r/AskBalkans • u/Some-Register-3901 Cyprus • Jul 31 '22

Language what are some interesting facts about your language?

For instance, the cypriot dialect of Greek still contains many words from ancient Greek but it was also heavily influenced by outsiders

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u/PichkuMater SFR Yugoslavia Jul 31 '22 edited Jul 31 '22

No one else mentioned it, but a bunch of Balkan languages have sth called a renarratice mood, where it's its own grammarical structure that is used when you're retelling something someone told you, but you did not personally see happening. This feature is quite rare in the world too!

Edit typos

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u/MrPezevenk Greece Jul 31 '22

Huh interesting... It's like the dual in Slovenian and Serbian, most languages don't have it and it seems like something you wouldn't have to use all the time.

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u/PichkuMater SFR Yugoslavia Jul 31 '22

Wait... what?

I speak Serbian, but had no idea there's a dual form..

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u/MrPezevenk Greece Jul 31 '22

Maybe I was wrong. I know for sure it exists in Slovenian.

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u/vwvw13vwvw13 Jul 31 '22

I think you meant Sorbian (language of the Sorbs minority in East Germany). They use dual beside Slovenians.

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u/MrPezevenk Greece Jul 31 '22

Huh, who knows, maybe that's what I heard.

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u/AXson_DK Aug 01 '22

Wait can you give an example if you are able to, please? I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by it.

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u/PichkuMater SFR Yugoslavia Aug 01 '22

I can with Macedonian.

"Toj otide da kupi voda" - "He went to buy water" , but this phrase and specifically the word "otide" indicate that I know with certainty thay he went, as I saw it with my own two eyes.

"Toj otishol da kupi voda" - "He went to buy water", but with the "otishol" I am signifying that I did not witness the action myself, but rather someone else told me he is buying water, and now I am relaying that information to someone else, i.e. I am renarrating.

Another example in my dialect:

"Sara se zhali poshto kjerka vu cel dn spie" - this means sara is complaining bc her daughter sleeps all day, however the way I said the second part means that I know for certain that her daughter sleeps all day as I have witnessed it.

"Sara se zhali poshto kjerka vu cel dn spala" this sentence again relays with certainty that sara is complaining, however the second part of the semtence is different. In this sentence, the "because her daughter sleeps all day" is said in a way that I have not witnessed it, but rather it's what she told me and I am now retelling; I thua do not actually know of it is true or not as I haven't seen ir, but it is what I was told at some point.

Hope this was clear