science

Šatrovački

Šatrovački is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Šatrovački rather than just read about it. In short: Šatrovački (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [ʃâtroʋatʃkiː]; Serbian Cyrillic: шатровачки) or šatra (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [ʃâtra]; Serbian Cyrillic: шатра) is an argot within the Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian languages comparable to verlan in French or vesre in Spanish. Šatrovački was initially developed by Roma and various marginal subcultures and criminal groups in Yugoslavia, who employed it as a device of…

Key takeaways

Šatrovački belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Šatrovački to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Šatrovački from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Šatrovački (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [ʃâtroʋatʃkiː]; Serbian Cyrillic: шатровачки) or šatra (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [ʃâtra]; Serbian Cyrillic: шатра) is an argot within the Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian languages comparable to verlan in French or vesre in Spanish. Šatrovački was initially developed by Roma and various marginal subcultures and criminal groups in Yugoslavia, who employed it as 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 in Aleksinac. 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 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 and Novi Sad (Serbia), Zagreb (Croatia) and Sarajevo (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. 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 is the law, bro" - meaning: "Zemun rules, dude") Pazi brate, murija! — Zipa tebra, rijamu! ("Watch out mate - cops!", murija slang for police)

Examples zeldi - dizel (Dizelaši, chavs) ciba - baci (throw; imperative) mojne - nemoj (don't; imperative) loma - malo (a little, few) tebra - brate (brother; vocative) Ganci - Cigan (Gypsy) ljakse - seljak (peasant, redneck) zipa - pazi (watch out, pay attention; imperative) tenkre - kreten (retard) zabr nahra - brza hrana (fast food) hopsi - psiho (psychopath) vugla - glava (head, derived from accusative) ljadro - drolja (slut) vutra - trava (weed, marijuana) fuka - kafa (coffee) gudra - droga (drugs) vopi - pivo (beer) suljpa - pasulj (beans) vozdra - zdravo (hello) dismr - smrdi (stinks) žika - kaži (say, speak; imperative) konza - zakon (law, great, excellent) balfud - fudbal (soccer) vuspra - sprava (device, spliff) cupi - pica (cunny, pretty girl, usually pejorative) rijamu - murija (cops, pejorative) sajsi - sisaj (suck; imperative) Šone - Nešo (hypocorism, usually vocative) Šomi - Mišo (hypocorism, usually vocative) Kizo - Zoki (hypocorism) Rijama - Marija Kblo Konza - Blok Zakon (Block rules) Munze Konza - Zemun Zakon (Zemun rules) tozla - zlato (gold) pakšu - šupak (asshole) racku - kurac (dick, penis) čkapi - pička (cunt, pussy) žmu - muž (husband) Rajvosa - Sarajevo ne rise - ne seri (no shit, cut the crap; imperative) sepra - prase (pig) šipu - puši (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. For example, koncert (concert) would be shortened to cert. The rules of creating a new word that can be used in nominative while the stem is not apply similarly to standard šatrovački. An example of a full sentence would be:

Drugar i ja idemo na koncert na Tvrđavi. (My friend and I are going to a concert on the Fortress) Gari i ja idemo na cert na Đavi. This is particularly characteristic of Novi Sad youth subculture, and is very rarely spoken outside of Vojvodina.

Common examples zika - muzika (music) cert - koncert (concert) Đava - tvrđava (fortress, almost exclusively refers to Petrovaradin fortress in Novi Sad) gari - drugar (friend) fika - trafika (news stand) kić - sokić (diminutive of juice) nica - stanica (station) šulja - košulja (shirt) lone - pantalone (trousers) tike - patike (sneakers) njačić - vinjačić (Diminutive for Vinjak, an alcoholic drink similar to Cognac) tija - kutija (box) ljara - pepeljara (ashtray) ljada - hiljada (thousand) bica - torbica (small bag) čka - pička (cunt, pussy) pač - štampač (printer) činka - palačinka (crêpe, pancake) ler - diler (drug dealer, usually of marijuana) ket - paket (package or anything packed or wrapped) ćoza - kaprićoza (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 or New Belgrade) 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 and New Belgrade. 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)

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Šatrovački

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Šatrovački claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Šatrovački before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Šatrovački ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Šatrovački

In research: Šatrovački appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Šatrovački in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Šatrovački is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cant languages, Croatian language, Language games, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Šatrovački outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Šatrovački in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Šatrovački means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Šatrovački out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Šatrovački in simple terms?

Why does Šatrovački matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Šatrovački?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Šatrovački.