“Die Sprache ist das Haus des Seins.” With this statement, Heidegger stressed that language is more than just a means of communication. It defines the core of people’s identity and social coherence. As generations change, so does their language. New words appear, while others become obsolete. For example, the language of today’s digital nomads is already quite different from that of farmers some 80 years ago.
Over time, languages generate new expressions, and sometimes these are imported from other languages as loanwords. Loanwords are not a new phenomenon. Many contemporary words have roots in ancient languages such as Latin or Persian; today, these words are considered authentic parts of the language.
Some, more recent, have surprising origins. For instance, “robot” was invented by the Czech writer Karel Čapek who described mechanical workers as “robota”. And the French word “bistro” has Russian origins (быстро – bistro, meaning fast). It dates from the Russian occupation of Paris after Napoleon’s defeat in 1812. This ongoing exchange of words across cultures highlights how languages are constantly shaped by historical events and interactions. Russian, in turn, counts no less than 150 Dutch loanwords, which were introduced by the many Dutch naval experts invited by Peter the Great to build Russia’s first modern fleet (for example, “sailor,” or “matroos,” became матрос).
Tujke.
Obviously Slovenian has a lot in common with other Slavic languages and historically also with Latin. Also German, Italian and to a lesser extend French and Hungarian had substantial impact given their proximity. But as is the case for any language, most recent influence comes from English. Slovenes call them “tujke”, when spelling and pronunciation are taken over identical. In most cases however they got a “Slovenian makeover”. Striking examples are pica (Italian), klošar (French) or kompjuter (obviously English). There are also many cases where the spill over came from local dialects. Especially Austrian dialects found their way into Slovene. This is e.g. the case for Paradiesapfel (German) or Paradeiser in Austrian dialect which transformed into Paradižnik (tomato). The same goes for krompir (potato) which refers to the Austrian grumbier. Ironically, while disappearing in their native language, these words became established in Slovene.
A travel through languages.
In many cases, loanwords “traveled” through different languages before being absorbed. For instance, the Slovenian word “čaj” originated in China (chá) but journeyed through the Ottoman Empire before landing in the Balkans, due to extensive trade but also because of many invasions of the region. Similarly, “gratis” is a word that made a long trip. Its roots are Proto-Indo-European (gwere), landed in Latin (“gratis”), and then spread to many European and Slavic languages. This way, it became a common loanword for both Slovene and Dutch. Another example is “ja,” (yes) in both Slovene (as only Slavic language) and Dutch. It illustrates the shared vocabulary most likely influenced by German speaking neighbors or rulers.
Which brings us to another challenging question; did Slovenia lend any words from Flemish, my native language? Not obvious to find any, because there was little or no direct influence between both communities. But nevertheless we found some unexpected connections. Take for instance “vitlof”, an in origin Belgian vegetable… is known in Slovenia as Belgijski radič vitlof.
Unfortunately our harvest 😊 was limited to only this word.
But walking through the streets of Ljubljana, we encountered a storyboard stating that the earliest lotteries (loterija) emerged in 1441 from … Bruges. The Slovene word “loterija” apparently roots in the Flemish word “lot” (or fate). I have to admit that it is still not a “loanword invasion” as the Russian experienced. But at least you know more now than the almighty ChatGPT which could not dig up a single Flemish loanword in Slovene.
It is estimated that Slovene which has about 150.000 actively used words counts about 10 to 15% loanwords.
Thou shall not swear (in Slovene).
A remarkable fact is that Slovene swearwords (kletvice), at least the stronger ones, are all loanwords, mostly Serbian. But let’s not dwell upon this any further; we want to keep it a decent blog.
On the other side, the typical Slovene but milder swearwords deserve some attention here since they are quite unique but also incredibly funny. If you want somebody to get lost, you say: “go salt yourself” (pojdi se solit) and when you’re angry: “your dog doesn’t like you” (pes te nima rad), “a hen should kick you” (naj te koklja brcne). And there is also “three hundred hairy bears” (tristo kosmatih medvedov) or the more than hilarious “I hope your children will walk backwards” (Da’b tvoi otroc v rikverc hodil).
The development of a language can be seen as a journey through time, reflecting significant events, cultural influences, and pivotal milestones. For Slovene, this journey is marked by ancient sources such as the Freising Manuscripts (Brižinski spomeniki), which date back to before 1000 AD and represent some of the earliest written evidence of any Slavic language.
Throughout history, Slovene speakers have faced persistent challenges in preserving their national identity. They have endured denationalizing pressures from neighboring powers—including Austrians, Germans, and Italians—as well as from the period of Yugoslavia, when Serbo-Croatian was promoted as the lingua franca of Yugoslavia. Over the centuries, these pressures have sharpened the national consciousness and resilience of the Slovenian people.
A new kind of imperialism.
Today, Slovene has grown from “the language of the peasants” to one of the 24 official languages of the European Parliament. However, new challenges have emerged in the modern era. With the rapid globalization driven by social media, Slovene now faces what some sociolinguists call “linguistic imperialism”—the dominance of larger languages, especially English, which can overshadow and influence smaller languages through widespread use in digital communication, pop culture, and business. This challenges the balance between evolving, assimilating loanwords but also preserve the language their ancestors have fought for so hard.
So for everybody who thinks using an overflow of, mostly, English words looks kul (English loanword !) and prefers meeting over “sestanek” or deadline over “rok”… naj te koklja brcne 😉.
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