potrditi

Potrditi is a verb form that appears in some South Slavic dialects and in historical writings. It is not part of standard Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, or Slovenian, where the closest modern equivalents are potvrditi (to confirm) and potruditi se (to make an effort).

Linguistic discussions offer two main lines of etymology for potrditi. One links it to the root tvr-/trd, meaning hard or firm, suggesting a sense of making firm or strengthening. Another view regards potrditi as a regional variant or phonetic evolution of related verbs such as potvrditi or potrditi in certain dialects. There is no broad consensus, and surviving sources are limited.

In usage, potrditi is attested mainly in dialect dictionaries, older legal or ceremonial texts, and some regional grammars. When it appears, the senses attributed to it range from strengthening or securing something to affirming or confirming a statement. These senses are not uniform across regions and are generally not used in contemporary standard language.

See also: potvrditi, potrditi as a regional spelling variant, and related verbs in the same family such as tvrditi (to claim or affirm) and potruditi (to exert effort). Further references are primarily found in dialectology resources and historical language studies, which note the word’s restricted distribution and uncertain status in modern usage.