čovjek

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

čovek (Ekavian)
čovik, človik (Ikavian, Chakavian)
človek (archaic, Kajkavian)
človjek (obsolete)
čoek, čojek, čoik, čok, ček, šlovek, šovek (regional)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t͡ʃǒʋjek/, /t͡ʃôʋjek/
Hyphenation: čo‧vjek

Noun

čòvjek or čȍvjek m anim (Cyrillic spelling чо̀вјек or чо̏вјек) (Ijekavian)

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.
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.
person of integrity, mensch
- 1849, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Srpske narodne poslovice [Serbian Folk Proverbs]‎^[1], 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.
used as an indefinite, general subject; any person in the given situation
- 1882, Ante Kovačić, Fiškal [The Advocate]‎^[2], 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

	plural
nominative	čòvjeci
genitive	čȍvjēkā / čòvjēkā
dative	čòvjecima
accusative	čòvjeke
vocative	čòvjeci
locative	čòvjecima
instrumental	čòvjecima

Derived terms

Related terms

Čović (last name)
Čovo (last name)

References

“čovjek”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026
“čovjek”, in Речник српскохрватскога књижевног језика [Rečnik srpskohrvatskoga književnog jezika, Dictionary of the Serbo-Croatian Literary Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), Друго фототипско издање [Second Phototype Edition], volume 6, Novi Sad; Zagreb: Matica srpska; Matica hrvatska, 1967–1976, published 1990, page 891
Miroslav Nikolić, editor (2007), “čovjek”, in Речник српскога језика [Rečnik srpskoga jezika, Dictionary of the Serbian Language] (in Serbo-Croatian), Прво издање [First Edition], Novi Sad: Matica srpska, page 1520
Đuro Daničić, Matija Valjavac, Pero Budmani, editor (1884–1886), “čòvjek”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika‎^[3] (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 Accentuation. Phonetics]‎^[4] (in Serbo-Croatian), Zagreb: Matica hrvatska, →ISBN, page 7