Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.22210/jezik.2026.73.14
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Dr. Ivan Šreter Award The best new Croatian words in 2025 presudnik, dohvatnica, narubno
Sanda Ham
Abstract
The paper briefly discusses the Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian
Literary Language and the Days of the Croatian Language, the position of the Croatian
language in Yugoslavia, and Dr. Ivan Šreter’s supreme sacrifice for using the Croatian words
umirovljeni časnik (as opposed to penzionisani oficir). Then the history of the Competition
for the Best New Croatian Word is presented. The competition was initiated by Stjepan
Babić in 1992 in the journal Jezik, and the Šreter Foundation became its sponsor in 2006.
The former and current members of the Selection Committee are listed and the method
of selecting new words is explained. The winning words for 2025 are described in detail:
presudnik, dohvatnica, and narubno; their meaning, but also the reception of these words by
the public. The best words awarded or highlighted from 1993 to the present are presented.
Our competition is compared with the American, German, and Serbian selections of the
best words, brief history of the selections in these countries is presented as well as their
methods of selection and the words they selected.
Keywords
Competition for the Best New Croatian Word; new Croatian words; presudnik; dohvatnica; narubno; American; German and Serbian selections of the best words
Hrčak ID:
353055
URI
Publication date:
1.3.2026.
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