Talk:Senjak

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[edit] Chinese embassy which was bombed in 1999 - in Senjak?

  • Somebody suggested to me that the location of the Chinese embassy which was bombed in the 1999 NATO conflict with Serbia was in Senjak, although they were unsure. I am unable to find a source on the Internet which states the embassy's exact location within Belgrade at the time. So if anybody knows where the location of the embassy was, please update the relevant article (whether it be this one or another) to state it, or let me known on this talk page. — Informant763 06:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
    • At the time of the bombing, the embassy was located in the municipality of New Belgrade, across the Danube and no way near Senjak. It's current location is in Dedinje, which is very close to Senjak, so maybe that's what was confusing. --Tennotsukai 14:48, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "The shady place"

  • I have read in an article about the history of Senjak an implication that the name meant "the shady place", although, it wasn't explicitly stated that that is what the name meant and could also be interpreted as simply being a reference to a nickname which is used by the locals in Serbia. So I inquire, does Senjak mean "the shady place", and if so from which language does the name stem? –Sorter 09:41, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
    • It could mean "the shady/shaded/shadowy place", as "sena" is a slightly poetic term for "shadow" in Serbian language. There are a few other possible roots for this name, but it is definitely Serbian, one way or another.--Tennotsukai 14:48, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
      • Do you happen to have an idea on how the exact roots of the name can be found? Although your guess is likely, I don't think it would qualify to be placed into the article without backing. By the way, do you think that the word Senjak is in any way connected to sanjak (transliteration of Turkish word) or seljak (Serbian word). —After The Rain 11:24, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
    • Well, I don't think the name has anything to do with either of those words, and here's why:

1. Sanjak, the Turkish land administration unit, is in Serbian written as "Санџак/Sandžak". Senjak is written as "Сењак/Senjak". The visual connection between these two names exists only in the English transcription, but not in Serbian. Either way, there were no Sanjaks near Belgrade during the Ottoman rule, and Belgrade itself was a part of the Belgrade Pašaluk (a different type of land unit).

2. Same thing with "seljak" ("peasant"), which in Serbian Cyrillic is "сељак". DIfferent word, pronounced differently.

I've asked a friend from the Serbian Language & Literature Department of the Faculty of Philology (Belgrade) to look up the roots of the name, so you'll know when I know. I'll also try to get a hold of some photos for the article (or take a walk and make a couple myself) :) Tennotsukai 20:25, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

I've finally managed to find the info. Apparently, local peasants once used to store their hay ("seno" in Serbian) in one part of the Kalemegdan. The hey barns there were destroyed in a fire in 1857, and the peasants started using a municipal lot on a hill above the Sava river. The lot was used for storing hay for several years, so the lot and the surrounding area got the name Senjak (a bit hard to transfer to English, sort of like saying "a place with hay" in one word).Tennotsukai 21:13, 22 December 2006 (UTC)