Guest Lecture at the Institute of Croatian Language in Zagreb
On Tuesday, 9 June 2026, Associate Professor Ana Mikić Čolić, PhD, from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek gave a guest lecture at the Institute of Croatian Language in Zagreb. The lecture, entitled “Vocative Functions of Diminutives and Augmentatives in Croatian Conversational Discourse”, was held at 12 noon in the Institute’s council chamber as part of the Croatian studies and linguistics seminar Jezikoslovne rasprave.
The lecture addressed the vocative functions of diminutives and augmentatives and their role in Croatian conversational discourse, with particular emphasis on the evaluative meanings these formations convey in everyday communication. The analysis demonstrated that diminutives and augmentatives used in the vocative express a wide range of relational and emotional nuances, from closeness and tenderness to irony and heightened expressiveness.
The lecture also provided an opportunity to present the project “Evaluative Meanings of Diminutives and Augmentatives in the Croatian Language”, which is being conducted at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek under the leadership of Associate Professor Ana Mikić Čolić, PhD. The project focuses on the systematic study of the evaluative meanings of diminutives and augmentatives in contemporary Croatian, while the gathering with colleagues from the Institute of Croatian Language created an opportunity to exchange research findings.
