Among the new expressions coined by student protests are - ćaci or Ćaci. That's how the dilemma arose - how the expression changes depending on the case, and there is also a doubt - should it be written with an uppercase or lowercase letter?
Dad have long since overcome one graffiti at the gymnasium in Novi Sad.
The term has become a catch-all term for bots opposed to student protests, but since March, chaps have also become "Students who want to learn." Their camp in Pionirski Park immediately became Chaciland, and this name was also found on google maps.
Novogov also introduces some dilemmas of a practical nature.
As the term ćaci was created because someone mistakenly wrote ć instead of the letter đ and thus coined the graffiti "ćaci u skole", many believe that it would be logical for čaci to be declined in the same way as students.
Nevertheless, the slogans "Ćaci, javi se" or "Traži se Ćaci" are constantly seen at protests, where ć is even written with a capital letter, as if it were a proper noun. Probably because the term also sounds a little like a name.
From Ćak – Ćaciju
Dobrivoje Stanojević, professor of stylistics and rhetoric at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, explains that the dilemma arose because of the difference between the grammatical approach and slang.
"If you look at it grammatically and want to keep only the root of the word, then we would say - a gathering of brothers," says Stanojević to "Vreme".
"Nevertheless, if someone wants to play with the language, which is also possible - we also get a gathering of Čati, and even Ćaci, with a capital letter. This latter change, in my opinion, does not correspond to the spirit of the language. It reminds me of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency of America), and who wants to play with them?"
The dilemma has reached SANU as well.
Svetlana Slijepčević Bjelivuk, a senior research associate at the Institute of the Serbian Language at SAN, gives her own opinion for "Vreme". She primarily emphasizes that "we can hardly talk about news in this case."
"We cannot make normative recommendations about every new word, we can register it and comment on its status in accordance with the current usage", thinks Slijepčević Bjelivuk. "In that sense, one can only talk about Ćaci and Ćaci."
As it is a term that arose as a result of a spelling mistake, and then received the status of a symbol in slogans on protest marches and during blockades, we can state that there are two uses, adds Slijepčević Bjelivuk.
"One as a proper noun, in examples like 'we're looking for Ćaci', where Ćaci is an imaginary character, and the other as a common noun, in examples like 'Ćaci occupied Pionirski Park', 'let's help Ćaci get indexes', where the plural is in question as a contrast to the plural pupils", explains the senior research associate at SANU.
"Also, I notice that even when it is used in the plural, these two changes are sometimes mixed up, so we have both čaci and ćaci in this second, general meaning."
So, everyone who's been wondering what's correct gets their favorite spelling bet answer - it can be either.
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