' () is a common

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

word for a

black person Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

(person of

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

n descent).

Etymology

The word '' is derived from a Czech borrowing of the German '' Mohr'', derived from Latin '' Maurus'', similarly to the English word '

moor Moor or Moors may refer to: Nature and ecology * Moorland, a habitat characterized by low-growing vegetation and acidic soils. Ethnic and religious groups * Moors, Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during ...

Meaning and usage

Definition

In the Polish language, '' means somebody with black skin (a proper noun, uppercase spelling). The lowercase word ('', a common noun) has several metaphoric and informal meanings. ' (feminine form: ',

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

: ') can be translated into English as "black man". The standard nominative plural is ''Murzyni'', which is using the "personal masculine"

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

, while the impersonal suffix (that is: ''Murzyny'') is

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

Scholarly discourse

The word "Murzyn" is sometimes translated as either "black" or, more controversially, "

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

". With regards to the English word "Negro", however, the socio-cultural roots of each word are significantly different. In the opinion of linguist , it has also been associated with

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's 'noble'

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

, usually called a "moor" in English. Sociologist Antonina Kloskowska, writing in 1996 in ''"Race", ethnicity and nation: international perspectives on social conflict'', says the word ''Murzyn'' "does not carry pejorative connotations. However, in 2006 philologist Grażyna Zarzycka said that the word "'Murzyn', which many Poles, including academics, is not offensive, is seen by some black people as discriminatory and derogatory."Grażyna Zarzycka, "Dyskurs prasowy o cudzoziemcach na podstawie tekstów o Łódzkiej Wieży Babel i osobach czarnoskórych", Łódź, 2006, p. 143 Łaziński, writing in the language advice column of the Polish dictionary in 2008, suggested that in cases where an individual may perceive ''Murzyn'' to be offensive, geographic or national designations should be used. According to Łaziński the word ''Murzyn'' in Polish is sometimes perceived as offensive, though many Poles would defend its use. In comparison, a direct translation of the English word "black", ''"czarny"'', does not seem better to him since it often carries negative connotations in Polish, though he feels it may eventually replace ''Murzyn'' due to the influence of foreign languages on Polish. According to philosopher Marcin Miłkowski, writing in 2012, the word ''Murzyn'', "previously considered neutral, is now all but banned in newspapers". In August 2020 Łaziński published an opinion about the usage of the word, at the website of the

Polish Language Council The Council for the Polish Language (Polish: ''Rada Języka Polskiego'') is the official language regulating organ of Polish. It was established by the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences pursuant to Resolution No. 17/96 of 9 September 199 ...

. According to Łaziński, the word had little negative association through the 1980s and into the 1990s; but as the Polish language evolved, the word became less and less common and its associations became more and more

. In his new opinion, Łaziński has argued against its modern and public use and recommended that the word "Murzyn" not be used other than in historical quotations. This was later accepted as the official stance of the council. In early March 2021, on the 55th plenary session of the

, Łaziński's opinion was unanimously voted as official opinion of the council. The Council opinion is a recommendation, it does not have legal binding, yet this was unique and first time recognition of the archaic and pejorative meaning by a high expert body.

Public discourse

Polish writer in 2009 noted that comparing Polish "Murzyn" to English "Negro" without taking into account the word's neutral origins and non-racist historical background has caused some controversy over the word in recent years. Poland's first black

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

John Godson John Abraham Godson (né Godson Chikama Onyekwere; born 25 November 1970) is a Polish-Nigerian politician, a university teacher and a former Charismatic minister. He served as a Member of the Sejm between 2010-2015, most recently as a member of t ...

, said in 2011 that the word was not offensive and that he was proud to be called a ''Murzyn''. He also said he saw no problem in using the terms ''"Murzyn"'', ''"ciemnoskóry"'' dark-skin" "Afrykańczyk" African man" or "Afropolak" Afro-Pole" Later however, in 2020, he

tweeted Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

"The word has evolved. If the people in question do not wish to be called "murzyn" - please do not call them that". Back in 2011, Mamadou Diouf, a Polish-Senegalese musician and representative of the Committee for the African Community (Komitet Społeczności Afrykańskiej), criticised Godson for his use of the word. Polish-Kenyan writer and activist James Omolo in his 2018 book ''Strangers at the Gate. Black Poland'' argues that regardless the neutrality of the term "Murzyn", in the perception of Poles it is associated with inferiority. Among other usage examples, he cites a 2014 scandal with foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who reportedly said that Polish mentality suffers from "Murzyńskość" Murzynness" adding "The problem in Poland is that we have very shallow pride and low self-esteem". A black Polish MP, Killion Munyama, used the expression ''sto lat za Murzynami'' 100 years behind the ''Murzyns''"while speaking to Godson about the status of LGBT issues in Poland, characterising it as behind the times. On the other hand, black Polish journalist considers the word ''Murzyn'' to be positive and calls himself "pierwszy Murzyn Rzeczypospolitej" ("First Murzyn of Republic of Poland"), which is also the title of his autobiographical book published in 2016.

In language

A saying sometimes used in Poland, ''Murzyn zrobił swoje, Murzyn może odejść'', is a quote from the 1783 play '' Fiesco'' by German writer

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

(translated from the German as "The Moor has done his duty, the Moor can go"). The meaning of this phrase is: "once you've served your purpose, you're no longer needed". The lowercase word ('', a common noun) may mean: # (informally) Somebody anonymously doing work for somebody else; # (informally) Somebody with a dark brown tan; # (informally) A hard working person forced to do hard labour. The English word "

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...

" can be translated informally in Polish as ''literacki Murzyn'', in this case a "literary Negro". A ''murzynek'' can also mean a popular type of chocolate cake, or a portion of strong coffee. A ''cycki Murzynki'' ("Murzynka's tits") is a cake made of biscuit and chocolate. A ''murzyn polski'' ("Polish murzyn") is a variety of black-billed

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

. A ''murzynka'' is also a type of

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

with small, dark red fruit. A ''murzyn'' is also another term for szołdra, a

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

easter bread In many European countries, there are various traditions surrounding the use of bread during the Easter holidays. Traditionally the practice of eating Easter bread or sweetened "communion" bread traces its origin back to Byzantium and the Orthodox ...

In Polish culture

A famous children's poem "

Murzynek Bambo "Murzynek Bambo" (''Bambo the black child'') is a children's poem by Jewish-Polish author Julian Tuwim (September 1894 – December 1953), written in 1934, which tells a story of a fictitious African child named Bambo.Maciej Tramer"Bambo zrobił ...

" has been criticized for imprinting a stereotypical image of an African child. Others argue that the poem should be seen in the context of its time, and that commentators should not go overboard in analysing it. In 1939

Leonard Buczkowski Leonard Buczkowski (5 August 1900 – 19 February 1967) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He directed 23 films between 1928 and 1966. His 1959 film ''The Eagle'' was entered into the 1st Moscow International Film Festival. Selec ...

directed the film ' (''White Murzyn''). In 2014 a brand of Polish

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was orig ...

, "Palma", which portrays a cartoon-drawing of a black person (first launched in 1972) was rebranded as "Palma z Murzynkiem". The usage of this term attracted similar criticism. The use of the word "Murzynek" (a

of Murzyn) was criticized by Polish-Senegalese Mamadou Diouf, who called for a boycott. Polish linguist noted that the word "Murzyn" is not pejorative, but diminutives could be seen as such, if only because they are diminutives. The margarine producer, Bielmar, denied any racist views, and said that the logo has been a distinctive part of the product for decades. It believed that abolishing it would result in a loss of the company's strongest brand, and the current rebranding with the diminutive (from "Palma" to "Palma z Murzynkiem") is simply a response to the common nickname of the product as used by the customers. ''Pod Murzynami'' ("Under the Murzyns") is a not uncommon name for

chemist's A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmaci ...

shops or

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

buildings in Poland. Often an image of a black person accompanies the name. A Polish general of English-African descent,

Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski (25 October 1769 – 29 September 1802) was a Polish general and military commander, who fought for France during the Napoleonic Wars. He is the first known Polish general of African descent. After enlist ...

(1769–1802), was nicknamed "Murzynek" as a child.

References

External links

*
PWN discussion of the acceptability and future of the word 'Murzyn'
*

* {{in lang, en ttp://murzyni.com/murzyni-is-positive ''Murzyni'' – a positive word African diaspora in Poland Ethnonyms Polish culture Polish words and phrases