In anticipation of the future holidays in Montenegro more acutely than usual there is a need for the ability to somehow communicate with the Montenegrins. It's no secret that for Russians in Montenegro the language barrier is not that big - many Montenegrins, especially those who work in tourism and catering, more or less speak Russian, and some speak English. Many restaurants have menu in Russian, but the proximity of the Slavic languages completely reduces the risk of mutual understanding to nothing. According to the Constitution of Montenegro, Montenegrin is the official language of Montenegro, which is essentially is Serbian, the common language of Croats, Serbs, Montenegrins and Bosnians, who at one time were all part of the former Yugoslavia. The only fundamental difference between the Montenegrin and Serbian languages is the alphabet - after Montenegro gained independence from Serbia in 2006, Montenegro switched to Latin alphabet, while Serbia still predominantly uses the more familiar Cyrillic alphabet. You can also mention that on the coast of Montenegro they mainly speak the “Jekov” dialect of the Serbian (Montenegrin) language, but if I continue to delve into the jungle of languages, I’m afraid my reader will not stand it, and this sentence will be the last one read. So let's get to the point. Below is a small russian-serbian phrasebook, which you can print out and take into service in Montenegro in order to conquer and surprise the local public with your impeccable knowledge of Serbian - and this is always a pleasure - and order "kafu", "sladoled" or even "meshano meso" in the restaurant at the "konobar"! Bon appetit and welcome to Crnugoru!
Phrases and words of essentials in Montenegro:
Yes
No - Ne
Thank you - Hvala
Thank you very much - Hvala ti puno
Please – Molim
Cheers - Ziveli!
Sorry - Izvinjavam se
Good afternoon - Dobardan!
Hello Cao/Zdravo!
Goodbye - Dovidjenja!
I don't understand you - Ne razumem vas
What do you do? – Sta radis? Shta Radish?
Pay attention to the indication of the direction and do not confuse with Russian:
Right - Desno
Left - Lijevo
Right - Right
Language incidents 🙂
Many words of the Serbian language make our compatriots smile, because they are so similar to “warped” Russian words, as a rule, with a similar meaning.
“Right” in Montenegro is “straight”.
Sausages are called "horseradish" here.
"Sea Pass" - guess who you can call it that? Nothing but a shark!
An ordinary person - almost a dude - "chovek"
"Safety" - security
"Pepelyuga" - who do you think? Answer: Cinderella
Queens here are called "steals"
and so on 🙂 Add your funny finds in the comments 🙂