The Language of Sevdalinke

Level 6

The words of old Bosnian love songs.

How It Works

A sevdalinka is a traditional song about love and longing, from sevdah, a word that reached Bosnian through Turkish, for that feeling. The language of the songs is simple but old-fashioned.

  • Vocatives call the person: dušo (my dear), majko (mother), sokole (my falcon, said to a loved one).
  • Diminutives make a word tender: duša becomes dušica, ruža becomes ružica.
  • Turkish-origin words set the tone: sevdah, aman (a sigh of pain or love), dilber (a beloved).

The word order can be freer than in speech.

Lines from sevdalinke are folk poetry, and singers change the words over time. This entry uses short lines of its own to show the style, not the lyrics of any song.

If you want to sing along, start with the vocative and the diminutive. They are the same forms you learn in the vocative and diminutive entries, used with a lot of feeling.

Examples (4)

  1. Dušo moja, dođi u avliju.

    My dear, come into the courtyard.

    Dušo is a vocative.

  2. Majko, sevdah me boli.

    Mother, longing hurts me.

    Majko is a vocative, and sevdah is a Turkish-origin word.

  3. Ružica cvjeta pred kapijom.

    A little rose blooms by the gate.

    Ružica is a diminutive.

  4. Aman, kako je duga noć.

    Oh, how long the night is.

    Aman is a Turkish-origin sigh.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

The Language of SevdalinkeLevel 6

Learn This First

Language of sevdalinka songs.

Words in This Pattern

sevdalinkasevdahdušaamankapijajezik