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Are the languages of Russian and Polish similar at all?


king polkakamon - | 542
23 Jul 2010 #31
I think polish,russian and czech sound very pleasant to the ear.
espana 17 | 950
23 Jul 2010 #32
yes , in club stood near to the speakers
Yoshi - | 60
24 Jul 2010 #33
I studied Russian about a decade ago, and it was very useful in Poland.

No, I didn't quite speak it, because I didn't want to be drawn into silly nationalistic debates, but I was able to understand every interesting thing that the locals were saying behind me.

Example:

"Oh! There's a Chinaman!"
"Careful. He might eat your dog!"

Well. Ten years of learning Mancunian was quite helpful when I was throwing some verbal abuses back.
Borrka 37 | 593
24 Jul 2010 #34
I think Russian's a lot easier than Polish, and part of the reason is due to grammar.

It means only you are not in position to compare Russian and Polish.
We share only about 60% of vocabulary with Ruskies (75% with Slovaks) but similarity of grammatical structures is really striking.
So any "easier versus harder" classification does not make any sense.
Seanus 15 | 19,674
24 Jul 2010 #35
I think we should go more to what I might describe as 'understandableness' rather than direct similarities. Mentality plays a part too. Many older Poles can easily access Russian humour. Just 3 days ago, there were jokes in Russian going around the table, being told by Poles. There was one about a train stopover and vodka which I found pretty funny. I needed the Polish translation as I only caught those words which have a closeness to Polish (even then, there are false friends like forget/remember between Russian/Polish).
Lyzko
24 Jul 2010 #36
To wit, and example of "Ukrainian peasant" humor (...but in English, not Polish!)

Oleg: 'Morning, Grisha! Hey, nice cow! A new one?
Grisha: Yeah, just bought it yesterday. You haven't been here for a while-:)
Oleg: Tell me, the new cow, is it from Odessa, by any chance?
Grisha: Yes, how did you guess?
Oleg: 'Cuz me wife, she's also from Odessa!

))))))
poolin
21 Sep 2010 #37
Polish and Russian have the same frequencies (if you analyse their spectra without looking at individual words, they are identical: that does not mean much in itself because that happens also with two uncorrelated languages such as Spanish and Greek). I speak Russian and right now I am in Poland and can understand quite a few things (I can even read newspapers!). Czech is also close to Polish, but I think to a lesser degree than Russian.
PennBoy 76 | 2,432
21 Jan 2011 #38
Are the languages of Russian and Polish similar at all?

Table of languages significantly similar to Russian

how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/similarities/russian/index.html
puella 4 | 172
21 Jan 2011 #39
Table of languages significantly similar to Russian

according to this source French is similar to English in 40%...

and French resembles Italian in 85%!!!
PennBoy 76 | 2,432
21 Jan 2011 #40
according to this source French is similar to English in 40%...

actually French and English are mostly based on Latin so it could be true.
puella 4 | 172
21 Jan 2011 #41
well yes. But can you understand French knowing only English?
Wiedzmin_fan - | 79
21 Jan 2011 #42
"zapach" in Polish and in Czech DO NOT MEAN THE SAME!!!

I had the same problem with:

smrad (very bad smell in Russian)

von' (vonya) (bad smell, but not as bad as "smrad", in Russian)

zapah (smell - neutral, could be bad or good)

They interchange in different Slavic languages!!

Also, urod/uroda - means pretty in some ugly in others. Opposite!

Oleg: 'Cuz me wife, she's also from Odessa!

Uh, dude... there are never Olegs in Odessa stories. It really doesn't not fit, if you know what I mean.
isthatu2 4 | 2,694
21 Jan 2011 #43
according to this source French is similar to English in 40%...

maybe 40% is a little high but English is full of French originating words,they have just changed from the origional over the last 8 hundred years.

well yes. But can you understand French knowing only English?

You can certainly fill in a few blanks,but I was taught french at school so I dont really know how much is educated guess and how much is from distant memory of dull lessons.

But as far as English is concerned you could say that for any western european(and many east asian/arabic) language . Over history English evolved from something very few of us could understand now into a rich language that canibalised other languages,but in most cases not enough words to help the other way round...

Ive said it before though,the fact Id learnt a bit of russian long before I ever got to Poland was an advantage if in nothing more than so many words being more or less the same,numbers etc(ok,jeden and adeen,and ench not ts at the end of 5), But I did often find that words I thought sounded more or less the same left people baffled if I happened to say them in a more russian accent. Ive said this before too,often I think Poles dont understand similar words in other slavic language due to the relative lack of local accents within Poland,compared say to the literaly hundreds if not thousands of accents an English speaker has to adjust their ears too. I have no problems understanding a Kiwi or an american from the deep south even though the way they pronounce most english words are far more different to my accent than a lot of the Polish/Russian same words.
Lyzko
21 Jan 2011 #44
Oh, I do soooo know what you mean-:)))

By the way, 'smród' in Polish also means nothing other than a stench or really bad smell!
PennBoy 76 | 2,432
21 Jan 2011 #45
smrad

smród in Polish same meaning

zapah

zapach in Polish same pronunciation and meaning

uroda

beauty in Polish, ugly in Russian
strana country in Russian, strona page in Polish
zazhigalka lighter in Russian, zarzygalka girl who throws up/someone who pukes in Polish lol
puella 4 | 172
21 Jan 2011 #46
beauty in Polish, ugly in Russian
strana country in Russian, strona page in Polish
zazhigalka lighter in Russian, zarzygalka girl who throws up/someone who pukes in Polish lol

tydzień = day in Russian?
Lyzko
21 Jan 2011 #47
I think 'tydzień' has either a false or true friend equivalent in Czech as well as in Ukrainian, but I'm not sure. It's sole meaning in Polish of course is 'week'.
PennBoy 76 | 2,432
21 Jan 2011 #48
day in Russian?

denʹ like Polish dzien
tydzień- nedelyu
Wiedzmin_fan - | 79
21 Jan 2011 #49
strana country in Russian, strona page in Polish

Actually, it's still the same word (the basic meaning is the same) - well, sort of. In Russian it still has an underlying meaning of something flat, a side (of something), or something spread out and flat, so in that sense you can see the connection with the Polish word.

specifically for a book, it's "stranica"
specifically for a side, it's "storona" (here and "o" was inserted, as is often done, for example grad=gorod)

It's fascinating!

zazhigalka lighter in Russian, zarzygalka girl who throws up/someone who pukes in Polish lol

what is the meaning of "zazhigat' " in Polish?
PennBoy 76 | 2,432
21 Jan 2011 #50
so in that sense you can see the connection with the Polish word.

yes Polish strona also means side

what is the meaning of "zazhigat' " in Polish?

to throw up on/vomit on
There are tons of the same or similar words
Ponedelʹnik in Russian Poniedzialek in Polish
samolet in Russian samolot in Polish
można in Polish mozna/mozhet in Russian
morze in Polish more in Russian
noc in Polish noch in Russian
chleb in Polish hleb in Russian
czlowiek in Polish chelovek in Russian
uszy in Polish ushi in Russian and many many more...
puella 4 | 172
21 Jan 2011 #51
nedelyu

oh niedziela means tydzień ;)

There are tons of the same or similar words
Ponedelʹnik in Russian Poniedzialek in Polish
samolet in Russian samolot in Polish
można in Polish mozna/mozhet in Russian
morze in Polish more in Russian
noc in Polish noch in Russian
chleb in Polish hleb in Russian
czlowiek in Polish chelovek in Russian
uszy in Polish ushi in Russian and many many more...

But still when I watch ORT I can't understand anything... ;)
PennBoy 76 | 2,432
21 Jan 2011 #52
oh niedziela means tydzień ;)

yea, Voskresenʹe means Sunday

But still when I watch ORT I can't understand anything... ;)

When I first started hanging out with my Russian friends i didn't understand much, you gotta sort of get past the accent, get into it, think of yourself speaking with that accent and how Polish words would sound with it, it should help you understand once you do that you'll realize that Russian is similar.
wildrover 98 | 4,441
22 Jan 2011 #53
beauty in Polish, ugly in Russian

Yes the word URODA caused some amusement among my Russian girlfriends workmates when they discovered a Polish beauty magazine with the word UGLY written across the top...!
asik 2 | 220
22 Jan 2011 #54
zarzygalka girl who throws up/someone who pukes in Polish lol

zarzygalka - no such word in Polish

PennBoy:
beauty in Polish, ugly in Russian

Yes the word URODA caused some amusement among my Russian

How's that possible from what I remember:

Polish uroda means beauty or charm in English and krasa or krasota in Russian.
Wiedzmin_fan - | 79
22 Jan 2011 #55
zarzygalka - no such word in Polish

does the (correct) word contain "ryg" in the middle?
I am trying to find a similar in meaning word from Russian. I guess there's "rygat'/otrygivat'", which means "to barf".
Boz - | 23
22 Jan 2011 #56
Russians wiill tell you it's the same but with different endings?
puella 4 | 172
22 Jan 2011 #57
oes the (correct) word contain "ryg" in the middle?
I am trying to find a similar in meaning word from Russian. I guess there's "rygat'/otrygivat'", which means "to barf".

rzygać in Polish means to puke
rzygi in Polish mean the things you had puked
obrzygany in Polish means that someone puked on you so you are obrzygany
zarzygany means that you puked on yourself or someone puked on you

simple? ;DDD
AdamKadmon 2 | 501
22 Jan 2011 #58
1 Ponedelʹnik in Russian Poniedzialek in Polish
2 samolet in Russian samolot in Polish
3 można in Polish mozna/mozhet in Russian
4 morze in Polish more in Russian
5 noc in Polish noch in Russian
6 chleb in Polish hleb in Russian
7 czlowiek in Polish chelovek in Russian
8 uszy in Polish ushi in Russian
and many many more...

1. (Russian понедельник (poniediélnik),
Bulgarian понеделник (ponedelnik),
Polish poniedzialek,
Czech "pondělí"

Common to all slavic languages since the times of two saint brothers: Cyril and Methodius. Saint Cyril and Methodius's work in Moravia became the foundation of Slavic civilization in eastern and south-eastern Europe.

2. Slavic languages samolot/samolet for airplane represent a clear-cut case of loan-translation. Other slavic languages have other words, eg. in Serbo-Croat an airplane is called avion: a loan-shift (Latin, avis, aviarium), the same as in French.

3 mozna/mozhet

One of many words common for all slavic languages. Words of the same origin in other, non-slavic languages:

- magan - Gothic, Old High German, Old Saxon and Old English languages;
- may - English;
- mogen - Dutch;
- mögen - German;
- må - Swedish.

4 morze/more - an "originary word":

O.E. mere "sea, lake, pool, pond," from P.Gmc. *mari (cf. O.N. marr, O.S. meri "sea," Du. meer "lake," O.H.G. mari, Ger. Meer "sea," Goth. marei "sea," mari-saiws "lake"), from PIE *mori-/*mari "sea" (cf. L. mare, O.C.S. morje, Rus. more, Lith. mares, O.Ir. muir, Welsh mor "sea," Gaulish Are-morici "people living near the sea").

5. noc/noch - - an "originary word":

O.E. niht (W.Saxon neaht, Anglian næht, neht), the vowel indicating that the modern word derives from oblique cases (gen. nihte, dat. niht), from P.Gmc. *nakht- (cf. O.H.G. naht, O.Fris., Du., Ger. nacht, O.N. natt, Goth. nahts), from PIE *nok(w)t- (cf. Gk. nuks "a night," L. nox, O.Ir. nochd, Skt. naktam "at night," Lith. naktis "night," O.C.S. nosti, Rus. noch', Welsh henoid "tonight").

6. chleb/hleb

Common for slavic and german languages (present-day word brot/bread is later):
- Gothic - hlaifs
- Old Norse - hleifr
- Old English - hlaf
- Old High German - hleip
- German - leib
- English - loaf

The old English hlaf is present in today's word lord, originaly hlafweard, i.e., "one who guards the loaves," from hlaf "bread, loaf" + weard "keeper, guardian, ward."

7. czlowiek/chelovek - a word common for all slavic languages.

Probably a composite word *kil-o-woik-o-s - adult, being of mature age, of whole age. Source: Bańkowski etymological dictionaray.

8. uszy/ushi "originary word":

"organ of hearing," O.E. eare "ear," from P.Gmc. *auzon (cf. O.N. eyra, Dan. øre, O.Fris. are, O.S. ore, M.Du. ore, Du. oor, O.H.G. ora, Ger. Ohr, Goth. auso), from PIE *ous- with a sense of "perception" (cf. Gk. aus, L. auris, Lith. ausis, O.C.S. ucho, O.Ir. au "ear," Avestan usi "the two ears").
Lyzko
22 Jan 2011 #59
Impressive, AdamKadmon! Only mistake I've found (not that I was necessarily looking for anyLOL), is 'maegen' for German 'moegen', you wrote an umlaut-a, rather than umlaut-o. Other than that, I found this, as with many of your posts, quite informative, I must say-:))
AdamKadmon 2 | 501
22 Jan 2011 #60
Only mistake I've found (not that I was necessarily looking for anyLOL), is 'maegen' for German 'moegen'

Look! There is no mistake.


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