Language / Polish Swear Words [1242]

There were question about etymology of the word: kurwa.

There are 2 hypotheses:
1) From Protoslavic (and still used in Poland and many other Slavic languages) word KUR meaning COCK, postfix -WA means collective noun.
Calling a woman kurwa used to suggest that she knows many cocks=males ie. was a prostitute or a lascivious one. (French word COCOTTE has analogical history.)

2) From Latin word CURVA meaning CURVE or ASKEW - suggesting that the way of life of kurwa wasn't so straight - ie. with many curves and bits on the side.

Recently this hypothesis is treated as obsolete popular ad-ideation.

Language / Polish Swear Words [1242]


Thank you for your good word, Gumishu.

So my hypothesis are crap and only you have possessed this deep reaching insight in the past far before the history started, before barbarians of Germanic or Slavonic origin even know how to read. Nice to meet somebody with these skills.

Take it easy - it is only etymology - and with languages with so short history like Germanic and moreover Slavonic - you have only hypotheses out there.

And you are right that Latin hypothesis is funny one - some folk staff but very old one. It was very popular from early modern times together with another explanation for curva meaning corner - you know where all working girls stand.

I can tolerate your German root proposal but only as one more hypothesis - let it be number 3). I have heard about that - but it has no clear phonetic path from Gothic HORS to Slavonic KUREW.

But we have one more and very promising hypothesis:
4) In very old Polish KUR = cock and KUREW = hen
If Polish KUR, English COCK and Latin PETUX mean male gender of chicken,
and if simultaneously all these words mean also penis,
so KUREW could mean also the complement or other part of penis or vagina.

Now we are just close to final association and here you are:
If KOGUT = rooster or penis - is used to call a horny man or a cocksman in slangish,
so KUREW = hen or vagina - could be used to call a whore or a c*nt in slangish.
It is some kind of pars-pro-toto association.

And, hello, Gumishu, suffix -WA sometimes is a transformed female noun form with -EW (it could be the case of kurew) but in the other words it could be a collectiva like in DZIATWA = all the children, GĘSTWA - all the shrub, LITWA - all the Lithuanians, TATARWA - all the Tartars.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

OK. So let's look how difficult and complicated is Polish comparing to English.

English CH is pronounced like:
1. cz in Polish, tsch in German, c (before e) in Italian
2. not exact equivalent in Polish, ch in Spanish, c (before i) in Italian
3. ć in Polish
4. sz in Polish, sch in German, and... sh in English
5. k in Polish and all other languages
6. ch in Polish, kh in other languages
Enough?

So try now with an English vowel - may favourite one is I - here you are:
1. aj in Polish, ai in Italian, ei in German
2. i in Polish, i in Italian, i in German
3. something between Polish i and y, sometimes i in German or u umlaut
4. y in Polish

So guys, if you managed to learn all these funny inconsequences in English language (inherited from deep past and different languages: Latin, Anglosaxon, French, Greek, Gaelic), don't worry Polish is boringly predictable.

You just attacking it from the wrong side.

Polish vowels are plain vanilla.
With one exception of o-accented which sounds exactly like u.
Besides of this what you hear is what you write.
And of course always - even in this exception - what you read is what you say.

The case of Ę in word endings (ultima) is slightly exagerated.
It used to be full nasal vowel like IN in French or EN in Portuguese.
However now there is tendency to pronounce it like E proper - you know on the end of the word young guys have no more power to blow through nose.

So you have here:
Word PROSZĘ (I ask/here you are) you can pronounce:
PROSZĘ (full nasality, sounding artifically and rarely listened),
PROSZE' (with reduced nasality, often heard) or
PROSZE (with no nasality at all - very popular).
CHCĘ (I want): CHCĘ, CHCE' (most popular), CHCE, CHCEM (used by louts and of course by some politicians)
CIĘ (you = thee): CIĘ, CIE', CIE - with even more popular reduction of nasality.

But believe me all forms are equally understood - it's a matter of style not of intelligibility.
And you never learn this small differences of still changing language but only through listening native speakers and repeating.

The same with consonants with very few exceptions and some general rules.
Voiced consonants sometimes are becoming voiceless to make the pronunciation easier.

Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]

Take it easy - it's only etymology.

Let's have a look to another source:

PL: Murzyn, jak czytamy w Etymologicznym słowniku języka polskiego Andrzeja Bańkowskiego, pojawił się w języku polskim w XIV -wiecznych psałterzach, jako przekład z łacińskiego Aethiops (gr. Aitiops), znacząc tyle co ciemnolicy.

EN: Murzyn as we can read in Etymological Dictionary of Polish Language by Andrzej Bańkowski was firstly reported in 14th century in psalters as an equivalent of a Latin word Aethiops (Greek Aitiops) and meaning a dark faced man.

And here you have: Latin mauros (acc. to Mirosława Siuciak) and Greek mavros (acc. to any Greek dictionary) meaning black.

Having in mind that Polish was under very high Latin pressure in medieval and early modern times, the Latin etymology is the most probably one ie. Murzyn means black.

Language / The meaning of some Polish Diminutives [23]


You're taking it from wrong side. All these endings are to make diminutive without any difference in meaning but in degree.

Polish diminutives (zdrobnienia) have different roles in itself - the same as in English - but in English you have so small choice of wordings here.

It can mean smallness, lightness, tenderness and of course by contrariness - so popular both in English and Polish - toughness, and extreme hugeness.

And the endings. The whole mess about it is due to medieval history of Polish language. There were 2 small semivowels which was lost. They are called yers - soft one and hard one.

They are responsible for all these confusions with declination of piesek (doggy): pieska, pieskowi, pieska, pieskiem, piesku.

All the rest is a plentifulness of tenderness:
0) pies, kamień, Jan | kura, gazeta, Anna
1) -k: piesek, kamyk, Janek | -ka: kurka, gazetka, Anka
2) -cz-k: pieseczek, kamyczek, Janeczek | -cz-ka: kureczka, gazeteczka, Aneczka
and so on...

And all these not only with nouns but also with adjectives and adverbs:
mały (small): maleńki, maluśki, malusieńki
drobno (finely): drobniutko, drobniuteńko, drobniusieńko

After some training with word formation rules you can easily create a diminutive of your choice with every word and every degree of tenderness, but beware - some of them will sound idiotically and not used at all - but quite well intelligible by your listener.

Law / Contracts for IT staff in Poland [12]


The split you have mentioned is in the case of payroll contract with all that awful SS (ZUS) overhead.

You can however have your workers on:
- contract for specified work with clause of the transfer of author's economic rights (umowa o dzieło z przeniesieniem praw autorskich) - the whole pay is under 50% tax rebate.

- contract for specified work with a self-employed one-man-business - which is possibly the best for you; there is no tax rebate but on the other hand many costs could be deduced by the business owner, moreover new startups has 2-years vacation with 70% reduced SS overhead.

Law / Contracts for IT staff in Poland [12]

Delphiandomine is right in most details but the most important is what is the strategy of your firm, slainte:

1) building a presence in Poland to expand your business here - to catch new contacts, clients, contracts and so on, or

2) just outsource some work to the Isle of Poland for some better terms-of-trade, or

3) start with 1 and see if 2 is possible, or

4) just make some appearances of the globality to be better sold by your company board to even more global company.

So if A=creative payroll, B= contract for specified work, C=self-employed employees, you have:
1 - A
2 - C
3 - A + support of B&C
4 - A (one secretary) + whatever

I hope it can help to develop your strategy ;-)

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]


Don't hurry with assessing nationality by name only. My family for example is of Austrian origin with very German family name, but polonized in the middle of Ukraine (what a mockery).

Furman was Polish proper noun for waggoner as early as in 16th century. It was, of course, a German borrowing, but made hundreds years ago, so it gives you NO EVIDENCE of the nationality or religion of the family - or let's better say - an origin of the first guy consequently described with this moniker.

He could be a Pole of Catholic or Lutheran denomination, or German living together with Poles, or Ruthenian (Ukrainian or Belorussian) or even Jew. In Yiddish (a German dialect with Hebrew and Slavic borrowings spoken by majority of Jews in former Poland) a carter was called: furman (from German) or bałaguła (from Ruthenian).

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

I know. The world is full of besserwissers (or knowing better), so please show them, if you like the map with geographical localization of persons with last name Furman in Poland - total of 6 193 persons, from whom - unfortunately - only very very few could be of Jewish descent.

Language / The meaning of some Polish Diminutives [23]

Nice work. You're almost completely right.
But as I mentioned you can easily create a diminutive of your choice with every word and every degree of tenderness, but beware - some of them will sound idiotically and not used at all - but quite well intelligible by your listener. And this is a case of: ptaś.

And the verbs... I have been looking in my memory any verb to have diminutive and I have failed. Your artificially created forms płakuniać, płakuńciać, płakusiać are however quite cute and maybe used in some family language when talking to a baby.

The same case is with comparative - they have no dictionary entries for diminutives, but I understand your prędziusiej and I'm almost sure I have heard it talked to a baby.

And once again about meanings: diminutive (with no matter which ending) means in most cases lesser scale or intensity but also tenderness.

And with the scale, yes you;re right - if you're adding more one more diminutive it makes the word even smaller, so pies = normal dog, piesek = doggy, pieseczek = small doggy.

Endings -eńki, -śki sounds more tender than other.

And last remark: all these forms aren't declination (or declension) they are effects of word forming i.e. completely new words, but made according to Polish word forming rules and inheriting any phonetic properties of the root word.

Language / Polish Swear Words [1242]


You're probably right. The root of Lietuva is probably of Baltic origin.
Wikipedia proposes "Since the word Lietuva has a suffix (-uva), the original word should have no suffix. A likely candidate is Lietā." However the ending could Slavonic as well. If not it was well assimilated and used together with Moskwa, Tatarwa.

In old Polish also MOSKWA was used as a collectivum:
Moskwa się pocza dziwować skąd się wziął, jednakże rozumieli, że go do tego czasu było utajono. [from the period of Dymitriada (wars with Muscovy 1604-1610]

archive.org/stream/archivfrslavisc00pastgoog/archivfrslavisc00pastgoog_djvu.txt

And TATARWA: ..niedola nas ściga, najechała wraża tatarwa. A kozak śpi.. (Bolesław Londyński, Bajki Słowiańskie); see also: Stanisław Vincenz, Prawda Starowieku.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


What about DŻDŻYSTA DŻDŻOWNICA (drizzly earthworm).

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Broszkiewicz looks like having an origin in broszka a proper noun for brooch or it is a toponymic from
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broszk%C3%B3w
Broszków, Broszkowo, Broszkowa.
Ending -ewicz is composed of 2 parts: -iew which is alternate form of -ow (which - as you may know - is a classical form of creating derivative words from nouns in Polish).

and -icz which formally is considered as patronymic (from Eastern part of Poland).
West Polish equivalent could sound like Broszkowski.

There is 770 persons with this name in Poland.

There were also 2 writers of this name:
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Broszkiewicz]Jerzy Broszkiewicz
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Broszkiewicz]Stanisław Broszkiewicz


Kashubian and Polish are very similar but in this case it is evidently Polish.
Kashubian words for laska cane or walking stick are:
palëca, krëcziew, palëga, karkulëca, dębówka, kramólc, krokulc, palcôter.
Quite different, isn't it?

Laska looks like a moniker for a tall and slender guy. By the way laska was a name for old measure of length. It equaled 15 ells ie. circa 8,9 meters.

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]


In fact Romanian has 3 cases:
- Latin accusative which works also as nominative,
- Latin dative working also as genitive,
- Slavic vocative.

Romanian is probably the most mixed language and is very interesting for the researchers.
First etymological dictionary of Romanian from 1870s by A. Cihac listed:
- 2350 words with Slavic origin,
- 1150 Latin/Romance,
- 950 Turkish,
- 650 Greek,
- 600 Hungarian,
- 50 Albanian.

In XIX century it was written in Cyrillic script (the only Romance language I suppose). However there were many language engineering afterwards to make the language cleaner and closer to Latin and Romance counterparts - especially French.

Even the name of the language was lifted up. In XIX century it was called rumîneasca what sounded very Slavic (in Russian it was rumynskiy, Polish rumuński). To make it sound more Roman a special letter (â) was introduced and now you have limba română. Many words were reconstructed or invented basing on Latin stems.


Baltic and Slavonic languages have 7 cases, Sanskrit and Indian languages have 8 direct cases and some oblique ones made with postpositions, Lezgian - 54 cases, Tsez - 64, Hungarian - 29 or so.

Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]


Olaf do not exaggerate. I have found, of course your murzać. It's enough to google it.
But contrary to you, I'm not convinced. Yes, there is a few links, but all they look like they are going from one source (you maybe know the theory of mems' diffusion). Unfortunately in most cases, when authors link Murzyn with murzać, they're doing it to underline how derogatory is this word for example guys from the portal: afryka.org.

I'd prefer to believe to what well known authorities in linguistics have to say.
Aleksander Brückner, the greatest Polish etymologist wrote: common -in (as in Rusin) singularis added to German Mohr from Latin maurus, 'black'. and asked if murzyć isn't from murzyn.

Samuel Bogumił Linde, the author of first modern Polish dictionary in 1809 wrote:
MURZYN - in Czech mouřenin, èernoch, Slovak mauřenin, Serbian mor, Russian - муринЪ [murin].. from Latin maurus, der Mohr - Nigryczykowie abo murzyny, nazwisko które daiemy narodom czarnym; powszechnie tak nazywamy ludzi czarnych, z kraiów południowych pochodzących (English translation: Nigerians or murzyny, name given by us to black nations;we usually call in such way black people from southern countries) and he presented additional meaning = German ein Mohrenkopf i.e. a horse with black head.

Encyklopedia PWN, Polish main Encyclopaedia: from Latin Mauri (Moors).
encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo.php?id=3944532

Language / NAMES POLES GIVE THEIR DOGS [76]

What about Huba?

Language / The meaning of some Polish Diminutives [23]


I can't recall any right now. I've found some partial listing, especially connected with toponymy. However, I'm sure there are some sources. I'll try to find and share it with you. I've found only till now a thesis on Formal description of the derivation in Polish (Formalny opis derywacji w jezyku polskim): members.chello.pl/jrw/doc/jrw_thesis.pdf

But it's difficult to give any suffix one exact lexical meaning. Sure, they have their etymology. But now it looks like they have two main aims in word forming: distinctive and emotional (which often used to interfere). Professionals used to say some suffixes are more productive which mean they are more frequently used.

Here you have some examples complicating one-one lexical interpretations you tried to establish: zjawisko, lotnisko, wysypisko, wywierzysko; łupina, zwierzyna; mitręga; znajda; łatwizna.

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]


You mean an older state organism?
You're kidding, of course.

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]

Don't get so excited, BB. It wasn't called German University. It was called Universitas Scolarium Studii Pragensis as you can learn from the inscription on the first university seal Sigillum Universitatis Scolarium Studii Pragensis.

It wasn't called German because there were no Germany in XIV century. There were nations speaking Germanic languages called theodisc, theotisc, diutisk (origin of the later adjective deutsch) meaning folk. In XIII century there were produced only 4 000 documents in theodisc (in all dialects and flavours) while 500 000 in Latin. So how do you feel? Did they establish university to study folk language (and which dialects) or to disseminate modern knowledge and skills in Latin.

So definitely it wasn't German university neither in terms of language of lectures, nor national jurisdiction. It was called in such a style after the split was made to produce German and Czech Universities in 1860s. The problem was that insignia was still kept exclusive by German part in spite of protests by Czech part.

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]


The most nonsensical thesis I've heard. But I suppose it's just for fun only.
But still very interesting your percentage calculations. I suppose you took 200 thousand km2 which were saved after the Germans make it possible to annex the eastern part of Poland by Soviets. And you probably divided it by 990 thousand km2 of the greatest extent of the Commonwealth at the beginning of the XVII century. Nice effect. But so what.

The Commonwealth consisted of 2 parts. The more powerful was the Kingdom of Poland. The second part was Grand Duchy of Lithuania where nobility was completely polonized. Even in early XX century the former frontier of Poland (yes!) was well known and shown in terrain by local peasants north-east of Orsha and west of Katyń.

If it wasn't Poland, so Poles are all Martians and Germans maybe from Venus.

By the way, did you try it with Holy Roman Empire in its greatest extent (Italy, Burgundy, the Netherlands) comparing to Bundesrepublik.

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]


Don't blame anybody. I've tried only to rectify your mem - it wasn't German university. It was Prague University or Bohemian university if you really need some country assignation. Both nations, Germans and Czechs have some title to be proud of the history of this uni and they are, as you can see in the Leipzig Universitaet (where not Czech professors migrated after Hussite coup in 1409) and Carolinum in Munich (after WW2).

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]


Unfortunately it is not always true.

In German and English from Latin Bohemia means the greatest region of the Czech Republic, in Czech called Čechy
cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cechy

On the other hand you have a term Česko which means the whole Czech state consisting 3 historical regions: Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia.

Česko in English should be called Czechia, German Tschechien.

Poles have problem with this distinction because Polish equivalent should sound like Czeska (the same as Polska) however Poles don't use this suffix anymore. So they are using Czechy for both Čechy and the whole Česko.

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]

OK. BB has frozen us with all this flying eagles full of sharp beaks and nails.

Let's stop for a minute and think. The origin of the thread was Polish-German alliance.
Let's try to find some examples of it in history. It could be funny.

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]


Beware! You can hit an eagle flying.

And that's it. The more Germans think about themselves as a great monolithic nation, the lesser their possessions become as an effect.

Helmets hit the eagle???

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]


It would be better, anyway, than earlier less pacifist attempts.
However it doesn't seem to match the reality now.
More procreational power would be needed ;-)
...Or you have in mind some support from more 'productive' ethnoses of your Turk-Arabian-Kurdish co-patriots, developing Europeanness to some new yet higher levels of evanescence.


No need for. You are already in. On the captain's bridge of Un-holy Empire. ;)

History / Polish-German alliance. [489]


Thanks. Wow. I haven't realized Ossie-Komuch relations will be the answer.

However, you can add in this category:
- STASI-SB co-operation in bugging and listening in on Solidarity activists in 80s
- supporting, training and arming (you can add here comrades from Ceskoslovensko) Carlos and some more freedom fighters of his sort (capitalist mendacious chauvinists call them terrorists)

But something earlier?

Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]


Have you made some research about what Polish Blacks think about word Murzyn?
And the same with Poles living in Anglosaxon zone about Polack?

Anyway, no matter what will be the answer.
Most Poles think that Murzyn isn't derogatory
and most Anglosaxon think Polack isn't derogatory (maybe a little ironic).

This is language. You must learn it - not change it from outside.

History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

The Polish pagan roots are Indoeuropean ones.

There are a few traces of it in documents from X-XIII century left by monks or priests trying to convert folk and expel any superstitions, old wives' tales or pagan rites.

Unfortunately they were too much erudite. They knew Roman and Greek gods, goddesses and daemons. And they used to use their knowledge while describing awful pagan activities. As an effect there is a big mishmash of Slavic, Greek and Roman entities. Many researchers fought to resolve this puzzle. Some of them adding even more confusion by adding some Baltic and Germanic parallels.

There were many potential mythological figures identified: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Slavic_deities but they are from different areas and times.

Language / Etymology of pan /pani [18]

According to Aleksander Brueckner, polish etymologist, pan has its origin in old word żupan meaning a tribute gathering officer or administrator of some territory called żupania. The word was known in Czech, Croat and Hungarian (ispan). Later the word was shortened and simplified to pan.

In Kingdom of Poland pan was used as a short name for a kasztelan (castellan) ie. caretaker of one of main royal castles. This title was in most cases lower in precedence to the voivodes (with the exception of the Lord Castellan of Cracow who had precedence before voivode of Cracow). For example castellan of Cracow was called Pan Krakowski. In colloquialese pan was lately used to address any powerful person.

'Pan' is a root word for verb 'panować' - to rule, 'państwo' - estate, realm, state.

But due to both inflation of dignities and growing politeness now you should use it as common style to address any stranger by: pan, pani, państwo.

The same as in Spanish Usted (going back from Vuestra Merced = Your Mercy). By the way, the old style - now obsolete - to address stranger from noble class was Wasza Miłość (Your Mercy) shortened to Waszmość, or together with pan: Waszmość Pan > Waćpan > Acan.

And żupa is allegedly of Avarian (Avarian) origin as Slavic people were so peaceful and so classless that there had to be some warrior element adding some power distribution tools.

As most historians think Slavonic tribes invided Central and Southern Europe under Avarian command in VI-VIII centuries. Having in mind Avars ruled or have some influence on Slavs through 2-3 centuries, Avarian żupa could infiltrate Slavonic languages.

Language / Etymology of pan /pani [18]


Papagarth has thought about gospod, gospodzin, I suppose.