed by the vowel preceding the inserted P after each syllable. In Macedonia, this type of speech is called ''papagalski'' (parrot speech). Since syllables, usually, end on a vowel that vowel is repeated after the inserted P as follows: šapatropovapačkipi (ša+pa-tro+po-va+pa-čki+pi)


Examples

* dipizepel - dizel (diesel) * bapacipi - baci (throw) * nepemopoj - nemoj (don't) * mapalopo - malo (some) * brapatepe - brate (brother) * cipigapan - cigan (gypsy) * pepedeper - peder (homosexual) * sepeljapak - seljak (peasant) * papazipi - pazi (pay attention) * krepetepen - kreten (idiot)


See also

*
Banjački Banjački is a secret language used by bricklayers from Podrinje region (eastern Bosnia and western Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , n ...
, secret language in Bosnia and Serbia * Meshterski, secret language in Bulgaria *
Back slang Back slang is an English coded language in which the written word is spoken phonetically backwards. Usage Back slang is thought to have originated in Victorian England. It was used mainly by market sellers, such as butchers and greengrocers, ...
*
Pig Latin Pig Latin (''Igpay Atinlay'') is a language game, argot, or cant in which words in English are altered, usually by adding a fabricated suffix or by moving the onset or initial consonant or consonant cluster of a word to the end of the word a ...
*
Verlan The verlan word "pineco" comes from "copine". () is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of in ...
in France *
Vesre Vesre (from Spanish ''(al) revés'' 'reverse') is the reversing of the order of syllables within a word in Spanish. It is a feature of Rioplatense Spanish slang and Tango lyrics, and is associated with lunfardo. Vesre is mostly from Buenos Air ...
in Argentina and Uruguay


References

*


External links


Vukajlija slang dictionary

Žargonaut - Croatian slang dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Satrovacki Cant languages Language games Slang Serbian language Croatian language Romani in Croatia Romani in Serbia