Onufry Kopczyński (30 November 1736 – 14 February 1817) was an important

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and grammarian of the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as t ...

during the

Polish Enlightenment The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (G ...

. Kopczyński, Onufry.
''

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OC ...

'' library catalog. ''Materials online.'' Retrieved September 21, 2011.Mirella Kosmala
Ksiądz Onufry Kopczyński
(PDF 2.06 MB) ''ZSP w Czerniejewie.'' Retrieved September 21, 2011.

Life and work

Born in Czerniejewo near

Gniezno Gniezno (; german: Gnesen; la, Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. One of the Piast dynasty's chief cities, ...

, Kopczyński became an educator with the Piarist order, teaching at Stanisław Konarski's Collegium Nobilium in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

. In 1775 he became a member of the Society for Elementary Textbooks, and in 1809 visitor to the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was '' de facto'' dissolved by an ...

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 scree ...

schools. Kopczyński is best known for his efforts to improve the status of the Polish language by making it a principal subject of study in schools. He in fact created

Polish grammar The grammar of the Polish language is characterized by a high degree of inflection, and has relatively free word order, although the dominant arrangement is subject–verb–object (SVO). There are no articles, and there is frequent dropping of ...

terminology. His major work was ''Gramatyka dla szkół narodowych'' (A Grammar for the National Schools, 1785), in which he laid out a formal grammar and method of study for the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and Polish languages. The part of the book relating to the Polish language would be reprinted many times in the first half of the 19th century."Kopczyński, Onufry," ''

Encyklopedia Polski This is a list of encyclopedias by language. Albanian Encyclopedias written in Albanian. * '' Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary'' ( sq, Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar): published by Academy of Sciences of Albania; ** First Edition (1985; ''FESH'' ...

'', p. 310.

Selected publications

* ''Essai de Grammaire Polonaise pratique et raisonnée pour les Français'' l'an 1807 * ''Grammatyka języka Polskiego ... Dziéło pozgonné'' * ''Poprawa błędów w ustnéy i pisanéy mowie polskiéy'', Warszawa 1808 * ''Grammatyka dla szkoł narodowych'', 1780–1807 * ''Układ grammatyki dla szkół narodowych z dzieła iuż skończonego wyciagniony'', 1785

Notes

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopczynski, Onufry Grammarians from Poland Polish translation scholars Polish Roman Catholic priests Piarists 1736 births 1817 deaths People from Gniezno County

Life and work

Selected publications

See also

Notes