-čuga

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

First attested in the late 1970s. According to Babić, it has spread from the word cr̀nčuga (“nigger”) (originally formed as crnc- + -juga), which was reanalyzed by native speakers as if being composed of cȓn (“black”) + -čuga. The word cr̀nčuga was the most common pejorative in subtitled American films and television as shown on Yugoslav television stations, acting as a calque for the English word nigger. From there, the suffix became productive, forming new nouns with similar pejorative connotations.

Suffix

-čuga (Cyrillic spelling -чуга)

1. Suffix appended to nominal stems to a create a noun, usually an augmentative with pejorative connotations.

   kȁmēn → kamenčuga

   cȓn → cr̀nčuga

   pȋvo → pivčuga

Declension

Declension of -čuga

	singular	plural
nominative	-čuga	-čuge
genitive	-čuge	-čuga / -čugi
dative	-čugi	-čugama
accusative	-čugu	-čuge
vocative	-čugo	-čuge
locative	-čugi	-čugama
instrumental	-čugom	-čugama

Derived terms

Category Serbo-Croatian terms suffixed with -čuga not found

References

• Stjepan Babić, 1991, O postanku sufiksa čuga, in Senjski zbornik, Vol.18 No. 1