'ucha'

what is the meaning of the endings 'ucha' would i be right in saying they are diminutives of the word. examples please.

chaza

No it's not diminutive.It's cases:
Mianownik:ucho
Dopełniacz:ucha
Celownik:uchu
Biernik:ucho
Narzędnik:uchem
Miejscownik:uchu
The diminutive form would be f.e:
uszko,uszeczko e.t.c.

no sorry dont understand can you exspand please chaza

In polish you have 7 cases.You have to check witch one to use when you want to say something grammatically correct.
Mianownik:To jest ucho-it's the ear
Dopełniacz:Temu pomnikowi brakuje ucha-this sculpture is missing the ear
Celownik:Czemu się tak przyglądasz?Twojemu uchu.-What are you looking at?At your ear.
Biernik:Co widzisz?Ucho.What can you see?Ear.
Narzędnik:Co cię boli?Mam problem z uchem.-What's wrong with you?I've problem with my ear.
Miejscownik:O czym rozmawiacie?O moim uchu-What are you talking about?About my ear.
If it's not enough let me know I'll try to explain it differently or maybe someone else is a better teacher:D

I almost forgot about one more thing:
Some people(poor educated or making a joke)use the word "ucha" for plural form(ears?)but it's not correct.

It's correct when meaning not human or animal ears but e.g. pot handles, in the same way as "oka" is correct for the fat floating on the surface of broth.

You are right-another thing that I forgot to mention.

Please notice that the contemporary double forms: uszy-ucha or oczy-oka are traces of the old dual number forms in Polish:

jedno ucho - dwie uszy - trzy, cztery etc. ucha;
jedno oko - dwie oczy - trzy, cztery etc. oka.

It's the genitive form of ucho (ear).

Lots of good answers but none addressing the question: it is about the ending "-ucha", not about a part of human body.

As a suffixe, it is an opposite of diminutive but not necessarily derogative.
For instance:

pietruszka - pietrucha (carrot - big carrot)
Zadzwon to Darka - Zadzwon do Darucha (call Darek - call Darek. This, confusingly, sounds diminutive)

to me, most of the time it does add a slight derogatory slant.
for example:
stara - starucha
does not mean a big old lady, just not a nice old lady. Staruszka implies a nice old lady. Polish dimunitives imply affection.

I guess -ucha it would be an opposite of dimunitive.. whatever that word is.

are you sure? this came to my mind too, but Chaza asked about endings and not ending, so...


I think you meant parsley

thanks guys, yes it was the endings not the ear, so its augmenative i think is the word.
is that right, would you not use 'its abig carrot instead of the ucha ending, so as maybe not to oddend anyone.

chaza

Frankly, I have not idea about the usage stats, but you are right. The -ucha ending tends to point to something rather derogatory (dziewczyna - dziewucha) but, like with real estate, it's all about location, location, location i.e. context:

For instance:

Derogatory:

(if I don't like parsley, looking into a bowl of soup): Znowu pietrucha!/Damn it, parsley again!

Not derogatory
(shopping on the produce department) Ale pietrucha!/What a big parsley (root)!

Not derogatory among friends:
Zadzwonie do Darucha (I'll call Darek) could indicate a degree of intimacy/friendliness.


oopsie, you're right


Not sure it works like that.
Sometimes you do want to offend. Sometimes you want to use a certain style and not offend. I guess this particular topic is pretty hectic and somewhat peripheral (as in not so critical) and not all nouns would lend themselves to its application. The usage of -ucha may as well be one of the best tests of the speaker's fluency in Polish :)

so its best i just forget about this ending as it doesnt really matter that much.

Start with the basic knowledge.

i am starting the basics, but as i learn i encounter issues that i would like made clear. as i learn the basics which are hard enough, bits like these add to the confusion. but thanks anyway.

chaza

Erm, there is something you should know about words 'ucho' and 'oko'.

There are actually four words:
- 'ucho' which means 'an ear' (plular 'uszy'),
- 'ucho' which means 'a handle' (plular 'ucha'),
- 'oko' - 'an eye' (plular 'oczy'),
- 'oko' that reffers to some fat "floating" on a surface of a soup (here's a picture -
digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/79/38/download/3643574.jpg plular 'oka'.

chaza
No, it is not a diminutive because there is a Polish word mucha, which means a fly. The word ucho does mean an ear, if that is what you were originally talking about but I imagine there are a lot of words ending in ucha.

An oko is a mesh and has the plural oka but when meaning eyes the plural is oczy as has been explained above.

Not so much. It is simply colloquial. Kapucha instead of kapusta - like tatties instead of potatoes. Cabby vs cabbage Co tu tak wali kapuchą? What`s that cabby odor here?

Or how about "klamucha" for " f-## liar"

It is just liar :)

It used to be _extremely_ common among students...

Thanks, Lenka.