čovjek

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From older človjek, from Proto-Slavic *čьlověkъ, *čelověkъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *kelawaikas.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /t͡ʃǒʋjek/ or IPA(key): /t͡ʃôʋjek/
  • Hyphenation: čo‧vjek

Noun

čòvjek or čȍvjek m (Cyrillic spelling чо̀вјек or чо̏вјек)

  1. man, person
    Jeste li vid(j)eli ovog čov(j)eka? ― Have you seen this man?
    Ti si mrtav čov(j)ek. ― You're a dead man.
    Zanemarite čov(j)eka iza zav(j)ese. ― Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
  2. human
    Ne želim biti čov(j)ek, želim biti robot! ― I don't want to be human, I want to be a robot!
    Nisi zao, samo si...čov(j)ek. ― You're not evil, you're just...human.
  3. person of integrity, mensch
    • 1849, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Srpske narodne poslovice [Serbian Folk Proverbs]‎, Beč, page 27:
      Боље се с чоеком побити него с рђом целивати. У Грбљу.
      Bolje se s čoekom pobiti nego s rđom celivati. U Grblju.
      It is better to fight with a [proper] man than to kiss with an unworthy one. From Grbalj.
  4. used as an indefinite, general subject; any person in the given situation
    • 1882, Ante Kovačić, Fiškal [The Advocate]‎, Zagreb: Bulaja naklada, published 2013, →ISBN, page 28:
      Vrijeme i narav bijahu neopisivo sumorni. U takvim časovima čovjek biva zlovoljan, dremovan i nezadovoljan.
      The weather and nature were indescribably dismal. In such moments, one becomes ill-willed, drowsy and dissatisfied.

Declension
Irregular declension, with nominative čòvjek
singular plural
nominative čòvjek ljȗdi
genitive čòvjeka ljúdī
dative čòvjeku ljúdima
accusative čòvjeka ljȗde
vocative čȍvječe / čòvječe ljȗdi
locative čòvjeku ljúdima
instrumental čòvjekom ljúdima
Irregular declension, with nominative čȍvjek
singular plural
nominative čȍvjek ljȗdi
genitive čovjèka ljúdī
dative čovjèku ljúdima
accusative čovjèka ljȗde
vocative čȍvječe ljȗdi
locative čovjèku ljúdima
instrumental čovjèkom ljúdima
Irregular declension, with nominative čȍvjek
singular plural
nominative čȍvjek ljȗdi
genitive čȍvjeka ljúdī
dative čȍvjeku ljúdima
accusative čȍvjeka ljȗde
vocative čȍvječe ljȗdi
locative čȍvjeku ljúdima
instrumental čȍvjekom ljúdima
Archaic and slang plural, with nominative čòvjek
singular plural
nominative — čòvjeci
genitive — čȍvjēkā / čòvjēkā
dative — čòvjecima
accusative — čòvjeke
vocative — čòvjeci
locative — čòvjecima
instrumental — čòvjecima

Derived terms
  • Čović (last name)
  • Čovo (last name)

References
  • “čovjek” in Hrvatski jezični portal
  • “čovjek”, in Речник српскохрватскога књижевног језика (in Serbo-Croatian), Друго фототипско издање edition, volume 6, Нови Сад, Загреб: Матица српска, Матица хрватска, 1967–1976, published 1990, page 891
  • Речник српскога језика (2007, Прво издање), Нови Сад: Матица српска, page 1520
  • Đuro Daničić, Matija Valjavac, Pero Budmani, editor (1884-1886), “čòvjek”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika‎ (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 2, Zagreb: JAZU, page 68
  • Brabec, Ivan, Hraste, Mate, Živković, Sreten (1968) Gramatika hrvatskosrpskoga jezika, 8th edition, Školska knjiga, §81.B.I.2.a), page 55
  • Vukušić, Stjepan, Zoričić, Ivan, Graselli-Vukušić, Marija (2007) Naglasak u hrvatskome književnom jeziku (Velika hrvatska gramatika; 4), Zagreb: Globus, →ISBN, §94, page 41
  • Ibrahim Čedić, editor (2007), “čovjek”, in Rječnik bosanskog jezika, Sarajevo: Institut za jezik, →ISBN
  • Kapović, Mate (2015) Povijest hrvatske akcentuacije. Fonetika [History of Croatian Accent. Phonetics]‎ (in Serbo-Croatian), Zagreb: Matica hrvatska, →ISBN, page 7
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