Dziadzia / Babcia - help me with spelling/pronunciation

Babcia and Dziadzia are both correct. Dziadzia is how a small child would say the more formal word (Dziadek) for Grandpa. It can also sometimes be used by adults in a more endearing way. Babciu and Dziadziu could be used when speaking to or addressing the grand parents directly by a child. Babci and Dziadzi or Dziadka are possessive nouns. Like Babci's cooking. Or were going to Grandma's. Jedziemy do babci. Obviously in Polish you wouldn't use the apostrophe s.

And something similar - Dzidzia (I guess it's a "small child / baby" - could be easily confused with Dziadzia ;)

As for the word/term babcia, when I was growing up I used the term babu for my grandmother and (d)ja(d)ju for my grandfather. That is what I can remember was used before they died many a year ago. I guess the pronunciation will depend on where the grandparents grew up or their parents.

My grandparents came from Poland and spoke very little English. I think they came to the US shortly after they were married sometime before the 1st world war. My grandmother was still in her teens then. I grew up calling my grandmother Botchie & my grandfather Joju (the older grandchildren called him Papa) I know those aren't the correct spellings but that's how we pronounced the words. I think my grandparents were from a very rural area in Poland. Does anyone know the correct spellings for those words & if there's an area in Poland where the words would have been pronounced that way?

It looks to me like dziadziu in Polish which means grandpa - diminutive from the dziadek word. And the pronunciation 'joju' seems ok.

Thank you. There was also a 'game' my grandfather & I would sometimes play. Every night he would sit in front of his tv & watch the news. I don't know how much of it he understood as he didn't know much English. Occasionally he'd point to the newscaster on the screen & say he's a bum, he's a (sounds like) 'pee-ock'. I was about 5 then. I'd say "no he's not" then my grandfather would say to me you're a pee-ock & I'd say no, you are. Then he'd tousle my hair or tickle me & we'd both giggle. It was always just a playful game but to this day I don't know what that word means. My mother thought it might be a slang term for a drunk, but she's not sure. Does anyone know the word?

It's most likely 'pijak' in Polish, which means Drunkard, so your mother was right.

Or "pijok" as many country people would say.

I call my Grandmkther Babchi.Pernouced :Ba-Chi.and my Grandfather, Dziaziua.Pernouced:Jgogh-u.Or. At least that's how i think it's spelled in speaking.

is it Chinese?

It's Baci (like Italian "ci') and Jodjew[....

...gosh how i miss them so. I can still remember his funeral, 23 years later pregnant with second great great grandbabyall i can remember is the vultures swarming on her wil and safety deposit box before the coroner was called. She'd had spit at them.like playing pinochle. Shame.

Baci Polish for Grandmother in my family. Dziadzi Polish for Grandfather in my family.

Babci, cioci, busia, dziadzia are part of a PolAm patois or jargon which is strongly engrained in the culture of descendants of the old (late 19th/early 20th century) Polonia. It is primariyl used by those who speak little if any Polish and communicate exlcusively in English.

Anyone ever heard Starka, and Stazik used for grandparents? Thats what my husband's polish family has said is correct yet slang. I looked it up and apperently my kids are calling them old woman and old man for years now!!!

Starka and starzik are used in the Silesian dialect. Do you know where they came from?

To Mafketis,

Kot (not cot) is just the word for cat. So your grandfather could very well have used that term in an affectionate way.

TO KAPRYS

Starsza pani is just "older lady." Starszy pan is just "older man." Though more in the vein of older middle age, rather than simply old.

Once learned that "Pan Starszy!" was used in Poland with which to signal a waiter. Probably out of date, rather like "Herr Ober!" in German-speaking countries, right?

:-)

@TEMPUSER
I know. We're talking about starzik and starka, though, for dziadek and babcia respectively.

weird spelling, should it be starzyk or are there dialects where rzi is possible?

slask.onet.pl/starki-i-starziki-felieton-marka-szoltyska-po-slasku/xce89

It's the Silesian dialect. I'm not sure if they have standarised spelling rules. I have seen starzyk, too.
The article in the link above is pretty interesting - It's translated from Silesian into Polish below. I'm not sure how fluent you are but you can give it a try.

The article focuses on differences within the Silesian dialect -one of them is the way of referring to your grandparents. Three boys from the same neighbourhood called them dziadek- babcia, opa-oma or starzik- starka ;)

I regularly read books in standard Polish and translate a few academic articles from Polish to English every year.

But Silesian hardly at all.... Standard Polish being so widespread and so uniform across the country has it's benefits but a big drawback is that I'm useless with dialects because I don't get enough exposure to them....

I've bookmarked the article and will give it a shot in a day or two.

Then you should be alright.
As for dialects, I guess most Poles can understand some phrases but only those speaking or exposed to them on a everyday basis understand everything. I got perplexed by some Silesian phrases on several occasions myself but Silesians I have met spoke mostly Polish to me - you could just hear their Silesian accent. However, some just speak regular Polish.

The article is translated into standard Polish. Apart from starzik/starka they have opa/oma for dziadek/babcia. There's a vocabulary beneath where you can find some tips.

A most funny entry for me was 'ańfachowy' which I could not work out of the contex until I have seen the vocabulary.

Ańfachowy - zwyczajny, potoczny [from German 'einfach' - simple, straightforward]

One of my favourites:
We uczony sposob mianuje sie to po łacinie "pluralis majestaticus", czyli liczba mnogo majestatyczno. Dlo przikłodu to je tak: Kaj oma idom?

Anyway, I looked for other articles about it and some say oma had some perjorative meaning :S

I got that right away! German loans are easy and as are some Czech words like kamrat (probably from kamarad - kolega) others are harder. My favorite part of Silesian is the first person singular past tense with -ch in some varieties (instead of -m) probably a holdover from the old aorist .

Ańfachowy was bizzare for me because my mind divided the word instantly between 'ań and 'fachowy', the latter being a popular word in Polish. 'Ańfachowy' is an interesting example of the slavicization of a German word where 'ein' has been transformed into 'ań' rather than into 'ajn' --> 'ajnfachowy'.


There also exists a German word 'Kamerad' which has the same meaning as 'Kumpel', the latter being a very popular German loan in standard Polish.

"Klassenkamerad" in my experience can tend to sound overly bookish, formal, while perhaps familiar-sounding to contemporary Germans. "Kumpel" is a word I used and use constantly in German when speaking with both contemporaries as well as much younger people! As with the Polish "kolega", "Kollege" in German can sometimes be translated in English as "buddy" aka (close) "co-worker", not only "colleague.

German loans are of course most prevalent in Silesian dialects, for ex. "bana" > "Bahn" vs. "pociag", the standard Polish word:-)

Merged:

dziadek - english pronunciations

hello,

I've seen many ways to say Dziadek online. Which is the most accurate English translation? Thank you in advance!

Jah-Jee
Jah-Jah

Go to Google translate, type in Grandpa and translate it to Polish, then listen to the pronunciation.

Jah- deck ------> more or less. ...

My grandparents immigrated to the US from Poland around 1905. There is no record of them at Ellis Island. Does anyone have a similar story but know what port their ancestors used to gain entrance to the US?