Babić was born in the small town of Oriovac in Brod-Posavina County, even though his biological parents are from Hrvatsko Zagorje.

He attended primary school in Oriovac, and gymnasium in Slavonski Brod, Osijek and finally in Zagreb.

After Petrinjska, he enrolled to Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb in 1949, graduating in 1955 with a degree in Croatian, Russian and German.

[1] Afterwards, he remained working as an assistant at the Faculty of Philosophy, defending his PhD in 1962 and receiving full professorship in 1975.

[2] Babić was one of the most prolific Croatian linguists, with over one thousand published works (books, articles, etc.).