Spelling "aunt" in Polish

My family is from outside of Buffalo and it was always:

Wójek - Uncles on both sides
Ciocia - Aunts on both sides

Babcia - Grandmother
Dziadzia - Grandfather

Busia was a kiss when I was growing up.

Oh, and Wnuczek was grandson. :-)

My Dziadzia's family was from Galicia and he was the one to immigrate to the U.S. with his sister and brother.

My Babcia was born here, but her parents came from Galicia also.

I attended Our Lady of Częstochowa Roman Catholic Church and went to the Polish mass. The words above are all I ever heard.

Busia and dziadzia are Polonian English. Full stop!
No-one in Polonia would write wójek, only wujek.

Trust me, some people would.

My great grandparents immigrated to the US, and settled in Chicago. Both my Grandfather and Grandmother were born in Poland, but grew up in Chicago (my father's parents). I've only known my grandma as Busia, and my father called his grandmothers the same. :/

I know very little Polish myself, only bits and pieces from my Busia. She taught 'give me kiss', and 'i love you', I wouldnt be able to spell it, but I can say it ;)

My daughter is 1/4 Polish and 1/4 Mexican..... she goes to a Spanish Immersion school, and speaks pretty good Spanish for a "American" 4 year old, but she calls my grandma Busia, and her she loves every minute of it.

I know this is an old thread, but I was looking up how to make Golabki...goowumpkies as I new them as a kid. I am 52 now, grew up off of 31st and South Pulaski in SW Chicago. Back in the 60s it was still primarily Polish and Eastern Europeans. Busia was always the name we used for Grandmother and Dziadzia for grandfather. The kids I went to grammar school with all called their grandmothers Busia too.

Then what is it? My Busia cam from Poland in 942 and that's what my sisters and I have always called her. According to my Busia it is Granma in Polish.


My Busia came from Warsaw in 1942 and she said it was short for Babuska. That is how they say Grandmother where she comes from!!

Language changes and evolves with time. It also is different from region to region in any country.

This is why I feel we have a differing opinion of busia, Dziadek, etc. What may have been popular a term at a certain time in a certain region could either die off or survive and morph into a different form.

For instance ( po Angielsku )

Soft drinks ( coke, pepsi, etc ) = tonic, soda, pop
Flashlight ( US ), Torch ( UK, Europe )
All of you ( northern US ) Y, all ( southern / western US )
Wrench ( US ) Spanner ( UK / Europe )

Im sure Polish is no exception to this.

I grew up in Garden City, but both of my parents are from the near-east side of Detroit. Both were 100% Polish, but both were also born in the U.S.

I grew up calling my grandmother Babusz (pronounced Boboosh) - I never knew either of my grandfathers, as they were both dead when I was born, but my father wanted my son to call him dziadzia.

We called all of our Aunts Cioce' (pronounced Chuchee) and we have always spelled if Cioce, but I do not know if it is correct. I think there is a symbol, like an apostrophe either over the i or the e, but not sure which either.

I think it is weird that everybody seems to agree on the use of dziadzia, but I have no idea where we got the use of Babusz, as nobody seems to mention that usage or spelling.....

WHile I was growing up I was taught Busia and Dziadzia. My family hailed from Bydgoszcz Poland, settled in Bay City Michigan in 1920's.

Female words usually end with an a so it wouldn't be Babusz, that sounds sort of like a man. Babusia was probably what y'all were using initially and it became Americanized into Boboosh.

Dziadzia is a baby version of the word dziadek, it's simply easier for babies to say that before they learn to talk.

Ciocia is the correct term for aunt.


Oh boy, here we go again, another busia - the American-Polish term no one in Poland seems to know... LOL

There's no "busia" - there's buzia which means kiss and there's babcia which means grandmother... There's also babusia another Slavic endearing term for grandmother.

This threads explains it in great lengths.

Slow download but the third word you hear is "ciocia" (aunt).

apronus.com/polishsounds/cma_lac_ciocia!s.mp3

Saw this on a different thread and copied it but forgot to copy the URL, if I find it I'll post it too.
A nice characteristic of Polish language is diversity of diminutives that may be created for almost any noun. "Babcia" is diminutive itself, the formal form, almost not used, being "babka". There are a few other diminutives for "babcia": "babunia", "babusia", and shortened forms: "bunia", "busia". Maybe the last one is "busha".

Hello, I am originally from MI, about 50 miles north of the Detroit line. I now live in Chicago, IL. I am 3rd generation Polish American on one side and 2nd generation on the other side. I have always heard Babcia. I now have two grandchildren, and they call me Babcia.

My Busia, Dziadzia and Ciocia were Poles who were born in Minsk, Belarus. They moved to the US in 1911. My Busia lived in a Polish community in Chicago for over 60 years and she never learned English. My father was born in 1922 and his first language was Polish. He and his sister attended a Polish Catholic grammar school. I have known since I was a child that the term Busia is not correct Polish. My father told me then and also 40 years later that Busia was a cute way of saying Granny, like slang, in Polish. Language changes over time. The term Busia was probably very common at the beginning of the last century but fell out of use in Poland while staying popular with Polish Americans.

I need to drop off some cookies with my neighbor, I'll ask her if she's ever heard it. She's pushing 90 :)

Boring !!!
Just google for "busia": easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/ah/g/busia.htm

US-Polish.
Never heard it in Poland, even in Lithuanian Polish from Wilno.
The word busia does not exist in Poland.

which means your grandmother is not Polish. Babushka is a Russian word.


So they were from Eastern territories and probably were speaking some version of Polish that was mixed up with Russian or Bialorussian. The languages change, but the "old" word for grandma was "babka", not "busia". "Busia" is not a Polish word, and never was.

I love how the Americans are so self-assured when they speculate on things they have not much clue about. All they need is the word 'probably', and they can feel self-confident.

lnadora is right, this is not in Polish - busia belongs to the many ruthenian (ruskie) dialects of the peoples living in Poland, but who chose to be Belarussians, Ukrainians, Russians, etc, at the earliest convenience.

In the US and nowadays in the UK they try to pass for Poland - can't say I blame them, we are the largest and most recognizable group. Even Slovakians do it these days.

But it would be better to say they are Ruthenian. I'm all flattered that they claim our nationality, though. However they never were tolerant, as shown in the Wolhyn massacre, and it's funny to remember that.

No. They were born in Minsk, Russan Empire. Nothing else.

HJave u understood anything of what this whole thread is about????
Its about Plastic Poles trying to tell real Poles about a word which does not exist in Polish.

Thanks for telling me that for instance is written in English, i would never have known!!!!!!!

They are actually Americanized forms...

polishmamaontheprairie.blogspot.com/2010/12/polish-grandmother-babcia-busia-buzia.html

from your link:
'I have actually heard many American men affectionately addressing their Russian or Polish wives this way and most cringe and correct them, because first of all, they are being called a "Grandmother" and second, if they are Polish, why would they want to be called a Russian word?'

they are proud Ukrainians trying to pass for Poles... but we should stay away from Lviv, shouldn't we???

I wonder if that explains the hartred of Jews towards Poles. They got submitted to a little Ruthenian cruelty, like Poles in Wolhynia who ended in water wells head down...

another proof from this forum is here: a Ruthenian trying to pass for a Pole.

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I love the way the Polish are so self-assured when they speculate on things they have no clue about.
Many Polish decendants say Busia in America. It is not a speculation. Their families came from Poland in the late 1800's. Not from Ukraine or other slavic country. Many came from the Kujawy area, their Polish has a different dialect, but it is Poland.

First, that would be "babuś" although I only heard a vocative form "babusiu".
Second, not all words in Polish end with an -a, for instance Mayrś, Jaguś. Some of the time these will be for vocative but they are also used for nominative.

"Busia" is definitely not a Polish word. It is an invention of some Polams and such. The fact that they used the word doesn't mean they brought the word them from Poland, but rather that "busia" would be easier for their non-Polish speaking kids. I have never heard the word in Poland, nor did I come across it even once in the mountain of Polish literature I went through.

I'm not really sure what you are saying here. I really don't understand your statements, I'm thinking you were being sarcastic, but it's a funny thing about the written word, sarcasm tends to get lost.

To be clear, I have met Polish women, as in from Poland, with accents, who married men in other countries who have been called "Babushka" right in front of me. Which is weird. And I'm not sure what that has to do with Ukrainians or Jews in your statements?

And I've met many Jews in my travels and work dealing with foreign embassies and export and never felt any hatred from them towards myself or other Poles. Idk...

Ever heard of "Babusia"?
Busia is short form

Babunia is the Polish word.

polishmama - the rest of the statements refer to the general topics on this forum.

and if someone got called babushka - they got called in Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, etc. What's reason to claim this word suddenly became Polish?

Gotcha. That's my point, it's not polish "babushka"... :)

yes, I heard that often. It's not an uncommon word.


Yes, it is but only in North America. The short term is definitely, 100% not of Polish (as in "of or from Poland") origin.

If you don't believe that then check, pretty much the only, authoritative source, which is the official Polish Language dictionary:
sjp.pwn.pl/szukaj/busia

Perhaps one day the word will be Polish. for now it's definitely an invention by and for the sole use of Poles living abroad, mostly in Norh America.

I never said I don't believe and I know there is no such word in Polish

Well, then your previous post was pointless.
Or are we looking at some glitches in the English language, or general communication skills?

z_darius

Bravo, z_darius, well said!