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Posts by PippoZ  

Joined: 20 Oct 2015 / Male ♂
Last Post: 22 Oct 2015
Threads: Total: 2 / Live: 1 / Archived: 1
Posts: Total: 10 / Live: 5 / Archived: 5

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PippoZ   
21 Oct 2015
Language / Polish names without a nickname (or less frequently shortened) [61]

Hello, here is my problem. Next year my first child will be born, and we're looking for some candidate names for him or her.

Fact is that as a foreigner I do not like the habit Polish people have to use nicknames instead of full names.
For example Katarzyna is always called Kasia, Agnieszka is always called Aga, Jakób / Kuba, Maria / Marysia, and so on for nearly every name. If I choose a name that I like for my child, I'd like that name to be used as I chose it.

Are there names which do not have a nickname, or at least that nickname is not universally used replacing the original name?
Thanks
PippoZ   
21 Oct 2015
Love / Best, safe Polish dating sites? [95]

I met my Lithuanian/Polish girlfriend three years ago on Sympatia.onet.pl (free messaging + paid premium features + pretty app).
Next May our first child will be born :)
G'luck
PippoZ   
21 Oct 2015
Language / Polish names without a nickname (or less frequently shortened) [61]

Polsyr Female: Ewa, Kinga, Bianka/Blanka
Male: Paweł, Konrad, £ukasz

Thanks @Polsyr , that's exactly what I was looking for: names that don't have a persasive use of the corresponding nicknames. If anyone could extend this list it would be greatly appreciated.

Please people refrain from commenting that even those names DO have nicknames, like Ewcia for Ewa and so on, I'm aware of that, I'm just looking for names that are less frequently shortened (in that the thread's Subject might be a misleading, sorry for that).
PippoZ   
21 Oct 2015
Language / Polish names without a nickname (or less frequently shortened) [61]

Polonius3 What I don't understand is whence your aversion to them.

First of all thanks for the bit of information about hypocorism, I didn't know that. In my language (Italian) we do have the same, like Salvatore -> Totò, Giuseppe -> Beppe for example as well as a "universal" hyporistic prefix "-ino" to most italian words to indicate them as small and pretty, like the "-ek" suffix in Polish.

What I do not like so much is when the nickname replaces the real name in everyday life and the full name remains only in documents or when your parents are REALLY upset with you. Why should I choose a name I like, when another one will be used instead?

Anyway, let me thank all the contributors to this thread, you came up with lovely ideas and beautiful names, I'll add them to my list of candidate names!
PippoZ   
22 Oct 2015
Language / Polish names without a nickname (or less frequently shortened) [61]

Polonius3 What's the hypocoristic version of Giovanni? Is it Giani?

Yes, Giovanni -> Gianni (double "n"), Cataldo -> Aldo, Filippo -> Pippo, Antonio -> Toni / Nino, Luigi -> Gigi. There are plenty.

Polonius3 Do you dislike pet forms in your own Italian mother tongue?

I'm not a big fan of them also my language, but nevertheless it's something people use only with very close friends and relatives. When I introduce myself to someone new I'd use my real name. If a Polish person in Italy introduces herself as Aga, or Kasia, or Kuba, everybody will be absolutely sure that those are their real names, and never connect them to Agnieszka, Katarzyna or Jakub. For example there is a pretty well-known Polish actress in Italy, Kasia Smutniak, I'm 100% that nobody knows which her real name is.

Polonius3 Polish is one of ther few languages that has an augmentative form.

That's interesting, I was not aware that there is an augmentative form in Polish as well, even if I got some examples somewhere but I thought they were more like exceptions. Italian has a bunch of such suffix "modifiers", such as:

-ino : small, gatto -> gattino (kotek)
-one : big, gatto -> gattone (big cat)
-accio : ugly, gatto -> gattaccio (ugly dirty cat)
-etto : pretty, casa -> casetta (small pretty lovely house)
-uncolo : tiny, meaningless, uomo -> omuncolo (worthless man)
-uccio : similar to -etto, casa -> casuccia (small cozy house)

and few less common ones that people can perceive from the context even if they are not well defined or standardized.

delphiandomine Poor child. What will you do when Polish kids instinctively come up with some random diminutive?

Well, if I name him Piotr or Rafał, I guess they'll call him Piotrek or Rafałek maybe and not other random pet names (Piotruś, Piotruszek, Piotruszeczek, Piotrusiuczku) right? So I can be happy with those little variations of the name (the -ek ones I mean) which are not as disruptive as in other cases, as the mentioned Aga, Kasia or Kuba. Hope you get my point here.
PippoZ   
22 Oct 2015
Language / Polish names without a nickname (or less frequently shortened) [61]

Polonius3 I'm impressed

In Italian you'd say "Sono impressionato", "soy" is Spanish :) I think Italian is a beautiful, rich, fascinating language, which is easy to learn, and damn hard to master. I know for experience that Slavic speakers can pick it up very rapidly with excellent results, so you should give it a try, and once you speak Italian it's a short step to Spanish, like learning Czech once you know Polish I guess. I like Polish as well, even if sometimes its grammar is driving me crazy for it seems exactly planned to make it hard for foreigners to learn it, but that goes off-topics I guess.