Changes in the Polish Language

Cześć

I am taking a class on the introduction to language and we have to write on how globalization has affected language. Since my mother's family came from Poland and I am trying to learn, I want to write on Polish. My problem is most of the articles are too old and there is very little written in English. So I was hoping I could get some feedback from some of you "natives".

I understand about the Polish Language Law 1999 and then in 2004 it was adjusted to EU requirements. Do you think making a law will preserve the language?

What changes have you seen to Polish language in the past few years?

Dziękują

I think the Polish language borrowed a lot of English IT/computer phrases (starting from "computer", "Internet", "email" etc.). I don't know anything about the language to be "adjusted" to EU requirements (but in EU there's no official language - unless it's German?).

I know one word I never heard before in The Polish language, about 20 years ago when I was living there. Now all of a sudden about 10 years later I started hearing this word. I don't know when it came into the Polish language.

It was TIR.

Not strictly true mate.
There are 20 official languages (23 in 2007) in the EU and when every new state joins, they stipulate which language they want to have recognised as "their official language" within the Union.

All documents, treaties etc have to printed in each language...can you imagine the bill at the printers!

TIR? Transports Internationaux Routiers?

I personally do not have much confidence in our Polish language experts, etc... Especially in Mr Andrzej Markowski, who (not so long ago) allowed the form "poszłem" (instead of the correct one: "poszedłem", meaning : "I went" [masculine]) in everyday's language... :/ Is every stupidity to be oficially permitted, only because many undereducated people use it?

Pozdrawiam,
Gustaw

When I was growing up I had a hard time because my uncle who was born in the USA would try to teach me Polish. When I was around my "really" Polish relatives they woudl scold me for pronouncing things wrong and using 'slang' (one reason I stopped trying to learn).

When my daughter visited Poland in 2000, she was with a youth group that had some that could speak Polish. There were times when they would stop to talk to local teens or hear them talking in what sounded like Polish but different. When spoken to in Polish they would answer and then go back into their language. Was this a local slang that the teens there use?

I am just wondering how much of the Polish language has remained constant and how much has become foreign to those who live with it?

Dziękują

Sometimes my father has the difficulties to understand me and my friend. Sometimes I can not understand the words which my sister (7 years younger) says. Young people use a slang, new words, new "bad" words, which we use just among our friends. For example the word "ZAJEBIŚCIE" - polish young people use it very often and for us it means that something is cool, great, wonderful... For my dad this word is "bad" one (the true is that this word comes from Russia and in russian language it means something completely different..., but there is no many young people who speak russian and they don't know the "roots" of this word...). But in the school, at the university, in the offices, in discussions with older people we use normal words :)

What would be a word / phrase that your parents would say that you would say differently? Is it generation or modern change?

Merged: The Polish language - from the sixties to today

Hey,

I have recently found a very old book on Polish in my friends University library, it was made during the sixties (closer to the beginning of the seventies). I would like to know if there is any point me using this book to teach myself Polish, it seems to be quite good, I am just worried that it may be a little out of date.

Do I need to worry? Has the core grammar changed that much? What subtle changes should I look out for?

Thanks

maybe a little but that's still better then nothing. if you like the book, use it.

The grammar hasn't changed at all, neither has the pronounciation. When I watch films from the sixties, I can hear no difference at all except that some actors may be still pronouncing the dark "£" which is like the English LL in WELL and not like the English W in it. Of course, you will not learn words like "internet", and "komórka" won't mean "mobile phone" yet.