Polish (
polski,
język polski) is the official language of
Poland.
History
Polish has been influenced by contact with foreign languages (foremost Latin, Czech, French, German, Italian, Old Belarusian, Russian and recently it has been virtually bombarded by English, especially American English language elements). In Upper Silesia the inimitable regional dialects are influenced by German elements.
Many words have been borrowed from German as a result of the historical German settlement in Polish lands since mediaeval times. Examples include szlachta (from German Geschlecht=nobility), rachunek (Rechnung=account), ratusz (Rathaus=town hall), burmistrz (Bürgermeister=mayor), handel (Handel=commerce), and malarz (Maler=painter). Other words, upon closer inspection, betray their Czech origin, like "hańba" and "brama".
Since 1945, as the result of mass education and mass migrations (which affected several countries after the Second World War, but Poland was an extreme case) standard Polish has become far more homogeneous, although regional dialects persist. In the western and northern territories, resettled in large measure by Poles from the territories annexed by the Soviet Union, the older generation came to speak a language characteristic of the former eastern provinces.
Classification
The Polish language, together with other Lekhitic languages (Kashubian, Polabian), Upper and Lower Sorbian, Czech and Slovak, belongs to the West branch of Slavic languages.
Geographic distribution
Polish is mainly spoken in Poland. In fact, Poland is the most homogenous European country in terms of its mother tongue, as close to 98 % of Polish citizens declare Polish as their mother tongue. After the 2nd World War the previously Polish territories annexed by the USSR kept a large amount of Polish population that was unwilling to migrate towards the post-1945 Poland and even today Ethnic Poles in Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine constitute a large minority.
In Lithuania 9 % of the population declared Polish to be their mother tongue. It's by far the most used in the Vilnius County ( 31.2 % of the population ), but it's also present in other counties. As of 2004, Vilnius County's only official language was Lithuanian. In Ukraine, Polish is most often used in the Lviv and Luck areas. Western Belarus has an important Polish minority especially in the Brest and Hrodna areas.
There are also significant numbers of Polish speakers in Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, UAE, the UK and the USA.
In the USA the number of Polish speakers is over 1 million, see: Polish language in the United States
Dialects
It has several dialects that correspond in the main to the old tribal divisions; the most significant of these (in terms of numbers of speakers) are Great Polish (spoken in the northwest), Little Polish (spoken in the southeast), Mazovian (Mazur), and Silesian. Mazovian shares some features with the Kashubian language, whose remaining speakers (estimates vary from 100,000 to over 200,000) live west of Gdansk near the Baltic Sea. There are also several, now mostly extinct, regional dialects of Polish, including the Warsaw dialect.
Small numbers of people also speak Belarusian, Ukrainian, and German as well as several varieties of Romany.
Phonetics
Vowels
The Polish vowel system is relatively simple with only six oral and two nasal vowels. All Polish vowels are monophthongs. The oral vowels are as follows:
Unlike in other Slavic languages, the Proto-Slavic nasal vowels are preserved in Polish. However, nasality tends to be lost, especially at the end of a word. These vowels are never initial. In script they are marked by a diacritic known as ogonek.
Unlike in French, the nasal vowels in Polish are asynchronous which means that in fact each nasal vowel is pronounced as an oral vowel followed by a nasal semivowel, e.g. ą ɔɰ̃ rather then ɔ̃. For the sake of simplicity these asynchronous nasal vowels will be henceforth represented as ordinary (synchronous) nasal vowels.
| Polish nasal vowels>+Polish nasal vowels |
| Polish script> Polish script |
IPA> IPA |
Description> Description |
English approximation> English approximation |
Polish example<sup>1</sup>> Polish example<sup>1</sup> |
| ę |
ε̃ |
nasal front half open unrounded |
length> length |
('snakes')> ('snakes') |
| ą |
{{IPA^ɔ̃}} |
nasal back half open rounded |
o (not a), as in long> nasal o (not a), as in long |
('snake')> ('snake') |
The length of a vowel is not phonemic in Polish which means that how long a vowel is pronounced does not change the meaning of a word. However, this was not the case in Proto-Slavic, which distinguished three vowel lengths - short, normal and long. There were two short vowels - hard (ъ) and soft (ь). Eventually, the short vowels either disappeared or turned into a normal e. In the former case two CV syllables became one CVC syllable. Disappearance of a short soft vowel caused the preceding consonant to become "softened" or palatalized. Example:
'Day' in nominative: dьnь --> dzień
'Day' in genitive: dьna --> dnia
Meanwhile, long vowels were shortened to normal and simultaneously became higher - apart from the vowels which were already high - i and u. This vowel shift may be presented like this:
long a --> normal o
long e --> normal y or normal i
long i --> normal i
long o --> normal ó, pronounced u
long u --> normal u
Note that the normal u which was once a long o is still distinguished in script as ó.
Consonants
Polish consonant system is more complicated and its characteristic features are series of affricate and palatal consonants. Affricates are often marked by digraphs. Palatal consonants (known to Poles as "soft" consonants) are marked either by an acute accent or followed by an i. Like in English, voicedness is phonemic but aspiration is not.
Within this consonant system one can distinguish three series of fricatives and affricates:
- alveolar, a.k.a. "hissing" (
ciąg syczący): z s dz c
postalveolar, a.k.a. "rustling" (ciąg szumiący): ż sz dż cz
alveolo-palatal, a.k.a. "hushing" (ciąg ciszący): ź ś dź ć
In some Polish dialects, e.g. Masurian, the consonants of the rustling series are replaced by those of the hissing series.
All palatal and alveolo-palatal consonants (i.e. ź ś dź ć ń j) as well as those preceding the vowel i are referred to as "soft" consonants. All the other consonants are "hard".
Note that Polish distinguishes between affricates and plosive + fricative consonant clusters, e.g.:
- czysta ('clean' fem.) vs. trzysta ('three hundred')
- dżem ('jam') vs. drzemka ('nap')
In consonant clusters all consonants are either voiced or voiceless. To put it another way, a consonant cluster may not contain both voiced and voiceless consonants. All the consonants are voiced (if the last consonant is normally voiced) or voiceless (if the last consonant is normally voiceless). This rule does not apply to approximants - a consonant cluster may contain voiced approximants and voiceless consonants. Examples:
- 'wutka ('boat'), d --> t (k is normally voiceless)
- 'kafka ('jackdaw'), v --> f (k is normally voiceless)
- ('also'), k --> g (ż is normally voiced)
- 'jagb<strike>i</strike> ('as if'), k --> g (b is normally voiced)
- krul ('king'), k does not change (r is an approximant)
- vart ('worth'), r does not change (r is an approximant)
The consonants w and rz are normally voiced, but if a consonant cluster ends with w or rz and the last but one consonant is normally voiceless, then the whole consonant cluster is voiceless.
- ('bush'), / Z --> / S (k is normally voiceless)
- ('to reproduce'), d --> t & v --> f (t is normally voiceless)
The most popular Polish tongue-twister, a fragment of Chrząszcz poem by Jan Brzechwa, may serve as yet another example:
-
-
In town of Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reed.
Stress
In Polish the stress falls generally on the penultimate (last but one) syllable, e.g. zrobił
('he did'), zrobili ('they did').
Exceptions include:
- verbs in first and second person plural past tense, e.g. zrobiliśmy ('we did') - stress on the last but two syllable
- verbs in conditional tense, e.g. zrobiłbym ('I would do') - stress on the last but two syllable
- verbs in first and second person plural conditional tense, e.g. zrobilibyśmy ('we would do') - stress on the last but three syllable
- some words borrowed from Latin (e.g. matematyka) can optionally be stressed on the last but two syllable, but this have mostly fell out of use in last 50 years.
Orthography
The Polish alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet but uses diacritics such as kreska (graphically similar to acute accent), superior dot and ogonek.
| Upper<br>case>Upper<br>case |
HTML<br>code>HTML<br>code |
Lower<br>case>Lower<br>case |
HTML<br>code>HTML<br>code |
Usual<br>phonetic value>Usual<br>phonetic value |
Other<br>phonetic values>Other<br>phonetic values |
| A>A |
|
a |
|
a>a |
|
| Ą>Ą |
&#260; |
ą |
&#261; |
ɔ̃>ɔ̃ |
ɔ, ɔm, ɔn, ɔŋ, ɔɲ>ɔ, ɔm, ɔn, ɔŋ, ɔɲ |
| B>B |
|
b |
|
b>b |
p>p |
| C>C |
|
c |
|
ʦ>ʦ |
ʣ, tɕ>ʣ, tɕ |
| Ć>Ć |
&#262; |
ć |
&#263; |
tɕ>tɕ |
dʑ>dʑ |
| D>D |
|
d |
|
d>d |
t>t |
| E>E |
|
e |
|
ε>ε |
|
| Ę>Ę |
&#280; |
ę |
&#281; |
ε̃>ε̃ |
ε, εm, εn, εŋ, εɲ>ε, εm, εn, εŋ, εɲ |
| F>F |
|
f |
|
f>f |
v>v |
| G>G |
|
g |
|
g>g |
k>k |
| H>H |
|
h |
|
x>x |
γ>γ |
| I>I |
|
i |
|
i>i |
ȋ, mute (softens preceding consonant)>ȋ, mute (softens preceding consonant) |
| J>J |
|
j |
|
ȋ or j>ȋ or j |
|
| K>K |
|
k |
|
k>k |
g>g |
| L>L |
|
l |
|
l>l |
|
| Ł>Ł |
&#321; |
ł |
&#322; |
ȗ or w>ȗ or w |
l in eastern dialects>dental l in eastern dialects |
| M>M |
|
m |
|
m>m |
|
| N>N |
|
n |
|
n>n |
ŋ, ɲ>ŋ, ɲ |
| Ń>Ń |
&#323; |
ń |
&#324; |
ɲ>ɲ |
|
| O>O |
|
o |
|
ɔ>ɔ |
|
| Ó>Ó |
&Oacute; |
ó |
&oacute; |
u>u |
|
| P>P |
|
p |
|
p>p |
b>b |
| R>R |
|
r |
|
r>r |
|
| S>S |
|
s |
|
s>s |
z, ɕ>z, ɕ |
| Ś>Ś |
&#346; |
ś |
&#347; |
ɕ>ɕ |
ʑ>ʑ |
| T>T |
|
t |
|
t>t |
d>d |
| U>U |
|
u |
|
u>u |
ȗ>ȗ |
| W>W |
|
w |
|
v>v |
f>f |
| Y>Y |
|
y |
|
<strike>i</strike>><strike>i</strike> |
|
| Z>Z |
|
z |
|
z>z |
s, ʑ>s, ʑ |
| Ź>Ź |
&#377; |
ź |
&#378; |
ʑ>ʑ |
ɕ>ɕ |
| Ż>Ż |
&#379; |
ż |
&#380; |
ʒ>ʒ |
ʃ>ʃ |
Polish orthography also includes seven digraphs:
| Capitalized>Capitalized |
HTML<br>code>HTML<br>code |
Lower<br>case>Lower<br>case |
HTML<br>code>HTML<br>code |
Usual<br>phonetic value>Usual<br>phonetic value |
Other<br>phonetic values>Other<br>phonetic values |
| Ch>Ch |
|
ch |
|
x>x |
γ>γ |
| Cz>Cz |
|
cz |
|
ʧ}} |
ʤ}} |
| Dz>Dz |
|
dz |
|
ʣ}} |
ʦ}}, {{IPA^dʑ}}, d-z |
| Dź>Dź |
D&#377; |
dź |
d&#378; |
dʑ}} |
tɕ}} |
| Dż>Dż |
D&#379; |
dż |
d&#380; |
ʤ}} |
ʧ}}, {{IPA^dʒ}} |
| Rz>Rz |
|
rz |
|
ʒ}} |
ʃ}}, r-z |
| Sz>Sz |
|
sz |
|
ʃ}} |
ʒ}} |
Note that although the Polish orthography is mostly phonetic, some sounds may be written in more than one way:
- x as either h or ch
- as either ż or rz (though rż denotes a rʒ cluster)
- u as either u or ó
- some soft consonants as either ć, dź, ń, ś, ź, or ci, dzi, ni, si, zi
Unlike in English, if consonants are doubled in script, it means that they are also doubled in pronunciation, e.g.: wanna
'vanna, not 'vana ('bathtub'); motto
'mɔttɔ, not 'mɔtɔ.
Grammar
Polish is often said to be one of the most difficult languages for non-native speakers to learn. It has a complex gender system with five genders: neuter, feminine and three masculine genders (personal, animate and inanimate). There are 7 cases and 2 numbers.
Nouns, adjectives and verbs are inflected, and both noun declension and verb conjugation are highly irregular. Every verb is either perfective or imperfective.
Verbs often come in pairs, one of them imperfective and the other perfective (usually imperfective verb with a prefix), but often there are many perfective verbs with different prefixes for single imperfective words.
Tenses are:
| construction |
(for perfective verbs) |
(for imperfective verbs) |
example imperfective |
example perfective |
| ić> verb+ić |
infinitive |
infinitive |
robić |
zrobić |
| verb+suffix |
future simple tense |
present tense |
robicie |
zrobicie |
| past participle+suffix |
past perfect tense |
past imperfect tense |
robiliście |
zrobiliście |
| (this suffix can be moved) |
|
coście robili |
coście zrobili |
Movable suffix is usually attached to verb or to the most accented word of sentence, like question preposition.
Sometimes the sentence may be emphasised with a particle
-że
.
So
what have you done ?
can be:
- Co zrobiliście?
- Coście zrobili?
- Cóżeście zrobili?
All these forms are used without a subject -- "wy" ("you" in plural). Of course, it is possible to use the subject along, but it sounds well only in the first sentence (the other two are stronger, with the stress on the verb, so the subject is not so important):
- Co wy zrobiliście?
- Coście zrobili? (in fact, a Pole won't use subject here)
- Co żeście zrobili? (as above)
- Co wyście zrobili? (here the stress goes to "you" -- "wy"+ście)
Past participle depends on number and gender, so 3rd person, singular past perfect tense can be:
- zrobił (he made/did)
- zrobiła (she made/did)
- zrobiło (it made/did)
Word order
From Wikibooks' .
Basic word order in Polish is SVO, however it is possible to move words around in the sentence, and to drop subject, object or even sometimes verb, if they are obvious from context.
These sentences mean the same ("Ala has a cat"):
- Ala ma kota
- Ala kota ma
- Kota ma Ala
- Ma Ala kota
- Kota Ala ma
- Ma kota Ala
Yet only the first of these sounds natural in Polish, and others should be used for emphasis only, if at all.
If apparent from context, you can drop the subject, object or even the verb:
- Ma kota - can be used if it's obvious who is being talked about
- Ma - answer for "Czy Ala ma kota?" ("Does Ala have a cat?")
- Ala - answer for "Kto ma kota?" ("Who has a cat?")
- Kota - answer for "Co ma Ala?" ("What does Ala have?")
- Ala ma - answer for "Kto z naszych znajomych ma kota?" ("Which of our friends does have a cat?")
Note the marker "czy", which turns a sentence into a question, much as the French use "Est-ce que...".
There is a tendency in Polish to drop the subject rather than the object and rarely you know the object but not the subject. If the question was "Kto ma kota ?" (who has a cat ?), the answer should be "Ala" alone, without a verb.
In particular, "ja" and "ty", and also their plural equivalents "my" and "wy", are almost always dropped.
Vocabulary
ja - I
ty - you
on - he
ona - she
ono - it
my - we
wy - you
oni - they (many men)
one - they (many women or things)
Polska - Poland
Polak - Pole
polski - Polish
kot - cat
pies - dog
krowa - cow
świnia - pig
mucha - fly
osa - wasp
pszczoła - bee
drzewo - tree
kwiat - flower
Anglia - England
Szkocja - Scotland
Walia - Wales
Irlandia - Irland
Wielka Brytania - Great Britain
Zjednoczone Królestwo - United Kingdom
Niemcy - Germany
Japonia - Japan
Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki - The United States of America
Francja - France
Hiszpania - Spain
Notes
1 You can hear the voice samples by clicking on the Polish example (ogg format).
See also
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
