Language / PRONOUNCING NASAL VOWEL "Ę" IN FINAL POSITION? [11]


Yes


No

There should be a thread, here on PF, explaining the correct pronunciation of both nasal vowels in Polish.

News / What did Poland get out of the wars and struggles for others? [1108]


That was Polish Army under the Soviet command.


Do these come even close to the human sacrifice of Polish troops whose struggle to defend Britain, which was effective, unlike, not even halfhearted, token expression of sympathy in the form of a few Liberator bombers dropping supplies within territories controlled by Germans, not Poles?

You have some weird sense of fairness.

News / What did Poland get out of the wars and struggles for others? [1108]

What countries were defended and/or liberated by Poles who used this equipment?

News / What did Poland get out of the wars and struggles for others? [1108]


For what?

Language / POLISH LANGUAGE POLICE? [9]


It's a grand idea!
I'm sure Poles would follow a good example of some simplifications of English spelling, according to this oldie but goodie:

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will
make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in
favour of the"k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan
have 1 less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the
troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like
"fotograf" 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekte
to reach the stage where more komplilated changes are possible.
Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have
always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the
horible mes of the silent "e"s in the language is disgraseful, and
they should go away.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing
"th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords
kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer
kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be
no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand
ech ozer.

ZE DREM VIL FINALI KUM TRU!

History / Pilsudski's elite formation [4]


This can be amusing only to a citizen of SZA :)

Pilsudski was a successful leader in military terms. The only one in European history who defeated the USSR or Russia (whichever angle you want to take).

Language / WILL "TĄ" REPLACE "TĘ" SOON? [14]

One of the criteria of correctness (as taught in Polish high schools) is the frequency of use. This is not the only criterion though so alone, it may not be sufficient. Still, "TĘ" is, by some Polish linguists, considered hypercorrectness (negative term) when used in speech, but correct in writing.

Life / WHAT ABOUT THANKSGIVING (ŚWIĘTO DZIĘKCZYNIENIA) IN POLAND? [52]


Good for you. Americans do have reasons to thank Indians for the survival of the first colonists. Poles have no such background.

Poles in Poland celebrate ancient Slavicdozynki - the Holiday of the Harvest.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


They could and they do. This applies to most other languages.


Yes, that would be interesting, but also biased. We'd need to have a thread like that for many languages, and then compare the results. My guess is that English would prove to be a "dealer" of new words that sipped to other languages too.


About 80% of them :)


biszkopt


common IE root


Tulipan


vurtuoz


Not a girl, but also from Arabic:
alkohol, alkaliczny,chemia,algebra


Same in Polish


This isn't really a borrowing. The word has protogermanic origin (dīc in OE)


pantalony, perfumy


Not this particular one, but many others:

dobosz, giermek,hajduk, katana, kontusz, orszak, szyszak


dół, mosiądz, marmur, mak and a whole lot of liturgical terms.


Huge in Polish too.

So what do we see here?
Languages influence one another.

Travel / Is Poland mostly plains? [57]


You would love it in Saskatchewan. You kick a dog and you can see it running away for 3 days.

News / Captain of hijacked tanker is Polish [71]

Former Ottawa gas station operator rules home state of Somali pirates.

Life / WHAT ABOUT THANKSGIVING (ŚWIĘTO DZIĘKCZYNIENIA) IN POLAND? [52]


I can't quite fathom why are you talking about accomplishments and Thanksgiving. Do you know about the history of Thanksgiving in the US? About the only thing the colonists accomplished that year was in that they gladly accepted the help of the local natives.

They killed them the next year.


Taking care of American problems first would be a good start ;)

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


These are not pattern of English evolving. These are incorrect incarnations of English, and the reason get classified as various types if "ish" is due to the relative consistency of errors in grammar and pronunciation typical of certain speakers. These are not languages, nor are these even dialects of English. There is plenty of evidence you agree with that, right here on PF :)

News / Will Poland become green? [122]

There were some genuine efforts to make Poland green during communist times. Sometimes, when the communist party dignitaries traveled around faded grass was painted green ahead of time, so that it looked better for the camera.

Yup, kids painted grass with brushes and sprayers.

USA, Canada / POLISH AMERICANS UNAWARE of KOSHER FOOD TAX? [19]


The "myth" is not really busted. The website admits that:

Does certification add to the price of a product? Certainly, but the amount is miniscule.

So the "tax" still exists, and the fact that is miniscule is irrelevant.

What is even more irritating are kosher certificates issued to products such as steel or clorox/javex. Some of the certificates are issued even if Jewish religious rules are very specific that there is no need to consider some products as either kosher or not, since they are kosher by their nature.

History / UPA barbarian murders on Polish and Jewish neighbors during WW2 [150]


Poland has never had any major issues with the Republic of Kongo, while there were centuries of trouble between Poles and Ukrainians. They are our backyard and we are theirs. That's when you start mowing the grass first, before moving on to remote, and exotic locations of no significance to you. Poland's relations with Ukraine are among the most important in Poland's foreign policies.

I hope you won't run for any public office putting you in a position to decide Poland's foreign policies.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


So trends and patterns in what other languages did you analyze? How would you compare Polish of the 1960's to the same language spoken today? What's your analysis of the changes in pronunciation or vocabulary?

Have you looked into Brazilian Portuguese? Argentinian version of Spanish? The almost (relatively) brand new language called Afrikaans? Modern Greek? All IE languages which borrow heavily from English? (the US "cultural" and scientific influence).

Seanus, you cannot claim there are trends and patterns unless you have data to support it. Without that there are no trends or patterns. There is your gut feeling :)

Food / YOUR TYPICAL WIGILIA SPREAD? [2]

clear beetroot barszcz with mushroom uszka (tortellini)
fish of some kind (I don't like carp)
bigos (hunter's stew)
noodles & poppy seed with honey
stewed fruit (dried-fruit compote)
sauerkraut and mushrooms "burgers"
sauerkraut pierogi
kutia
pastry

The Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper tradition does not allow mean or alcohol of any kind at the Wigilia dinner, until midnight.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


That's all true but do you have any stats as to how acceptance of foreign words into English compares to other languages today?

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


Evolving or undergoing a revolution?


French is an old story. The French now fight (a little lees eagerly now) to stop the influence of English on the French language.

What about exposure of other languages to English? Just within my area of employment - there is hardly any Polish computer terminology. It's all English with Polish inflections.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


I'm not really sure what that means in practice.

As for the languages, a revolution in language can be only a metaphor. If changes were too quick then people would simply by unable to understand one another. There may be some drastic changes on some formal level (eg. spelling, like they did did Russia-USSR transition) but not in everyday speech. In case you are thinking about various "great consonant shifts", these took centuries to complete. Hardy a revolution.

I have been out of Poland for over 20 years, and I went back only twice, for very brief visits. I read Polish newspapers and I can't believe some of the linguistic creations. What used to be considered vulgar, lowly or imply bad style now seems to be a norm. I am still a proficient speaker of this language and the changes so I think I'm looking at an evolution rather than a revolution.


Ever thought about how English changes other languages faster than it changes itself?


Slowacki and Mickiewicz would have similar problems with Wojaczek or Stachura.

Language / Why Polish people use so many words to describe a situation? [122]


More than most?
You're just kidding, right?

Travel / Is Poland mostly plains? [57]


the plains or the peasants? :)

Language / Numbers in Polish - two different ways? [44]


Happens in all countries.

I don't see a problem though.
Don't tell them what they don't want to hear.

Travel / Is Poland mostly plains? [57]

Plains are good. They make it easier to travel to those "interesting" places :)
Plenty of mountains and hills in Poland.

News / Poland's Most Quoted [22]


I think this one is by Stanislaw Jachowicz.
I never saw the word in bold in this saying but rather "swego".

Language / When to use Ręka / Dłoń [14]

indeed, my mistake

Love / What would you think if you were me? Having lived with a Polish woman for over a year. [30]


What you describe has nothing to do with "Polish". It has to do with [insert your favorite "slang" for a bad woman]

Start thinking about the best (for you) exit strategy. Based on what you wrote she's looking at the neighbors' lawn, and frankly, if there are 2 (two!) ex-husbands, I dunno...

Good luck.

Language / When to use Ręka / Dłoń [14]


Ręka:

1. The whole limb from the shoulder to the tips of one's fingers.
2. The whole limb from the shoulder to the wrist (does not include the palm).

Dłoń

1. The palm including fingers
2. The palm not including fingers

Marek is in general right in his assessment of the usage, although where medical issues are concerned the term is used frequently. The word will be also used in everyday speech depending on local and social circumstances.

Przedramię

1. Forearm.
2. Piszczele (slangish, refers to the forearms, but really means the bones of the forearm)

Ramię

1. Arm.
2. Shoulder.

Life / I need five most romantic Polish songs for my girl friend's birthday [29]

I think there is a song just for you.

Krystyna Pronko - Małe Tęsknoty (Little Nostalgias)



She also has a more lively song. Not about missing but about cherishing a lover's presence. IMO, one of the most beautiful love songs with a subtle smile.

You are a cure for all the evil (I think)