Serbo-Croatian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish تنف (tenef), vulgarized from طنب (tunb, tunüb), from Arabic طُنُب (ṭunub).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tènef m (Cyrillic spelling тѐнеф)

  1. (obsolete, Serbia in some places) rope, line
    • a. 1846, “Serbian folk song Од Хорвата Мато”:
      Бијеле му савезаше руке,
      Од лаката тенеф до ноката
      They tied up his white hands,
      From the elbow to the nails a rope.
    • a. 1889, “Serbian folk song Халил тражи Мујова ђогата (Јабланица)”:
      За тенефе коње заведоше,
      И два топа довукли су туте,
      Тенеф паде коњи полетјеше,
      А два топа над њим’ упалише,
      Нек се чује Задру каменому,
      Да су њему коњи полетјели.
      They led the horses by ropes,
      And they brought two cannonballs down here,
      The rope fell, the horses flew off,
      And two cannonballs fell on him,
      Let Rocky Zadar hear
      That his horses flew.

Declension

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References

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  • Škaljić, Abdulah (1966) Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku, Sarajevo: Svjetlost, page 610