crash course in polish

8/12/2019 Crash Course in Polish

1/15

Hoffman A Crash Course in Polish: Words You Can Use 1

A Crash Course in Polish: Words You Can UseWilliam F. Hoffman, 737 Hart eld Dr., North Aurora IL 60542-8917

E-mail: [email protected]

[Notes for a talk given at PGSAs Fall Conference, October 4, 2002]

I dont think anyone here believes for a moment that I can teach you Polish in 90 minutes. Icant even teach you how to pronounce Polish in 90 minutes! So what are we doing here?

As many researchers have discovered for themselves, you dont have to be uent in Polish inorder to make sense of documents and records written in it. To actually speak any language wellyou need instant recall of thousands of words and forms; but to pick out the pertinent facts in adocument you need only recognize a few hundred words, or know where to nd them quickly.You can do quite well if youre familiar with the most basic terms that show up again and again,especially if youve developed some facility for recognizing and applying the basic patterns wecall grammar. Its only tough if you have to look up every single word in a dictionary; everythird word may be time-consuming, but its tolerable. And the more you work with the language,

the more words you recognize and dont have to look up.The idea behind this talk is simple: to concentrate on certain terms, forms, and phrases thattend to show up a lotespecially ones you may have trouble nding in a dictionary. I have gonethrough the translation guide Jonathan Shea and I wrote, In Their Words Volume I: Polish(sorry, but I had to plug my book!), and I copied sections that discussed terms and forms you areespecially likely to run into. I also added a few items that struck me as potentially useful. Ofcourse, our book offers much more than this; but even if you have the book, this handout might

be useful in that it gives you some basics to concentrate on. (And if you dont have the book, thiswill show you what youre missing. Insidious, aint I?).

The Chopping Block

Lets start with an item we call the Chopping Block, designed to help you cope withgrammar. (We will pause for a moment as everyone in the room screams in horror, Grammar!Oh, God, no!).

Now I admit, some folks have no talent for grammar at all. If youre one of them, perhapsyoull want to ignore this.

Still, the idea here isnt to teach you grammar; its to help you recognize endings added tonouns and adjectives. Forms with those endings dont usually appear in dictionaries, and the in-ability to recognize those forms is one of the main causes of frustration for researchers. All theChopping Block does is help you spot endings and point you toward the forms you will nd inyour dictionary. In other words, you wont nd ksi gach in most dictionaries; the ChoppingBlock is meant to help you recognize the nominative form that you will nd: ksi ga .

There are seven so-called cases in Polish, one of which, the Vocative, seldom plays anysigni cant role in texts a researcher is likely to deal with. The other cases, and the abbreviationsused for them in the Chopping Block, are: N(ominative), G(enitive), D(ative), A(ccusative),I(nstrumental), and L(ocative). If you can, its a good idea to learn how these cases are used. Butthe main thing to know is that they cause endings to be added to words according to how theyreused in a sentence. Once you recognize a words form, you can usually gure out what it means.

Other abbreviations used in the Chopping Block are: sing. singular, pl. plural, masc. mascu-line, fem. feminine, neut. neuter, and adj., adjective.


2/15


The Chopping Block

Ending Case(s) Part of speech Example Replace with Result

-a G/A masc. sing. noun syn Jana nothing JanG neut. sing. do mieszkani a -e mieszkani e

nazwa miast a -o miast o N/A neut. pl. pol a -e pol e

ciaa -o cia o - A/I fem. sing. noun/adj. Kwa niewsk -a Kwa niewsk a

-ach L pl. noun w dokument ach nothing dokumentw ksi gach -a ksi ga w Uherc ach -e Uherc e w Stawisk ach -i Stawisk i w miast ach -o miast o w Borzym ach -y Borzym y

-ami I pl. noun materia ami nothing materia cyfr ami -a cyfr a zebrani ami -e zebrani e

mi dzy Rudnik ami -i Rudnik i sowami -o sowo za Borzym ami -y Borzym y

- A fem. sing. noun Ann -a Ann a -(i)e D/L sing. noun w Krakow ie nothing Krakw

N/A pl. w Warszaw ie -a Warszaw a crc e* -a* crk a w Weso ow ie -o Weso owo

A sing./pl. adj. dobr e -y dobr y -ego G/A sing. adj. (also if syn Antoni ego D bski ego nothing Antoni D bski

masc./neut. used as noun) z Poryt ego -e Poryt e wonego -y won y

-(i)ej G/D/L fem. sing. adj. (also if Olszewsk iej -a Olszewsk a used as noun) w Korczow ej -a Korczow a

-em I sing. masc./neut. noun mi dzy Jan em nothing JanL sing. masc./neut. adj. w Zakopan em -e Zakopan e

-emu D sing. masc./neut. adj. (also if Antoni emu nothing Antoniused as noun) Alojz emu -y Alojz y

-i G/D/L fem. sing., noun w odz i nothing d G sing./pl., N/A pl. syn Jadwig i -a Jadwig a

z Pogorzel i -e Pogorzel e -ich G/A/L pl. adj. z Chrzanowsk ich -i or -a Chrzanowsk i -im I/L sing., adj. (also if z Antonim D bsk im delete m Antoni D bski

D pl. used as noun) Grsk im delete m Grski-imi I pl. adj. dalek imi delete mi daleki

-om D pl. noun Nowak om nothing NowakWa som -a Wa sa

pol om -e pol e Stawisk om -i Stawisk iMoniuszk om -o Moniuszk oBorzym om -y Borzym y

* see Consonant Alternations, page 4


3/15


4/15


tered when dealing with the common place name ending w: Krak w w Krak owie,Chrzan w w Chrzan owie

Other possibilities, less frequently encountered, are a e , , and /o e:

a e: Wierzchl a s w Wierzchl esie : m o m u/o e: koci w ko ciele or jezi oro o jezi erze

Consonant AlternationsBesides dealing with removing endings and substituting others, researchers also need to be

aware of consonant alternations in the stems of nouns when certain endings are attached, espe-cially in the locative singular case. Thus after prepositions such as w and na (among others) thatindicate a location or status in which something is taking place (as opposed to change of locationor status), nouns have locative case endings. Researchers need to recognize this because the pho-netic shape of place names in documents may need to be altered one more time, even after theendings are removed, to arrive at the form of a place name given on a map or in a gazetteer. The

most common of these alternations are: Map name Name in Locative

ch sz Birwi ch a w Birwi sz ed dzi Piwo d a w Piwo dzi e

g dz Pra g a w Pra dz ek c Adamw k a w Adamw ce l Pi a w Pi l er rz Wa r a w Wa rz es l Jas o w Ja l esn ni Kro sn o w Kro ni est cie Nowe Mia st o w Nowym Mie ci et ci Hu t a w Hu ci e

zd dzi Gnia zd o w Gnie dzi e (note the a e vowel change) zn ni Pil zno w Pil ni e

EXPRESSIONS OF TIME AND DATES

The following expressions, denoting parts of the day and the like, immediately follow thehour:

po p nocy after midnight wieczorem in the evening po po udniu after noon w nocy at night przed p noc before midnight o p nocy at midnight przed po udniem before noon w po udniu at noonrano morning

So o godzinie trzeciej po po udniu is literally at the 3rd hour after midday, in other words, at 3 p.m. Record keepers sometimes chose different styles to express the same thought, so that youmay see o pi tej godzinie rano, at ve oclock in the morning, or o pi tej godzinie po p nocy, at ve oclock after midnight, to designate 5 a.m.


5/15


Other time expressions:

dzi or dzisiaj today przedwczoraj the day before yesterdayonegdaj two days ago wczoraj yesterday

A variant of the above was to use the preposition w or na plus the word for day ( dzie) in the

locative case form dniu plus an adjectival form of the time expressions noted in the list above.This produces such expressions as:

w dniu dzisiejszym today, literally in the day of todayw dniu wczorajszym yesterdayw dniu przedwczorajszym the day before yesterdayw dniu onegdajszym two days ago

Another way of expressing the same thing was to use the genitive singular of dzie , day, plusthe genitive masculine forms of the adjectives just shown, with no preposition, e. g., dzisiejszegodnia, today, and wczorajszego dnia, yesterday.

DATES AND NUMERALS

In modern Polish dates are usually given in the following order: day/month/year. But in 19th-century records the year is in rst position, almost always written out in words, followed by theday and then the month (or vice versa), all with the appropriate case endings. The year is almostalways marked by use of roku or w roku, meaning in the year of...

Names of the Months

Nominative/Genitive English Nominative/Genitive English

I stycze , stycznia January VII lipiec, lipca July

II luty, lutego February VIII sierpie , sierpnia AugustIII marzec, marca March IX wrzesie , wrze nia SeptemberIV kwiecie , kwietnia April X pa dziernik, pa dziernika OctoberV maj, maja May XI listopad, listopada November

VI czerwiec, czerwca June XII grudzie , grudnia December

Numerals

Cardinal Ordinal Cardinal Ordinal1 jeden (masc.) , jedna pierwszy

(fem.), jedno (neut.) 2 dwa, dwie drugi3 trzy trzeci4 cztery czwarty5 pi pi ty6 sze szsty7 siedem or siedm sidmy8 osiem or o m smy9 dziewi dziewi ty

10 dziesi dziesi ty11 jedena cie jedenasty12 dwana cie dwunasty

13 trzyna cie trzynasty14 czterna cie czternasty15 pi tna cie pi tnasty16 szesna cie szesnasty17 siedemna cie siedemnasty18 osiemna cie osiemnasty19 dziewi na cie dziewi tnasty20 dwadzie cia dwudziesty21 dwadzie cia jeden dwudziesty pierwszy22 dwadzie cia dwa dwudziesty drugi23 dwadzie cia trzy dwudziesty trzeci24 dwadzie cia cztery dwudziesty czwarty25 dwadzie cia pi dwudziety pi ty


6/15


26 dwadzie cia sze dwudziesty szsty 27 dwadzie cia siedem dwudziesty sidmy28 dwadzie cia osiem dwudziesty smy29 dwadzie cia dziewi dwudziesty dziewi ty30 trzydzie ci trydziesty31 trzydzie ci jeden trzydziesty pierwszy

40 czterdzie ci czterdziesty50 pi dziesi t pidziesi ty60 sze dziesi t sze dziesi ty70 siedemdziesi t siedemdziesi ty80 osiemdziesi t osiemdziesi ty90 dziewi dziesi t dziwi dziesi ty

100 sto setny

200 dwie cie dwusetny300 trzysta trzechsetny400 czterysta czterechsetny500 pi set pi setny600 sze set sze setny700 siedemset siedemsetny

800 osiemset osiemsetny900 dziewi set dziewi setny1000 tysi c tysi czny1600 tysi c sze set tysi c sze setny1700 tysi c siedemset tysi c siedemsetny1800 tysi c osiemset tysi c osiemsetny1900 tysi c dziewi set tysi c dziewi setny

Dates in the records are usually quoted in the genitive case and employ ordinal numbers forthe last two digits of the year, as well as the day. The rst two digits of the year are usually car-dinal numbers with no case endings, although some record keepers converted these, too, into or-dinal numbers with case endings. Thus the date November 28, 1869 would be written out as fol-lows (genitive endings are emphasized in boldface type):

...rok u tysic o mset sze dziesi t ego dziewi t ego dni a dwudziest ego smego miesi ca listopad a ...

Note the following terms:

rok, genitive roku, plural forms lata, lat yeardzie, genitive singular dnia, locative singular dniu daymiesi c, genitive miesi ca, genitive plural miesicy month

So a word-by-word, literal translation of the phrase above would be of the year [one] thousandeight hundred sixty-ninth, of the day twenty-eighth, of the month of November. Or as wed say,On November 28, 1869.

Days of the Week

English Dictionary form On __ [accusative case]

Sunday niedziela w niedziel Monday poniedzia ek w poniedzia ekTuesday wtorek we wtorek Wednesday roda w rod Thursday czwartek w czwartek Friday pi tek w pi tek Saturday sobota w sobot

TERMS FOR FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

To make this list a little easier for you to use, these terms are alphabetized according to theorder English-speakers would expect, which can differ substantially from the order in which onewould nd them in a Polish dictionary. All nouns are given with indication of gender (m. = mas-culine, f. = feminine, n. = neuter) and with the genitive singular form, to help you recognize the


7/15


stem from which cases other than the nominative are formed; in a few instances where there is aform one would not expect, it is also given. When expressions with an adjective and noun have a

particular meaning not readily obvious from analysis of the components, the genitive form isgiven with the noun; thus for cioteczny brat see brat.

babcia, babci: (f.) grandmother (a more af-fectionate term than babka )

babka, babki (dat. sing. babce ): (f.) grand-mother; stryjeczna babka: paternal greataunt

bezdzietny: (adj.) childlessbezm na: (adj.) unmarried (female)bli niaczka, bli niaczki: (f.) twin (female)bli niak, bli niaka: (m.) twin (male)bli nita, bli ni t: twins (plural)bracia brat

brat, brata (dat. sing. bratu, loc. sing. bracie, nom pl. bracia, gen. pl. braci, instr. pl.bra mi): (m.) brother; brat cioteczny: cousin, son of your mothers sister; brat

przyrodni: half brother, stepbrother; bratrodzony: full brother (not a stepbrother);brat stryjeczny: cousin, son of your fa-thers brother; brat wujeczny: cousin, sonof your mothers brother

bratanek, bratanka: (m.) nephew, brothersson

bratanica, bratanicy: (f.) niece, brothersdaughter

bratowa, bratowej (declined as a fem. adj.) : (f.) sister-in-law, brothers wife

busia, busi: (f.) colloquial term for grand-mother (rare in Poland, more commonin the U. S.)

ch opiec, ch opca (dat. sing. ch opcu, nom. pl. ch opcy): (m.) boy

chrze niaczka, chrze niaczki: (fem.)

goddaughterchrze niak, chrze niaka (nom. pl.chrze niacy ): (m.) godson

chrzestna matka, chrzestnej matki: (f.)godmother (also often seen with thewords inverted, matka chrzestna )

chrzestny: adj. from chrzest, baptism;(used as a noun) chrzestny, chrzestnego:

godfather, chrzestna, chrzestnejgodmother, chrzestni, godparents;rodzice chrzestni: godparents

chrzestny ojciec, chrzestnego ojca: (m.)godfather

ciocia, cioci: (f.) dim. of ciotka, auntcioteczny , adj. from ciotka, aunt; cioteczna

babka: great aunt; cioteczna siostra: cousin, daughter of your mothers sister;cioteczny brat, cousin, son of yourmothers sister; cioteczny dziadek: great-

uncleciotka, ciotki (dat. sing. ciotce ): (f.) auntcreczka, creczki: (f.) dim. of crka, little

daughtercrka, crki: (f.) daughtercz onek, cz onka: (m.) membercz onkini, cz onkini: (f.) memberdruh, druha: (m.) best mandruhna, druhny (dat. sing. druhnie , gen. pl.

druhen ): (f.) bridesmaiddziadek, dziadka: (m.) grandfather;

stryjeczny dziadek: paternal great uncledziadu , dziadusia: (m.) affectionate dim. of

dziadek, grandfatherdzieci , dzieci cia: (n.) childdziecko, dziecka (nom pl. dzieci ): (n.) child;

dziecko nie lubne: child born out ofwedlock

dziewczyna, dziewczyny (dat. sing.dziewczynie ): (f.) girl, maiden

dziewczynka, dziewczynki (dat. sing.

dziewczynce ): (f.) girl, little girl (dim.of dziewczyna )dziewica, dziewicy: (f.) virgin, maiden

(generally referring to a bride) familia, familii: (f.) family familijny: (adj.) familykawaler, kawalera: (m.) bachelorkmotr, kmotra: (m.) dialect = kum


8/15


kobieta, kobiety: (f.) womankrewny: (adj.) related; (used as a noun)

krewna, krewnej (f.), female relative;krewni, krewnych (pl.): relatives; krewny,krewnego: (m.) male relative

kum, kuma (nom. pl. kumowie ): (m.)originally godfather, in modern usagedistant relative

kumoter, kumotra: (m.) a dialect variant ofkum, q. v.

kuzyn, kuzyna: (m.) cousin (male)kuzynka, kuzynki (dat. sing. kuzynce): (f.)

cousin (female)macocha, macochy (dat. sing. macosze ): (f.)

stepmotherma oletni: (adj.) minor, under age; used as

nouns, ma oletnia (f.) and ma oletni (m.)mean minor child

ma onek, ma onka: (m.) spouse (male)ma onka, ma onki: (f.) spouse (female)ma onkowie, ma onkw: (m. pl.) married

couple (plural of ma onek )mamusia, mamusi: (f.) affectionate dim. of

matka, mommymatka, matki: (f.) motherm , m a: (m.) husband; z pierwszego

m a: by [her]

rst husbandm atka, m atki: (f.) married womanm odzian, m odziana: (m.) young man (often

referring to a bridegroom)m odzieniec, m odzie ca: (m.) young mannarzeczeni, narzeczonych: (m. pl. adj. used

as a noun) the engaged couplenarzeczona, narzeczonej: (f. adj. used as a

noun) ance, bride, betrothednarzeczony, narzeczonego: (m. adj. used as a

noun) anc, groom

niekrewny: (adj.) non-relative; can be used asa noun (masc. niekrewny, fem.niekrewna, plur. niekrewni )

nieletni: (adj.) not of age; used as nouns,nieletnia (f.) and nieletni (m.) meanminor child

niemowl , niemowl cia (nom pl. niemowl ta, gen. pl. niemowl t ): (n.) infant

nie lubny: (adj.) illegitimate, born out ofwedlock; used as a noun, nie lubny,nie lubnego (m.) and nie lubna,nie lubnej (f.) mean illegitimate child

niewiadomy: (adj.) unknown

niezam na, niezam nej: (f. adj. used as anoun) unmarried female

nie onaty: (adj., can be used as a noun)unmarried male

nowoza lubiony: (adj.) newly-married; (asnouns) nowoza lubiona, nowoza lubionej (f.) bride, nowoza lubiony,nowoza lubionego (m.) groom

nowo eniec, nowo eca: (m.) bridegroom;(pl.) nowo ecy newlyweds

ojciec, ojca (dative ojcu, nom. pl. ojcowie ):(m.) father

ojczym, ojczyma: (m.) stepfatheropiekun, opiekuna: (m.) guardianopiekunka, opiekunki: (f.) guardian

panna, panny (dat. sing. pannie, gen. pl. panien ): (f.) unmarried woman, bride

pasierb, pasierba: (m.) stepson pasierbica, pasierbicy: (f.) stepdaughter potomek, potomka: (m.) descendant potomstwo, potomstwa: (n.) descendants

(used collectively) pra-: = great in English, see prababka prababka, prababki: (f.) great-grandmother pradziadek, pradziadka: (m.) great-

grandfather prawnuczka, prawnuczki: (f.) great-

granddaughter prawnuk, prawnuka: (m.) great-grandson przyrodni: adj. used in expressions przyrodni

brat, stepbrother, and przyrodnia siostra, stepsister

rd, rodu: (m.) clan, family, linerodze stwo, rodze stwa: (n.) siblings,

brothers and sisters collectivelyrodzic, rodzica (m.) parent; seldom used in

the singular, more often seen in the pl.rodzice, rodzicw, parents; rodzicechrzestni: godparents; rodziceniewiadomi: parents unknown


9/15


rodzina, rodziny: (f.) familyrodzony bratrozwiedziony: (participle used as adj.)

divorced; as a noun, rozwiedziona,rozwiedzionej, (f.), divorce;

rozwiedziony, rozwiedzionego (m.),divorc

rozwdka, rozwdki (dat. sing. rozwdce ): (f.) divorce

rozwodnik, rozwodnika: (m.) divorc sierota, sieroty (dat. sing. sierocie ): (f.)

orphan siostra, siostry (dat. sing. siostrze ): (f.) sister;

siostra cioteczna: cousin, daughter ofmothers sister; siostra przyrodnia: stepsister; siostra rodzona: full sister (nota half-sister); siostra stryjeczna: cousin,daughter of fathers brother; siostrawujeczna: cousin, daughter of yourmothers brother

siostrunia, siostruni: (f.) dim. of siostra, little sister

siostrzenica, siostrzenicy: (f.) niece, sistersdaughter

siostrzeniec, siostrze ca: (m.) nephew,sisters son

siostrzyczka, siostrzyczki: (f.) dim. of siostra, little sister stryj, stryja: (m.) paternal uncle stryjeczny, adj. from stryj, q. v., see also

babka, brat, dziadek, siostra stryjenka, stryjenki: (f.) dim. of stryjna stryjna, stryjny: (f.) aunt on fathers side,

usually by marriage syn, syna (loc. sing. synu, nom. plur.

synowie ): (m.) son synek, synka: (m.) little son

synowa, synowej: (f., declined as an adj.)daughter-in-law, sons wife

synu , synusia: (m.) little son szwagier, szwagra: (m.) brother-in-law szwagierka, szwagierki (dat. sing.

szwagierce ): (f.) sister-in-lawtata, taty: (m.) dadtatu , tatusia: (m.) daddyte , te cia: (m.) father-in-lawte ciowa, te ciowej: (f., declined as an adj.)

mother-in-lawtrojak, trojaka: (m.) tripletwdowa, wdowy (dat. sing. wdowie ): (f.)

widowwdowiec, wdowca: (m.) widowerwnuczek, wnuczka: (m.) dim. of wnuk,

grandsonwnuczka, wnuczki (dat. sing. wnuczce ): (f.)

granddaughterwnuk, wnuka: (m.) grandsonwuj, wuja: (m.) maternal unclewujeczny, adj. from wuj; wujeczna babcia:

maternal great aunt; wujeczna siostra: maternal cousin (female); wujeczny brat: maternal cousin (male); wujecznydziadek: maternal great uncle

wujek, wujka: (m.) dim. of wuj, unclewujenka, wujenki: (f.) dim. of wujna, q. v.wujna, wujny: (f.) aunt by marriage, wife of

your mothers brother zam na, adj., unmarried (applied only to

women); used as a noun, zam na, zam nej, married woman, wife

zi , zicia: (m.) son-in-law znajda, znajdy: (m., despite its feminine

ending and declension) foundling znajdek, znajdka: (m.) foundling ona, ony: (f.) wife onaty: (adj.) married (said of men)


10/15


SOME SAINTS NAMES AND RELIGIOUS EVENTS OFTEN USED IN CHURCH NAMES

B. abbr. of B ogos awiony, BlessedBoe Cia o Corpus Christi, Body of ChristChrystus Krl Christ the King

MB Anielska Our Lady of the AngelsMB Bolesna Our Lady of SorrowsMB Cz stochowska Our Lady of Cz stochowaMB Krlowa Polski Our Lady, Queen of PolandMB Mi osierdzia Our Lady of MercyMB Nieustaj cej Pomocy Our Lady of Perpetual HelpMB Ostrobramska Our Lady of OstrobramaMB Pocieszenia Our Lady of ConsolationMB R acowa Our Lady of the RosaryMB Szkaplerzna Our Lady of Mt. CarmelMB Wspomo enia Wiernych Our Lady Help of ChristiansMB Zwyci ska Our Lady of Victory

Naj . abbr. of Naj witszy, Most Holy, Most Sacred Naj . Cia a i Krwi Chrystusa Holy Body and Blood of Christ Naj . Imi Holy Name Naj wi tsze Serce Jezusa Sacred Heart of Jesus Narodzenie Nativity Nawiedzenie Visitation Niepokalane Pocz cie Immaculate Conception Niepokalane Serce NMP Immaculate Heart of Mary NMP abbr., Blessed Virgin Mary

NMP Krlowa Polski Our Lady, Queen of PolandOpatrzno Boa Divine ProvidencePrzemienienie Pa skie Trans gurationw. Cyryl i Metody Sts. Cyril and Methodiusw. Agnieszka St. Agnesw. Duch Holy Spiritw. Jan Nepomucen St. John Nepomucene (a Bohemian saint)w. Jan Chrzciciel St. John the Baptistw. Kazimierz St. Casimirw. Krzy Holy Crossw. Miko aj St. Nicholasw. Rodzina Holy Familyw. Stanis aw, B. i M. St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyrw. Trjca Holy TrinityTrzej Krlowie Three KingsWniebowst pienie AscensionWniebowzi cie AssumptionWszyscy wi ci All SaintsZmartwychwstanie Resurrection


11/15


A FEW POINTS ABOUT OBITUARIES

Often obituaries begin with formulaic expressions , such as Wszystkim krewnym i znajomym donosimy t smutn wiadomo , i X zmar ..., To all relatives and acquaint-ances we announce the sad news that X has died. The name of the deceased, normallyset off and in bold print, is the subject of zmar , died, and thus appears in the nomina-tive case, the form most familiar to us. Occasionally, however, the phrasing is such that itreports the death of someone, so the name appears in the genitive, e. g. Jana

Kowalskiego, of Jan Kowalski, or Agnieszki Kowalskiej , of Agnieszka Kowalska. Married women are usually given with their married names, and their maiden names are

often indicated with the expression z domu, from the house of, thus: Agnieszka Kowalska, z domu Nowak, Agnieszka Kowalska, ne Nowak. Also common is an expression with the preposition z , of, from, plus the genitive plural of her maiden name: Agnieszka Kowalska z Nowakw, Agnieszka Kowalska ne Nowak, or Anna Piotrzak z Kwa niewskich, Anna Piotrzak ne Kwa niewska.

Surviving spouses often remarried. For women, this was indicated by expressions such as

z pierwszego m a , by her rst husband, z drugiego m a , by her second husband,followed by that husbands surname. Obituaries seldom give anything precise on the cause of death ; it was considered un-

seemly and morbid to go into such details. Information for obituaries generally came from the family of the deceased, who were too

grief-stricken to check facts carefully. Thus mistakes were common, and we often see aninitial obituary, followed a day or two later by a second version with more reliable data.Sometimes, instead of reprinting the full obituary, a notice of Sprostowanie , correction,was printed. It is always wise to search a few days before and after the date of death you never know what you may nd.

Besides actual obituaries, other notices connected with deaths appeared. A death might beannounced with the heading Zawiadomienie , Announcement; from that point on thedeath notice generally follows a recognizable format. After the funeral the family might

print a notice of Podzi kowanie , thanks, expressing gratitude to all who offered con-dolences. Boxed-off notices In memoriam or In memorium , In memory, were some-times published near the anniversary of the death. Such notices seldom add much to theinformation the original obituary provided, but they sometimes provided an opportunityto correct errors in the original obituary. Of course, sometimes they also produced newerrors. Still, the meticulous researcher may nd such notices worth looking for.

Finally, in many obituaries the name of the deceased is followed by information onorganizations he or she belonged to. This may lead you to organizational records with

more data on the deceased, especially if he or she belonged to fraternals such as the ZNP( Zwi zek Narodowy Polski, Polish National Alliance) or ZPRK ( Zjednoczenie Polskie Rzymsko-Katolickie w Ameryce, the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, whichnecessarily kept records on death bene t claims. Other organizations included Zwi zek

Polek w Ameryce, Polish Womens Alliance of America and Sokolstwo, Falcons. For more help with the kind of terms you see in obituary, you can visit the Dziennik

Chicagoski Obituary Translation page on the PGSA Website at this address:http://www.pgsa.org/dzieneng.htm .


12/15


CEMETERY INSCRIPTIONS

The nal memorials of our ancestors, their cemetery monuments, were often carved in theirnative language. This is especially true if they died a short while after coming to the U. S., forthe ties to the old country and its language were stronger.

The limited vocabulary found on stones can be quickly mastered, but the researcher should be aware of certain factors which will help make sense of mystifying or inconsistent items on thestones. We should remember that in the very early days of many Polish settlements, a merchantand professional class was yet to emerge; thus there were few stone-cutters who spoke or under-stood Polish. The Yankee stone-carver in a small Massachusetts or Connecticut town was puz-zled by the or of the Polish alphabet, and this could lead to mistakes, e. g., mistaking for t ,etc. Thus we will nd items such as yta and urodzita si on stones instead of the correct y a andurodzi a si . At other times it seems that the data to be carved on the stones was conveyed orally,and the results re ect this fact badly misspelled words in a quasi-Anglicized phoneticrendition.

The material that follows should enable you to make your next information-gathering trip to

a cemetery more pro table linguistically.Introductory Phrases

If they appear at all, the following phrases may begin an epitaph; but in many cases only thenames are recorded, without any preliminaries.

Ku pami ci To the memory of. Since the memory of expresses a relationship normallyrendered in Polish with the genitive case, one should expect case endings on names that fol-low: Ku pami ci Jzefa Jaworskiego, To the memory of Jzef Jaworski. More common,actually, is the simple expression witej pami ci, of sacred memory, commonly abbrevi-ated . p. Names following . p. are generally in the nominative case.

Tu spoczywa/spoczywaj Here lies/lie..., from spoczywa , to rest. This phrase, often abbreviated Tu sp., is followed by the name(s) of the deceased, or may contain additional expressions, e. g.: Tu spoczywaj zw oki, here lies the body [of]; Tu spoczywaj miertelne szcz tki, Here lie the mortal remains [of]; Tu spoczywaj prochy, Here lie the ashes [of].The last three expressions naturally tend to end with of, so the names following them will

be in the genitive case: Tu spoczywaj prochy Jzefa Jaworskiego i jego ony Katarzyny, Here lie the ashes of Jzef Jaworski and his wife Katarzyna.

Za dusze: for the souls of. The word dusze is accusative plural of dusza, spirit, soul after the preposition za, which can mean, among other things, for, on behalf of.

Phrases Referring to Death

By far the most common word here is simply zmar (referring to a male) or zmar a (referringto a female), abbreviated zm., meaning he/she died. We also see umar /umar a, abbreviatedum. For some, however, those expressions may have seemed a bit too blunt, and thus euphe-misms were used. They include:

Poleca /poleca a ducha Bogu: commended his/her soul to God. The term ducha is from duch,spirit or soul (not the same word as dusza, which we saw above, but from the same lin-guistic root). Bogu is the dative singular of Bg, God.


13/15


Przenis /przenios a si do wieczno ci has passed on to eternity, from the verb przenie si , to move on, pass, literally to carry oneself.

Przenis /przenios a si do wiecznego spoczynku has passed on to eternal rest. Herewiecznego is the masculine genitive singular form of wieczny, eternal, and modi es

spoczynku, the genitive singular form of spoczynek, rest, repose.

Spocz /spocz a w Panu has come to rest in the Lord. Panu is the locative singular form(and also the dative singular) of Pan, Lord.

Zako czy /zako czy a ycie ended his/her life (but not in the sense of killing oneself!). Zasn /Zasn a w Bogu or w Panu or na wieki fell asleep in God or in the Lord or for

the ages. Zgin /Zgin a perished. The manner of death may be given with mierci , the instrumental

form of mier , death, plus an adjective, e. g., Zgin mierci bohatersk , He died a he-roic death, mierci mordersk , a murderous death, mierci tragiczn , a tragic death(or tragically).

Zosta zabity was killed. In the case of accidents, some details may be provided on thetombstone, e. g., zosta zabity w majnach, he was killed in the mines. Note the Anglicizedw majnach, in the mines standard Polish would be w kopalniach. One might also seeexpressions such as uton a w rzece, She drowned in the river.

Phrases Referring to Age

Most ways of expressing age involve a form of verbs such as y , to live, prze y , to live[through, for a stated period], or liczy , to count, number. There are also a few prepositional

phrases that can be applied. All these expressions are usually followed by the number of days,months, or years lived, e. g. y 5 dni, he lived ve days, y a 3 miesi ce, she lived threemonths, y 49 lat, he lived 49 years. Here are other possibilities:

licz

c _ lat literally numbering _ years.liczy /liczy a _ lat: literally He/she numbered _ years.maj cy _ lat literally having _ years. Forms of mie , to have, are often used with numbers

to give age.mia /mia a _ lat literally He/she had _ years. The forms mia and mia a are past-tense mas-

culine and singular forms of that same verb mie , to have. po prze yciu _ lat after having lived _ years or, less literal but equally accurate, at the age

of _ years. The preposition po takes the locative case when it means after, and prze yciu islocative of prze ycie, [the act of] having lived, survival, experience.

prze y /prze y a _ lat he/she lived _ years. prze ywszy _ lat having lived _ years; prze ywszy is a participle but does not change ending

to indicate gender.w wieku _ lat at the age of _ years.

Exact ages are not always givenhard as it may be for us to imagine, many immigrants didnot know how old they were. Sometimes, a general term appears, e. g., m odzieniec, boy, youngman, or zmar w wio nie ycia died in the spring of [his] life, or w podesz ym wieku, at anadvanced age.


14/15


Phrases Referring to Birthplace and Origins

The following are phrases often seen that tell of the deceaseds birthplace:

u. ur., uro., urodz. these are all abbreviations for urodzony, born.urodzi /urodzi a si w was born in. If the place of birth is given, it is usually followed by

the preposition w, in (sometimes na ), plus the name of some geographical entity, in thelocative case.

urodzony w [starym] kraju born in the [old] country, i. e., Polandurodzony w Polsce born in Poland; Polsce is locative of Polska, Polandurodzony w Krlestwie Polskim born in the Kingdom of Polandurodzony w Ksi stwie Pozna skim born in the Duchy of Pozna urodzony w gubernii grodzie skiej born in Grodno province

Occasionally you may see the name of a a town or village, sometimes preceded by such expressions as w mie cie, from miasto, town, city; or w miasteczku, in the small town, frommiasteczko; or we wsi, in the village, from wie , village.

pochodzi z came from. The place of origin could also be expressed with the past tense of pochodzi , to come from, to have origins in, plus the name of the geographical entity in thegenitive case. Using the same examples given above, note how the endings change or fail tochange:

pochodzi [ or przyjecha ] ze [starego] kraju he came from the old country pochodzi z Polski he came from Poland pochodzi z Krlestwa Polskiego he came from the Kingdom of Poland pochodzi z Ksi stwa Pozna skiego he came from the Duchy of Pozna pochodzi z gubernii grodzie skiej he came from Grodno province

And in some cases a place name may be speci ed, perhaps preceded by z miasta, from thecity, or z miasteczka, from the small town, or ze wsi, from the village.

Other Phrases Often Seen

Bo e oka mu/jej mi osierdzie God, show him/her mercy.Cze jego pami ci or Cze jej pami ci Honor to his/her memory.

Niech mu/jej ziemia b dzie lekka May the earth be light for him/her. Sometimes theexpression is not just ziemia but ta obca ziemia, this foreign soil, expressing a wishthat the immigrant may rest easy in this foreign land [America].

Pochowany buried, typically with details on the funeral, such as the date. Prosi o modlitw Asking for a prayer (i. e., Please say a prayer for him/her.) Prosi o westchnienie do Boga Asking for a sigh to God.

Prosi o Zdrowa Maryjo Asking for a Hail Mary.Stroskani Sorrowful, woebegone, referring to the surviving relatives, e. g., a childsgravestone may mention his stroskani rodzice, grief-stricken parents.

Wieczny odpoczynek racz mu/jej da Panie Lord, grant him/her eternal rest, pre-sumably modeled after the rst words of the Latin Requiem Mass, Requiem aeternamdona eis Domine, Lord, give them eternal rest.

Wieczny pokj Eternal rest.


15/15


ONLINE SOURCES OF HELP

If you have spent any time online looking for assistance with your research, you know thatthere is an enormous amount of material available. Indeed, tracking down the particular item youneed among the ocean of information can be quite a challenge.

One general rule of thumb cannot be repeated too often: use a good Internet search engine to nd stuff for yourself. To be honest with you, when Im reading requests on the Polish mailinglists, I dont even consider replying to any question that could have been answered with a simplevisit to a search engine; I gure if you cant be bothered to help yourself, why should I? Thesearch engine generally regarded as best these days is at http://www.google.com . It not only doesa good job of nding useful material; its home page also gives you options to search for photo-graphs or pictures.

If you need to write a letter in Polish and have no clue how to go about it, a good letter-writing guide is available on the PGSA Website: http://www.pgsa.org/letter_eng.htm

I considered including a list of common terms for occupations in this handout, then remembered that I had such a list in a handout for a talk I gave last year. Then I remembered, that hand-

out is available on the PGSA Website, too. Youll nd it on page 12-15 at this site:http://www.pgsa.org/TransTips.pdf If youve received correspondence in Polish from the State Archives and need a little help

guring out what it says, this site may help: http://www.langline.com/StateArchGuide.htm Adventurous souls whod like to try their hand at the basics of Polish pronunciation and

grammar can do so here: http://golem.umcs.lublin.pl/users/ppikuta/lessons/ex0.htm There are, of course, many more. But then you wouldnt want me to give you all the answers

and spoil your fun, would you? Look for yourself. The sources you nd may be much better thanthe ones I know about. Good luck!

crash course in polish

Documents