Imitating old peasant-type Polish dialects - polite?

Polonius3 980 | 12276

26 Dec 2010 / #1

To native Polish speakers only: In dealing with old peasant types speaking a heavy Polish rural dialect is it polite to try to speak to them their way? If one stops at a peasant's hut and asks him: 'Gospodarzu, mata może świże jojka?' Is that regarded favourably as 'he's like one of us' or would it be seen as taking the p*ss?

mafketis 38 | 10829

26 Dec 2010 / #2

I'm not a native speaker but it's almost never polite to imitate someone's non-standard dialect in any language.

Wroclaw 44 | 5359

26 Dec 2010 / #3

In dealing with old peasant types

If one stops at a peasant's hut

i assume that u are writing a work of fiction.

delphiandomine 86 | 17823

26 Dec 2010 / #4

He hasn't been in Poland for many years, so I imagine he's writing on the basis of imagined travels in his head to imagined villages in imagined mountains.

OP Polonius3 980 | 12276

26 Dec 2010 / #5

Indeed, I've just watched the original Bela Lugosi 'Dracula' film on the telly with the scene of travelling through the mountains and the various tumble-down peasant huts along the way and

that's how I picture today's rural Poland (LOL)!

MrEp - | 26

26 Dec 2010 / #6

would it be seen as taking the p*ss?

I think it might be seen that way. I wouldn't do that.

peter_olsztyn 6 | 1082

26 Dec 2010 / #7

Is that regarded favourably as 'he's like one of us' or would it be seen as taking the p*ss?

and then he slowly put his Omnia HD phone down and we can hear "Don't play stupid maaaan" ;)

PolishNutjob 1 | 74

27 Dec 2010 / #8

In dealing with old peasant types speaking a heavy Polish rural dialect is it polite to try to speak to them their way?

\

Yes it is considered polite. It shows that you respect them and their traditions.

strzyga 2 | 990

27 Dec 2010 / #9

In dealing with old peasant types speaking a heavy Polish rural dialect is it polite to try to speak to them their way? If one stops at a peasant's hut and asks him: 'Gospodarzu, mata może świże jojka?'

you mean this kind of peasants?

youtube.com/watch?v=Os1t-xhbp3Y&feature=related

Ziemowit 14 | 4035

27 Dec 2010 / #10

If one stops at a peasant's hut and asks him: 'Gospodarzu, mata może świże jojka?' Is that regarded favourably as 'he's like one of us' or would it be seen as taking the p*ss?

If the peasant hears such a request uttered in his local rural dialect, he will probably tell them:
Agnieszka już tu nie mieszka [Harry doesn't live here any more].

Trevek 25 | 1699

27 Dec 2010 / #11

If one stops at a peasant's hut and asks him: 'Gospodarzu, mata może świże jojka?' Is that regarded favourably as 'he's like one of us' or would it be seen as taking the p*ss?

As someone who has studied sociolinguistics and anthropology, I'd be wary of doing it if you didn't know the people. Others might feel insulted that you don't think they can speak 'proper' Polish.

Some people might wonder why you were trying to use their dialect, others might feel threatened (they might use it to keep outsiders 'outside'). It also depends on how well you speak the dialect, as the reply might be too much to handle.