Too many English words in the Polish language!

Well, go back to Hudson river, if you please.

One cannot really learn a language from mluvnice books, Magdalena ;-)

And by this you mean to say...?

Yeah, I kinda agree with that but I thought we were discussing inflections...? Never mind, it's getting late.

Good morning!

I thought we were discussing whether there were too many English words in the Polish language ;-) I'd say, those words make no harm as long as they dissolve in the language. I personally love the word "imidż" (image) used informally. "Wizerunek" sounds dryly.

-- Po co nosisz te długie włosy?
-- Dla imidżu, k**wa! ;-))))
(-- Celem poprawienia mego wizerunku <--- c'mon....)

I also love new phrases borrowed from English, such as:
-- Taki lajf. (That's life).
It's so juicy and colourful compared to the most specific Polish idiom:
-- Trudno.

Ha ;)

As you probably know, I won't quarrel with you over that one, as I think borrowings (in any language) are mostly good clean fun ;-)

I won't quarrel with you over anything, due to the deep respect I pay to you ;-)
We can discuss, not quarrel, though.

I think borrowed words contribute to the richness of any language, make it living. What would be Ivrit without the words such as "televizja" or "autobus"? ;-)

So here comes a time to decline Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton:

To jest Monika Lewinsky ['Monika Lewińska' - for family and friends] / To jest Bill Clinton.
Nie ma Moniki Lewinsky [Nie ma Moniki Lewińskiej] / Nie ma Billa Clintona.
Robię kawę Monice Lewinsky [... kawę Monice Lewińskiej] / Monika Lewińska robi loda Billowi Clintonowi.
Mówię o Monice Lewinsky [... o Monice Lewińskiej] / Mówię o Billu Clintonie
Rozmawiam z Moniką Lewinsky [... z Moniką Lewińską] / Rozmawiam z Billem Clintonem.
Moniko Lewinsky, come here! Billu Clintonie, już idę do Ciebie!

[Odchodzą, trzymając się czule za ręce, wprost na przesłuchanie przed Komisją Kongresu Stanów Zjednoczonych.]

Oklaski, kurtyna ...

Good job :-D

I remember someone complaining that we use words komputer or pecet for computer, which are both borrowing. However, in less formal circles, other words can be used - piec, piecyk (both refer to PC obviously, but both more familiar), blaszak, blacha. So it's all good in my opinion. :) (even ignoring that blacha comes from German)

The music world includes a big number of domestic Polish words, often mixed with borrowed words.

Rozkmińcie to/Guess the meaning ;-)

Piec, piecyk
Paka
Wzmak
Wiosło, wiosełko
Multiefekt
Cyfra
Beczki
Blachy
Mechanizm stopy, stopa
Centrala
(But hajhet, rajd, krasz, tomy, flortom, czajna, while Polish words such as gong, czynel, kociołki, półkocioł exist, too)
Basia
Klawisz
Pałker
Riff ;-)
Akord
Solówka
Przejście, but also "bridż"
...

I could probably guess a few of them, having had some exposure to music-speak during my punk-rock heyday ;-)
but overall, your request is not quite fair, as to understand many of these terms we would also need to have at least a minimal background in music, and mine ends with "nie ma odsłuchu", "próba mikrofonu" and "postaw ten piecyk tutaj" (as overheard during stage set-up). ;-)

bad idea - a jadę do Rzym, jadę do Moskwa, - no regulation will make people talk like that boletus
jeśli spotkałem się z Jackiem Dukajem to dlaczego spotkałem się z Jack Straw zamiast z Jackiem Straw -
btw - if you have a name like Pat Robertson (which could be either male or female Polish declination can often show the gender

Spotkałem się z Patem Roberstonem. vs Spotkałem się z Pat Roberston. if you used nominal form for a male Pat Robertso many people would think you met a female eventually

and it is sometimes important to know the gender to use the correct grammatical forms that should reflect the gender


some do get declined - Alicia Huggins, Alicii Huggins (gen, acc, loc, dat), z Alicią Huggins (inst.), Alicio Huggins (voc. however rare or strange even to the native speakers) - you should be able to see the pattern

Camilla Parker, Camilli Parker, Camillą Parker

Wiera £awrowa - dat Wierze £awrowej - gen Wiery £awrowej - acc Wierę £awrową loc Wierze £awrowej ins Wierą £awrową voc Wiero £awrowa

Martha Fonseca - acc Marthę Fonseca/e gen Marthy Fonseca/i dat Marcie Fonseca/e loc Marcie Fonseca/e ins Marthą Fonseca/ą voc Martho Fonseca

"Magda Was A Punk Rocker"? Oi! ;-) Me, too.

All right, let me translate for you:

Piec, piecyk - a guitar or bass amplifier. The word meaning stove for one playing softer and blast-furnace for thrash-metal guitarists :-) Note: The bass amp is always referred to as "piec" unless we are talking on "pierdziawka", a small amp that "farts out" (English slang).

Paka or paczka - "package, pack" - a guitar cabinet/speaker enclosure, since it is crammed (packed) with loudspeakers.
Wzmak - an amplifier (amp in English slang)
Wiosło, wiosełko - "an oar or a paddle" - a guitar. English speaker would say "an axe".
Multiefekt - a digital guitar processor (derived directly from English)
Cyfra - "a digit" - any processor based on the digital technology. BTW, "tranziak" is a solid-state guitar amplifier (from transistor)

Beczki - "barrels" - drums, but not percussion. A drum set is coloquially called "perka".
Blachy - "metal sheets" - cymbals
Mechanizm stopy, stopa - "a foot" - simply anything related to the kick-drum
Centrala - the kick-drum, the bass drum. Few want to waste their energy to say "bęben taktowy"
(But hajhet, rajd, krasz, tomy, flortom, czajna, while Polish words such as gong, czynel, kociołki, półkocioł exist, too) - The above are just English names spoken the Polish way. Drummers are lazy b*stards!

Basia -"Betty" - the bass guitar, as in diminutive of Barbara
Klawisz - "a key of a keyboard" - any electronic instrument equipped with a keyboard, no reference to acoustic instruments such as piano.

Pałker - "stickman" - a drummer
Riff ;-) - some spell it "ryf" ;-)
Akord - "chord" - perfectly legal Polish word. Slang ones are "chwyt" (a grip) and "funkcja" (function)
Solówka - a solo part. As in "wyjść na solówkę"
Przejście, but also "bridż" - English call it "bridge", the part connecting the verse with the chorus in a song. Also drum fill-in.

I'm quite surprised so many Polish words are used in the local musical slang. "odsłuch", as you Magdalena could perfectly pick it up is called "a stage monitor" in English.

not only to the familiarity - I would agree to some extent the Kwaj (Kway) would be the case (if Kwaj was familiar then we would say Most na Kwayu) if unfamiliar 'Most na rzece Kway.)

but Kwai is a different thing - similar to 'tupi' i guess - 'tupi' does not decline (to tupi, tego tupi) - and similarly Kwai wouldn't (as it ends in i - not a regular ending for a Polish noun)

Yeah, my understanding is the name of the river is pronounced Kwa-i, not kwaj.

It would be rather funny to translate "Bridge on the River Kwai" not using the word "rzeka".

gumishu


No, I did not suggested that, but something of this sort: "jadę do Cortina d'Ampezzo, następnie do Spittal an der Drau, skręcając po drodze do miejscowości Tolmin, a potem do Gemona del Friuli.

I am no the first one to suggest such things. Apparently such discussions take place every two generations or so. And there are always exceptions to the rule:


Poradnia językowa PWN
poradnia.pwn.pl/lista.php?id=4563

the thing is poeple talk like that as in your sentence and it makes sense especially for those complex names - and I guess this is somehow sanctioned linguistically - however if I do omitted d'Ampezzo I would say do Cortiny

btw many even simple German place names tend not to be declined - jadę do Rostock, jadę do Bonn (Bonn because it happens to be neuter in Polish), jadę do Tegel - only a handful German names get declined (appart from those who are declined after a better know pattern - Hamburg, Hamburga, Hamburgu - Naumburg, Naumburga, Naumburgu)

one comparison can be striking - say Temellin is a German (or French) place name - it won't be declined then (unless very familiar) (w Temellin)

still if it were a place in Czech Rep, Slovakia, former Yougoslavia or Hungary we (at least I) would definitely decline it (w Temellinie)

Boletus, I'm somewhat lost now.

Shall we decline Polish last names ending with -o?
Such as Jędrzejko, Żyto? I would decline them. Often, people with such names demand their last name is not declined. Any advice?

gumishu, I don't know what you are doing, but ja jadę do Rostocku. :-)

Not only English words in Polish, but German ones as well. In today's RZECZPOSPOLITA:

Bartosz Arłukowicz, polityk uważany do niedawna za potencjalną wunderwaffe lewicy, znalazł się w martwym punkcie – ocenia publicysta "Rzeczpospolitej".

-------------------------------------------------
And my favorite borrowed English word, "coach", here again in the French collection of mine [found in LE FIGARO today]:

Comme le souligne Rafaël Vivier, coach chez WIT Associés, la lettre de motivation a perdu au fil des années toute utilité.

Interestingly, I've never come across the word 'coach' in the Polish press.

a do Bremerwerderu też jeźdisz bo ja tam zdaje się do Bremerwerder jeżdżę (po prostu nie ma pewności że człon werder jest męski w jęz niemieckim - zdaje się że nie jest) ok akurat jest (edit)

ale do Wilhelmshavenu to chyba już nie jeźdisz ?? tylko do Wilhelmshaven
i tak się upieram że się powinno do Bremmerwerder a nie do Bremmerwerderu jeździć

According to the rule, they have to be declined [and the rule is "decline whatever is possible to be declined"]. Many of their 'owners' insist, however, that they are not. The most outstanding of those who insist his surname to remain undeclined is a popular PiS politician, Zbigniew Ziobro.

I saw some posts on internet related to the -o names, but I did not pay attention to the answers. I guess, it all depends on tradition or changing definitions. For example, I have seen both: "panu Gołąbowi" and "panu Gołębiowi" and apparently both are fine.

slowniki.gazeta.pl/pl/Gołąb

Jędrzejko and Żyto look the same, but belong to different categories.

Jędrzejko should be inflected according to the pattern of Kościuszko - widzę pana Jędrzejkę, idą z panem Jędrzejką, zwracam się do pana Jędrzejki, przyglądam się panu Jędrzejce etc. Unfortunately, most people don't even know that, and the rest probably don't care ;-)

Żyto is more of a problem - it's hard to say idę z panem Żytem na obiad, zwracam się do pana Żyta z prośbą, przyglądam się panu Żytu... additionally, it paints a mental picture of a walking and talking sheaf of rye... ;-)

AFAIK such surnames remain uninflected.

Żyto. acc Żytę gen Żyty dat Życie loc Życie ins Żytą voc Żyto

That was my afterthought as well, but though this inflection seems correct, as in "sounds good to me as a native speaker", if I were asked whether most Polish people would know or bother enough to actually use it - my answer would be "probably not", when there are so many people out there who don't even inflect "easy" surnames such as Wiśniewski or Kowal.

surprisingly enough it is Catholic priests who lead this avandgarde of the future :P

That's the first time I heard about not declining such surnames. "Idziemy do Kowal"? No, just no. Actually, I had a teach in high school whose name was Morajko and everybody declined his name even though he preferred his name undeclined!