oznam

Oznam is a term used in linguistics to denote a semantic and morphological root found in several Slavic languages that yields words related to announcing, notices, and official communications. The form is typically analyzed as a stem connected to verbs meaning "to announce" and as the basis for corresponding nouns and participial forms. In descriptive grammars of West and South Slavic languages, closely related forms appear in lexemes that convey the sense of a public notice or announcement. The exact spelling, diacritics, and inflection vary by language; for example, Czech and Slovak use forms such as oznámení meaning "announcement" or "notice" (with diacritics that reflect phonology), while other languages show analogous derivations with language-specific orthography. In everyday usage, speakers employ the language’s established words for notice or announcement, rather than the bare root alone. The oznam root is of interest primarily to linguists studying derivation, semantic change, and the historical connections among Slavic languages, illustrating how a single root can give rise to a family of related words across related tongues. Because oznam is a linguistic construct rather than a widely used independent lexical item, it is typically encountered in grammars, etymological dictionaries, and theoretical discussions of word formation.