Slovenian: očakov

[harakiri]

prost, ko je bil očakov,
naprej naj bo Slovencov dom;

The declension of "oče" has "očetov".
Since the poem "Zdravljica" was written in the 19th Century (1846), maybe it had not been fixed.
Or do we use both even now? No info over the Internet.
And "single", "dual" or "plural"... Which?

Or simply "of a dad", adjective = "očakov"?
I guess so... But, if so, why do you have "genitive"? XD A kinda slang?

I can translate this phrase (I believe), but still I feel odd. How should we understand "očakov"?

 

[Irbis]

Očak means patriarch or forefather, it is not so common word nowadays.
Očakov can be genitive plural or dual, but here it is possessive adjective (for masculine nouns, possessive adjective is the same as genitive plural (except for nouns ending with c, where c change to č: stric - stricev (gen. pl.) - stričev (possessive adjective)).
The phrase means "as it was in the past" (where our forefather owned it).

 

[harakiri]

I see. "ko" sounds both meanings of "ko" and "kot" then. Quite interesting... It seems showing us a clue of the history of the Proto-Slavic. Hvala!

 

[Irbis]

Yes, "ko" can be also used in the meaning "kot", but this usage is a bit dated now. The one usage, where "ko" is still used in this meaning, is in constructions like "Bolj ko sem se trudil, slabše mi je šlo." (more I was trying, the worse was result).

 

[harakiri]

Quite clear. ;-) Hvala!