Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a
West Slavic language of the
Lechitic group written in the
Latin script
The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern I ...
. It is spoken primarily in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and serves as the
native language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
of the
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
. In addition to being the
official language
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
of Poland, it is also used by the
Polish diaspora
The Polish diaspora comprises Poles and people of Polish heritage or origin who live outside Poland. The Polish diaspora is also known in modern Polish as ''Polonia'', the name for Poland in Latin and many Romance languages.
There are roughly 20, ...
. There are over 50 million
Polish speakers around the world. It ranks as the sixth most-spoken among
languages of the European Union
The European Union (EU) has 24 official languages, of which threeEnglish, French and Germanhave the higher status of "procedural" languages of the European Commission (whereas the European Parliament accepts all official languages as working l ...
. Polish is subdivided into regional
dialects
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
and maintains strict
T–V distinction
The T–V distinction is the contextual use of different pronouns that exists in some languages and serves to convey formality or familiarity. Its name comes from the Latin pronouns '' tu'' and '' vos''. The distinction takes a number of forms ...
pronouns,
honorifics, and various forms of formalities when addressing individuals.
The traditional 32-letter
Polish alphabet
The Polish alphabet ( Polish: ''alfabet polski'', ''abecadło'') is the script of the Polish language, the basis for the Polish system of orthography. It is based on the Latin alphabet but includes certain letters with diacritics: the ''kreska ...
has nine additions (''ą'', ''ć'', ''ę'', ''ł'', ''ń'', ''ó'', ''ś'', ''ź'', ''ż'') to the letters of the basic 26-letter
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and th ...
, while removing three (x, q, v). Those three letters are at times included in an extended 35-letter alphabet, although they are not used in native words.
The traditional set comprises 23
consonants
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
and 9 written
vowels
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (len ...
, including two
nasal vowels
A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the soft palate (or velum) so that the air flow escapes through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, as in the French vowel or Amoy []. By contrast, oral vowels are produced witho ...
(''ę'', ''ą'') defined by a reversed
diacritic
A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacriti ...
hook called an ''
ogonek''. Polish is a Fusional language, synthetic and fusional language which has seven
grammatical case
A grammatical case is a category of nouns and noun modifiers ( determiners, adjectives, participles, and numerals), which corresponds to one or more potential grammatical functions for a nominal group in a wording. In various languages, nomin ...
s. It is one of very few languages in the world possessing continuous
penultimate stress (with only a few exceptions) and the only in its group having an abundance of
palatal consonants
Palatals are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex.
Characteristic ...
. Contemporary Polish developed in the 1700s as the successor to the medieval
Old Polish
The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language.
The sources for the study of the Ol ...
(10th–16th centuries) and
Middle Polish
Middle Polish ( pl, język średniopolski) is the period in the history of the Polish language between the 16th and 18th centuries. It evolved from Old Polish, and gave rise to Modern Polish.
In 16th century, Polish poet Jan Kochanowski
J ...
(16th–18th centuries).
Among the major languages, it is most closely related to
Slovak and
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
but differs in terms of pronunciation and general grammar. In addition, Polish was profoundly influenced by
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...
and other
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...
like
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
French as well as
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, E ...
(most notably
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
), which contributed to a large number of loanwords and similar grammatical structures. Extensive usage of
nonstandard dialects has also shaped the
standard language; considerable
colloquialisms and expressions were directly borrowed from German or
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
and subsequently adopted into the
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
of Polish which is in everyday use.
Historically, Polish was a ''
lingua franca'', important both diplomatically and academically in
Central and part of
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
. Today, Polish is spoken by approximately 38 million people as their first language in Poland. It is also spoken as a
second language
A person's second language, or L2, is a language that is not the native language (first language or L1) of the speaker, but is learned later. A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a fo ...
in eastern
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, northern
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
and
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, western parts of
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
and
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
as well as in southeast
Lithuania and
Latvia. Because of the emigration from Poland during different time periods, most notably after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, millions of Polish speakers can also be found in countries such as
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Australia, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
History
Polish began to emerge as a distinct language around the 10th century, the process largely triggered by the establishment and development of the Polish state.
Mieszko I, ruler of the Polans tribe from the
Greater Poland region, united a few culturally and linguistically related tribes from the basins of the
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
and
Oder before eventually accepting baptism in 966. With Christianity, Poland also adopted the
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and th ...
, which made it possible to write down Polish, which until then had existed only as a
spoken language
A spoken language is a language produced by articulate sounds or (depending on one's definition) manual gestures, as opposed to a written language. An oral language or vocal language is a language produced with the vocal tract in contrast with a si ...
.
![Book of Henryków](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Book_of_Henryk%C3%B3w.PNG)
The precursor to modern Polish is the
Old Polish language
The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language.
The sources for the study of the Ol ...
. Ultimately, Polish descends from the unattested
Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...
language. Polish was a ''
lingua franca'' from 1500 to 1700 in
Central and parts of
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
, because of the political, cultural, scientific and military influence of the former
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...
.
The
Book of Henryków (Polish: , la, Liber fundationis claustri Sanctae Mariae Virginis in Heinrichau), contains the earliest known sentence written in the Polish language: ''Day, ut ia pobrusa, a ti poziwai'' (in modern orthography: ''Daj, uć ja pobrusza, a ti pocziwaj''; the corresponding sentence in modern Polish: ''Daj, niech ja pomielę, a ty odpoczywaj'' or ''Pozwól, że ja będę mełł, a ty odpocznij''; and in English: ''Come, let me grind, and you take a rest''), written around 1270.
The medieval recorder of this phrase, the Cistercian monk Peter of the Henryków monastery, noted that "Hoc est in polonico" ("This is in Polish").
Geographic distribution
Poland is one of the most linguistically
homogeneous European countries; nearly 97% of Poland's citizens declare Polish as their
first language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
. Elsewhere,
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
constitute large minorities in areas which were once administered or occupied by Poland, notably in neighboring
Lithuania,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
, and
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. Polish is the most widely-used minority language in Lithuania's
Vilnius County
Vilnius County ( lt, Vilniaus apskritis) is the largest of the 10 counties of Lithuania, located in the east of the country around the city Vilnius. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Vilnius County re ...
, by 26% of the population, according to the 2001 census results, as
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
was part of Poland from 1922 until 1939. Polish is found elsewhere in southeastern Lithuania. In Ukraine, it is most common in the western parts of
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
and
Volyn Oblast
Volyn Oblast ( uk, Воли́нська о́бласть, translit=Volýnsʹka óblastʹ; also referred to as Volyn or Lodomeria) is an oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is Lutsk. Kovel is the westernmost town ...
s, while in
West Belarus
Western Belorussia or Western Belarus ( be, Заходняя Беларусь, translit=Zachodniaja Bielaruś; pl, Zachodnia Białoruś; russian: Западная Белоруссия, translit=Zapadnaya Belorussiya) is a historical region of mod ...
it is used by the significant Polish minority, especially in the
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
and
Grodno regions and in areas along the Lithuanian border. There are significant numbers of Polish speakers among Polish emigrants and their descendants in many other countries.
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
Polish Americans number more than 11 million but most of them cannot speak Polish fluently. According to the
2000 United States Census
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...
, 667,414 Americans of age five years and over reported Polish as the language spoken at home, which is about 1.4% of people who speak languages other than
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, 0.25% of the US population, and 6% of the Polish-American population. The largest concentrations of Polish speakers reported in the census (over 50%) were found in three states:
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
(185,749), (111,740), and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
(74,663). Enough people in these areas speak Polish that
PNC Financial Services (which has a large number of branches in all of these areas) offers services available in Polish at all of their
cash machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...
s in addition to
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
.
According to the 2011 census there are now over 500,000 people in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
who consider Polish to be their "main" language. In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, there is a significant
Polish Canadian population: There are 242,885 speakers of Polish according to the 2006 census, with a particular concentration in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
(91,810 speakers) and
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
.
The geographical distribution of the Polish language was greatly affected by the
territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II and
Polish population transfers (1944–46)
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 ...
. Poles settled in the "
Recovered Territories
The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands ( pl, Ziemie Odzyskane), also known as Western Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Zachodnie), and previously as Western and Northern Territories ( pl, Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne), Postulated Territories ( pl, Z ...
" in the west and north, which had previously been mostly
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-speaking. Some Poles remained in the previously Polish-ruled territories in the east that were annexed by the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, resulting in the present-day Polish-speaking minorities in Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine, although many Poles were expelled or emigrated from those areas to areas within Poland's new borders. To the east of Poland, the most significant Polish minority lives in a long, narrow strip along either side of the
Lithuania-
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
border. Meanwhile, the
flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–50), as well as the
expulsion of Ukrainians and
Operation Vistula
Operation Vistula ( pl, Akcja Wisła; uk, Опера́ція «Ві́сла») was a codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 Ukrainians (Boykos and Lemkos) from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland, to the Recovered Te ...
, the 1947 forced resettlement of Ukrainian minorities to the Recovered Territories in the west of the country, contributed to the country's linguistic homogeneity.
Dialects
![Polish-alphabet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Polish-alphabet.png)
The inhabitants of different regions of Poland speak Polish somewhat differently, although the differences between modern-day
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
varieties and standard Polish () appear relatively slight. Most of the middle aged and young speak vernaculars close to standard Polish, while the traditional dialects are preserved among older people in rural areas.
First-language speakers of Polish have no trouble understanding each other, and non-native speakers may have difficulty recognizing the regional and
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
differences. The modern
standard dialect
A standard language (also standard variety, standard dialect, and standard) is a language variety that has undergone substantial codification of grammar and usage, although occasionally the term refers to the entirety of a language that includes ...
, often termed as "correct Polish",
[ is spoken or at least understood throughout the entire country.]
Polish has traditionally been described as consisting of four or five main regional dialects:
* Greater Polish, spoken in the west
* Lesser Polish, spoken in the south and southeast
* Masovian, spoken throughout the central and eastern parts of the country
* Silesian, spoken in the southwest (also considered a separate language, see comment below)
Kashubian, spoken in Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
west of Gdańsk on the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
, is thought of either as a fifth Polish dialect or a distinct language, depending on the criteria used. It contains a number of features not found elsewhere in Poland, e.g. nine distinct oral vowels (vs. the five of standard Polish) and (in the northern dialects) phonemic word stress, an archaic feature preserved from Common Slavic
Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...
times and not found anywhere else among the West Slavic languages
The West Slavic languages are a subdivision of the Slavic language group. They include Polish, Czech, Slovak, Kashubian, Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian. The languages have traditionally been spoken across a mostly continuous region encom ...
. However, it "lacks most of the linguistic and social determinants of language-hood".
Many linguistic sources categorize Silesian as a dialect of Polish. However, many Silesians consider themselves a separate ethnicity and have been advocating for the recognition of a Silesian language. According to the last official census in Poland in 2011, over half a million people declared Silesian as their native language. Many sociolinguists (e.g. Tomasz Kamusella
Tomasz Kamusella FRHistS (born 24 December 1967) is a Polish scholar pursuing interdisciplinary research in language politics, nationalism and ethnicity.
Education
Kamusella was educated at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of P ...
, Agnieszka Pianka, Alfred F. Majewicz, Tomasz Wicherkiewicz
Tomasz Wicherkiewicz (born 1967) is a Polish linguist who is Professor of Linguistics
Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, ...
) assume that extralinguistic criteria decide whether a lect is an independent language or a dialect: speakers of the speech variety or/and political decisions, and this is dynamic (i.e. it changes over time). Also, research organizations such as SIL International and resources for the academic field of linguistics such as Ethnologue, Linguist List
The LINGUIST List is a major online resource for the academic field of linguistics. It was founded by Anthony Aristar in early 1990 at the University of Western Australia, and is used as a reference by the National Science Foundation in the Unit ...
and others, for example the Ministry of Administration and Digitization recognized the Silesian language. In July 2007, the Silesian language was recognized by ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
, and was attributed an ISO code of szl.
Some additional characteristic but less widespread regional dialects include:
# The distinctive dialect of the Gorals
The Gorals ( pl, Górale; Goral dialect: ''Górole''; sk, Gorali; Cieszyn Silesia dialect, Cieszyn Silesian: ''Gorole''), also known as the Highlanders (in Poland as the Polish Highlanders) are an indigenous ethnographic or ethnic group primar ...
(''Góralski'') occurs in the mountainous area bordering the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
and Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
. The Gorals ("Highlanders") take great pride in their culture and the dialect. It exhibits some cultural influences from the Vlach
"Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...
shepherds who migrated from Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...
(southern Romania) in the 14th–17th centuries.
# The Poznanski dialect, spoken in Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...
and to some extent in the whole region of the former Prussian Partition
The Prussian Partition ( pl, Zabór pruski), or Prussian Poland, is the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired during the Partitions of Poland, in the late 18th century by the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian acquis ...
(excluding Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...
), with noticeable German influences.
# In the northern and western (formerly German) regions where Poles from the territories annexed by the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
resettled after World War II, the older generation speaks a dialect of Polish characteristic of the Kresy
Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...
that includes a longer pronunciation of vowels.
# Poles living in Lithuania (particularly in the Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
region), in Belarus (particularly the northwest), and in the northeast of Poland continue to speak the Eastern Borderlands
Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic, it ...
dialect, which sounds "slushed" (in Polish described as ''zaciąganie z ruska'', "speaking with a Ruthenian drawl") and is easily distinguishable.
# Some city dwellers, especially the less affluent population, had their own distinctive dialects – for example, the Warsaw dialect
The Warsaw subdialect ( pl, gwara warszawska ), or Warsaw dialect ( pl, dialekt warszawski), is a regional subdialect of the Masovian dialect of the Polish language, centered on the city of Warsaw. It evolved as late as the 18th century, under ...
, still spoken by some of the population of Praga
Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter.
History
The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...
on the eastern bank of the Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
. However, these city dialects are mostly extinct due to assimilation with standard Polish.
# Many Poles living in emigrant communities (for example, in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
), whose families left Poland just after World War II, retain a number of minor features of Polish vocabulary as spoken in the first half of the 20th century that now sound archaic to contemporary visitors from Poland.
Polish linguistics has been characterized by a strong strive towards promoting prescriptive
Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes infor ...
ideas of language intervention and usage uniformity,[ along with normatively-oriented notions of language "correctness"][ (unusual by Western standards).]
Phonology
Vowels
Polish has six oral vowels (seven oral vowels in written form), which are all monophthong
A monophthong ( ; , ) is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The monophthongs can be contrasted with diphthongs, wh ...
s, and two nasal vowels. The oral vowels are (spelled ''i''), (spelled ''y'' and also transcribed as /ɘ/), (spelled ''e''), (spelled ''a''), (spelled ''o'') and (spelled ''u'' and '' ó'' as separate letters). The nasal vowels are (spelled '' ę'') and (spelled '' ą''). Unlike Czech or Slovak, Polish does not retain phonemic vowel length — the letter ''ó'', which formerly represented lengthened /ɔ/ in older forms of the language, is now vestigial and instead corresponds to /u/.
Consonants
The Polish consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wi ...
system shows more complexity: its characteristic features include the series of affricate and palatal consonant
Palatals are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex.
Characteris ...
s that resulted from four Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...
palatalizations and two further palatalizations that took place in Polish. The full set of consonants, together with their most common spellings, can be presented as follows (although other phonological analyses exist):
Neutralization occurs between voiced
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced.
The term, however, is used to refer ...
–voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies ...
consonant pairs in certain environments, at the end of words (where devoicing occurs) and in certain consonant clusters (where assimilation occurs). For details, see '' Voicing and devoicing'' in the article on Polish phonology.
Most Polish words are paroxytone
Paroxytone ( el, παροξύτονος, ') is a linguistic term for a word with stress on the penultimate syllable, that is, the second last syllable, such as the English word ''potáto'', and just about all words ending in –ic such as músic ...
s (that is, the stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
falls on the second-to-last syllable of a polysyllabic word), although there are exceptions.
Consonant distribution
Polish permits complex consonant clusters, which historically often arose from the disappearance of yers. Polish can have word-initial and word-medial clusters of up to four consonants, whereas word-final clusters can have up to five consonants. Examples of such clusters can be found in words such as ''bezwzględny'' ('absolute' or 'heartless', 'ruthless'), ''źdźbło'' ('blade of grass'), ('shock'), and ''krnąbrność'' ('disobedience'). A popular Polish tongue-twister
A tongue twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Additionally, they can be used as exercises to improve pronunciation and fluency. Some tongue twisters p ...
(from a verse by Jan Brzechwa
Jan Brzechwa (), (15 August 1898 – 2 July 1966) was a Polish poet, author and lawyer, known mostly for his contribution to children's literature. He was born Jan Wiktor Lesman to a Polish family of Jewish descent. ) is ('In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reed').
Unlike languages such as Czech, Polish does not have syllabic consonants – the nucleus of a syllable is always a vowel.
The consonant is restricted to positions adjacent to a vowel. It also cannot precede the letter ''y''.
Prosody
The predominant stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
pattern in Polish is penultimate stress – in a word of more than one syllable, the next-to-last syllable is stressed. Alternating preceding syllables carry secondary stress, e.g. in a four-syllable word, where the primary stress is on the third syllable, there will be secondary stress on the first.
Each vowel represents one syllable, although the letter ''i'' normally does not represent a vowel when it precedes another vowel (it represents , palatalization of the preceding consonant, or both depending on analysis). Also the letters ''u'' and ''i'' sometimes represent only semivowels when they follow another vowel, as in ''autor'' ('author'), mostly in loanwords (so not in native ''nauka'' 'science, the act of learning', for example, nor in nativized ''Mateusz'' 'Matthew').
Some loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...
s, particularly from the classical language
A classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the ...
s, have the stress on the antepenultimate (third-from-last) syllable. For example, ''fizyka'' () ('physics') is stressed on the first syllable. This may lead to a rare phenomenon of minimal pairs differing only in stress placement, for example ''muzyka'' 'music' vs. ''muzyka'' – genitive singular of ''muzyk'' 'musician'. When additional syllables are added to such words through inflection
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and ...
or suffixation, the stress normally becomes regular. For example, ''uniwersytet'' (, 'university') has irregular stress on the third (or antepenultimate) syllable, but the genitive ''uniwersytetu'' () and derived adjective ''uniwersytecki'' () have regular stress on the penultimate syllables. Loanwords generally become nativized to have penultimate stress. In psycholinguistic experiments, speakers of Polish have been demonstrated to be sensitive to the distinction between regular penultimate and exceptional antepenultimate stress.
Another class of exceptions is verbs with the conditional endings ''-by, -bym, -byśmy'', etc. These endings are not counted in determining the position of the stress; for example, ''zrobiłbym'' ('I would do') is stressed on the first syllable, and ''zrobilibyśmy'' ('we would do') on the second. According to prescriptive authorities, the same applies to the first and second person plural past tense endings ''-śmy, -ście'', although this rule is often ignored in colloquial speech (so ''zrobiliśmy'' 'we did' should be prescriptively stressed on the second syllable, although in practice it is commonly stressed on the third as ''zrobiliśmy''). These irregular stress patterns are explained by the fact that these endings are detachable clitics rather than true verbal inflections: for example, instead of ''kogo zobaczyliście?'' ('whom did you see?') it is possible to say ''kogoście zobaczyli?'' – here ''kogo'' retains its usual stress (first syllable) in spite of the attachment of the clitic. Reanalysis of the endings as inflections when attached to verbs causes the different colloquial stress patterns. These stress patterns are considered part of a "usable" norm of standard Polish - in contrast to the "model" ("high") norm.
Some common word combinations are stressed as if they were a single word. This applies in particular to many combinations of preposition plus a personal pronoun, such as ''do niej'' ('to her'), ''na nas'' ('on us'), ''przeze mnie'' ('because of me'), all stressed on the bolded syllable.
Orthography
The Polish alphabet
The Polish alphabet ( Polish: ''alfabet polski'', ''abecadło'') is the script of the Polish language, the basis for the Polish system of orthography. It is based on the Latin alphabet but includes certain letters with diacritics: the ''kreska ...
derives from the Latin script
The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern I ...
but includes certain additional letters formed using diacritic
A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacriti ...
s. The Polish alphabet was one of three major forms of Latin-based orthography developed for Western and some South Slavic languages, the others being Czech orthography
Czech orthography is a system of rules for proper formal writing (orthography) in Czech. The earliest form of separate Latin script specifically designed to suit Czech was devised by Czech theologian and church reformist Jan Hus, the namesake of ...
and Croatian orthography
Gaj's Latin alphabet ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Gajeva latinica, separator=" / ", Гајева латиница}, ), also known as ( sh-Cyrl, абецеда, ) or ( sh-Cyrl, гајица, link=no, ), is the form of the Latin script used for writing Serb ...
, the last of these being a 19th-century invention trying to make a compromise between the first two. Kashubian uses a Polish-based system, Slovak uses a Czech-based system, and Slovene follows the Croatian one; the Sorbian languages
The Sorbian languages ( hsb, serbska rěč, dsb, serbska rěc) are the Upper Sorbian language and Lower Sorbian language, two closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavic ethno-cultural min ...
blend the Polish and the Czech ones.
Historically, Poland's once diverse and multi-ethnic population utilized many forms of scripture to write Polish. For instance, Lipka Tatars and Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
inhabiting the eastern parts of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...
wrote Polish in the Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
alphabet. The Cyrillic script
The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...
is used to a certain extent by Polish speakers in Western Belarus
Western Belorussia or Western Belarus ( be, Заходняя Беларусь, translit=Zachodniaja Bielaruś; pl, Zachodnia Białoruś; russian: Западная Белоруссия, translit=Zapadnaya Belorussiya) is a historical region of mod ...
, especially for religious texts.
The diacritics used in the Polish alphabet are the ''kreska'' (graphically similar to the acute accent) over the letters ''ć, ń, ó, ś, ź'' and through the letter in ''ł''; the ''kropka'' (superior dot) over the letter ''ż'', and the '' ogonek'' ("little tail") under the letters ''ą, ę''. The letters ''q, v, x'' are used only in foreign words and names.
Polish orthography is largely phonemic
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west ...
—there is a consistent correspondence between letters (or digraphs and trigraphs) and phonemes (for exceptions see below). The letters of the alphabet and their normal phonemic values are listed in the following table.
The following digraphs and trigraphs are used:
Voiced consonant letters frequently come to represent voiceless sounds (as shown in the tables); this occurs at the end of words and in certain clusters, due to the neutralization mentioned in the ''Phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
'' section above. Occasionally also voiceless consonant letters can represent voiced sounds in clusters.
The spelling rule for the palatal sounds , , , and is as follows: before the vowel ''i'' the plain letters ''s, z, c, dz, n'' are used; before other vowels the combinations ''si, zi, ci, dzi, ni'' are used; when not followed by a vowel the diacritic forms ''ś, ź, ć, dź, ń'' are used. For example, the ''s'' in ''siwy'' ("grey-haired"), the ''si'' in ''siarka'' ("sulfur") and the ''ś'' in ''święty'' ("holy") all represent the sound . The exceptions to the above rule are certain loanwords from Latin, Italian, French, Russian or English—where ''s'' before ''i'' is pronounced as ''s'', e.g. ''sinus'', ''sinologia'', ''do re mi fa sol la si do'', ''Saint-Simon i saint-simoniści'', ''Sierioża'', ''Siergiej'', ''Singapur'', ''singiel''. In other loanwords the vowel ''i'' is changed to ''y'', e.g. ''Syria'', ''Sybir'', ''synchronizacja'', ''Syrakuzy''.
The following table shows the correspondence between the sounds and spelling:
Digraphs and trigraphs are used:
Similar principles apply to , , and , except that these can only occur before vowels, so the spellings are ''k, g, (c)h, l'' before ''i'', and ''ki, gi, (c)hi, li'' otherwise. Most Polish speakers, however, do not consider palatalization of ''k, g, (c)h'' or ''l'' as creating new sounds.
Except in the cases mentioned above, the letter ''i'' if followed by another vowel in the same word usually represents , yet a palatalization of the previous consonant is always assumed.
The reverse case, where the consonant remains unpalatalized but is followed by a palatalized consonant, is written by using ''j'' instead of ''i'': for example, ''zjeść'', "to eat up".
The letters ''ą'' and ''ę'', when followed by plosives and affricates, represent an oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant, rather than a nasal vowel. For example, ''ą'' in ''dąb'' ("oak") is pronounced , and ''ę'' in ''tęcza'' ("rainbow") is pronounced (the nasal assimilates to the following consonant). When followed by ''l'' or ''ł'' (for example ''przyjęli'', ''przyjęły''), ''ę'' is pronounced as just ''e''. When ''ę'' is at the end of the word it is often pronounced as just .
Note that, depending on the word, the phoneme can be spelt ''h'' or ''ch'', the phoneme can be spelt ''ż'' or ''rz'', and can be spelt ''u'' or ''ó''. In several cases it determines the meaning, for example: ''może'' ("maybe") and ''morze'' ("sea").
In occasional words, letters that normally form a digraph are pronounced separately. For example, ''rz'' represents , not , in words like ''zamarzać'' ("freeze") and in the name ''Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
''.
Doubled letters are usually pronounced as a single, lengthened consonant, however, some speakers might pronounce the combination as two separate sounds.
There are certain clusters where a written consonant would not be pronounced. For example, the ''ł'' in the word ''jabłko'' ("apple") might be omitted in ordinary speech, leading to the pronunciation ''japko''.
Grammar
Polish is a highly fusional language
Fusional languages or inflected languages are a type of synthetic language, distinguished from agglutinative languages by their tendency to use a single inflectional morpheme to denote multiple grammatical, syntactic, or semantic features. ...
with relatively free word order
In linguistics, word order (also known as linear order) is the order of the syntactic constituents of a language. Word order typology studies it from a cross-linguistic perspective, and examines how different languages employ different orders. C ...
, although the dominant arrangement is subject–verb–object (SVO). There are no articles, and subject pronouns are often dropped.
Noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
s belong to one of three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. The masculine gender is also divided into subgenders : animate vs inanimate in the singular, human vs nonhuman in the plural. There are seven cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative and vocative.
Adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ma ...
s agree with nouns in terms of gender, case, and number. Attributive adjectives most commonly precede the noun, although in certain cases, especially in fixed phrases (like ''język polski'', "Polish (language)"), the noun may come first; the rule of thumb is that generic descriptive adjective normally precedes (e.g. ''piękny kwiat'', "beautiful flower") while categorizing adjective often follows the noun (e.g. ''węgiel kamienny'', "black coal"). Most short adjectives and their derived adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
s form comparative
general linguistics, the comparative is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two (or more) entities or groups of entities in quality or degree - see also comparison (grammar) for an overview of comparison, as well ...
s and superlatives by inflection (the superlative is formed by prefixing ''naj-'' to the comparative).
Verb
A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...
s are of imperfective or perfective aspect
Aspect or Aspects may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Aspect magazine'', a biannual DVD magazine showcasing new media art
* Aspect Co., a Japanese video game company
* Aspects (band), a hip hop group from Bristol, England
* ''Aspects'' (Benny Carter ...
, often occurring in pairs. Imperfective verbs have a present tense, past tense, compound future tense (except for ''być'' "to be", which has a simple future ''będę'' etc., this in turn being used to form the compound future of other verbs), subjunctive/conditional (formed with the detachable particle ''by''), imperatives, an infinitive, present participle, present gerund and past participle. Perfective verbs have a simple future tense (formed like the present tense of imperfective verbs), past tense, subjunctive/conditional, imperatives, infinitive, present gerund and past participle. Conjugated verb forms agree with their subject in terms of person, number, and (in the case of past tense and subjunctive/conditional forms) gender.
Passive
Passive may refer to:
* Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive
* Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works
* Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of o ...
-type constructions can be made using the auxiliary ''być'' or ''zostać'' ("become") with the passive participle. There is also an impersonal construction where the active verb is used (in third person singular) with no subject, but with the reflexive pronoun ''się'' present to indicate a general, unspecified subject (as in ''pije się wódkę'' "vodka is being drunk"—note that ''wódka'' appears in the accusative). A similar sentence type in the past tense uses the passive participle with the ending ''-o'', as in ''widziano ludzi'' ("people were seen"). As in other Slavic languages, there are also subjectless sentences formed using such words as ''można'' ("it is possible") together with an infinitive.
Yes-no questions (both direct and indirect) are formed by placing the word ''czy'' at the start. Negation uses the word ''nie'', before the verb or other item being negated; ''nie'' is still added before the verb even if the sentence also contains other negatives such as ''nigdy'' ("never") or ''nic'' ("nothing"), effectively creating a double negative.
Cardinal number
In mathematics, cardinal numbers, or cardinals for short, are a generalization of the natural numbers used to measure the cardinality (size) of sets. The cardinality of a finite set is a natural number: the number of elements in the set. T ...
s have a complex system of inflection and agreement. Zero and cardinal numbers higher than five (except for those ending with the digit 2, 3 or 4 but not ending with 12, 13 or 14) govern the genitive case rather than the nominative or accusative. Special forms of numbers ( collective numerals) are used with certain classes of noun, which include ''dziecko'' ("child") and exclusively plural nouns such as ''drzwi'' ("door").
Borrowed words
Polish has, over the centuries, borrowed a number of words from other languages. When borrowing, pronunciation was adapted to Polish phonemes and spelling was altered to match Polish orthography
Polish orthography is the system of writing the Polish language. The language is written using the Polish alphabet, which derives from the Latin alphabet, but includes some additional letters with diacritics. The orthography is mostly phonetic, or ...
. In addition, word endings are liberally applied to almost any word to produce verb
A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...
s, noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
s, adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ma ...
s, as well as adding the appropriate endings for cases of nouns, adjectives, diminutives, double-diminutives, augmentatives, etc.
Depending on the historical period, borrowing has proceeded from various languages. Notable influences have been Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...
(10th–18th centuries), Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
(10th and 14th–15th centuries), Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
(16th–17th centuries), French (17th–19th centuries), German (13–15th and 18th–20th centuries), Hungarian (15th–16th centuries) and Turkish (17th century). Currently, English words are the most common imports to Polish.
The Latin language, for a very long time the only official language of the Polish state, has had a great influence on Polish. Many Polish words were direct borrowings or calques (e.g. ''rzeczpospolita
() is the official name of Poland and a traditional name for some of its predecessor states. It is a compound of "thing, matter" and "common", a calque of Latin ''rés pública'' ( "thing" + "public, common"), i.e. ''republic'', in Engli ...
'' from ''res publica'') from Latin. Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...
was known to a larger or smaller degree by most of the numerous szlachta in the 16th to 18th centuries (and it continued to be extensively taught at secondary schools until World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
). Apart from dozens of loanwords, its influence can also be seen in a number of verbatim Latin phrases in Polish literature
Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...
(especially from the 19th century and earlier).
During the 12th and 13th centuries, Mongolian words were brought to the Polish language during wars with the armies of Genghis Khan and his descendants, e.g. ''dzida'' (spear) and ''szereg'' (a line or row).
Words from Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
, an important influence during the 10th and 14th–15th centuries include ''sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...
'', ''hańba'' and ''brama''.
In 1518, the Polish king Sigismund I the Old married Bona Sforza, the niece of the Holy Roman emperor Maximilian, who introduced Italian cuisine to Poland, especially vegetables. Hence, words from Italian include ''pomidor'' from "pomodoro" (tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
), ''kalafior'' from "cavolfiore" ( cauliflower), and ''pomarańcza'', a portmanteau from Italian "pomo" ( pome) plus "arancio" (orange). A later word of Italian origin is ''autostrada'' (from Italian "autostrada", highway).
In the 18th century, with the rising prominence of France in Europe, French supplanted Latin as an important source of words. Some French borrowings also date from the Napoleonic era, when the Poles were enthusiastic supporters of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. Examples include ''ekran'' (from French "écran", screen), ''abażur'' ("abat-jour", lamp shade), ''rekin'' ("requin", shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
), ''meble'' ("meuble", furniture), ''bagaż'' ("bagage", luggage), ''walizka'' ("valise", suitcase), ''fotel'' ("fauteuil", armchair), ''plaża'' ("plage", beach) and ''koszmar'' ("cauchemar", nightmare). Some place names have also been adapted from French, such as the 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 officia ...
borough of Żoliborz
Żoliborz () is one of the northern districts of the city of Warsaw. It is located directly to the north of the City Centre, on the left bank of the Vistula river. It has approximately 50,000 inhabitants and is one of the smallest boroughs of W ...
("joli bord" = beautiful riverside), as well as the town of Żyrardów
Żyrardów is a town and former industrial hub in central Poland with approximately 41,400 inhabitants (2006). It is the capital of Żyrardów County situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodes ...
(from the name Girard, with the Polish suffix -ów attached to refer to the founder of the town).
Many words were borrowed from the German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...
from the sizable German population in Polish cities during medieval times. German words found in the Polish language are often connected with trade, the building industry, civic rights and city life. Some words were assimilated verbatim, for example ''handel'' (trade) and ''dach'' (roof); others are pronounced similarly, but differ in writing ''Schnur''—''sznur'' (cord). As a result of being neighbors with Germany, Polish has many German expressions which have become literally translated (calques
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language whi ...
). The regional dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
s of Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...
and Masuria
Masuria (, german: Masuren, Masurian: ''Mazurÿ'') is a ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the ...
(Modern Polish East Prussia) have noticeably more German loanwords than other varieties.
The contacts with Ottoman Turkey in the 17th century brought many new words, some of them still in use, such as: ''jar'' ("yar" deep valley), ''szaszłyk'' ("şişlik" shish kebab), ''filiżanka'' ("fincan" cup), ''arbuz'' ("karpuz" watermelon
Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...
), ''dywan'' ("divan" carpet), etc.
From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland in 1025 through the early years of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...
created in 1569, Poland was the most tolerant country of Jews in Europe. Known as the " paradise for the Jews", it became a shelter for persecuted and expelled European Jewish communities and the home to the world's largest Jewish community of the time. As a result, many Polish words come from Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
, spoken by the large Polish Jewish
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...
population that existed until the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
. Borrowed Yiddish words include ''bachor'' (an unruly boy or child), ''bajzel'' (slang for mess), ''belfer'' (slang for teacher), ''ciuchy'' (slang for clothing), ''cymes'' (slang for very tasty food), ''geszeft'' (slang for business), ''kitel'' (slang for apron), ''machlojka'' (slang for scam), ''mamona'' (money), ''manele'' (slang for oddments), ''myszygene'' (slang for lunatic), ''pinda'' (slang for girl, pejoratively), ''plajta'' (slang for bankruptcy), ''rejwach'' (noise), ''szmal'' (slang for money), and ''trefny'' (dodgy).
The mountain dialects of the Górale in southern Poland, have quite a number of words borrowed from Hungarian (e.g. ''baca'', ''gazda'', ''juhas'', ''hejnał'') and Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
as a result of historical contacts with Hungarian-dominated Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and Wallachian herders who travelled north along the Carpathians
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
.
Thieves' slang includes such words as ''kimać'' (to sleep) or ''majcher'' (knife) of Greek origin, considered then unknown to the outside world.
In addition, Turkish and Tatar have exerted influence upon the vocabulary of war, names of oriental costumes etc. Russian borrowings began to make their way into Polish from the second half of the 19th century on.
Polish has also received an intensive number of English loanwords, particularly after World War II. Recent loanwords come primarily from the English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
, mainly those that have Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...
or Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
roots, for example (computer), (from 'corruption', but sense restricted to 'bribery') etc. Concatenation of parts of words (e.g. ''auto-moto''), which is not native to Polish but common in English, for example, is also sometimes used. When borrowing English words, Polish often changes their spelling. For example, Latin suffix '-tio' corresponds to ''-cja''. To make the word plural, ''-cja'' becomes ''-cje''. Examples of this include ''inauguracja'' (inauguration), ''dewastacja'' (devastation), ''recepcja'' (reception), ''konurbacja'' (conurbation) and ''konotacje'' (connotations). Also, the digraph ''qu'' becomes ''kw'' (''kwadrant'' = quadrant; ''kworum'' = quorum).
Loanwords from Polish
The Polish language has influenced others. Particular influences appear in other Slavic languages and in German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
— due to their proximity and shared borders. Examples of loanwords include German ''Grenze'' (border), Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
''grens'' from Polish ''granica''; German ''Peitzker'' from Polish ''piskorz'' (weatherfish); German ''Zobel'', French ''zibeline'', Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
''sobel'', and English ''sable'' from Polish ''soból''; and '' ogonek'' ("little tail") — the word describing a diacritic hook-sign added below some letters in various alphabets. The common Germanic word ''quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...
'' comes from the dialectical Old Polish
The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language.
The sources for the study of the Ol ...
''kwardy''. " Szmata," a Polish, Slovak and Ruthenian word for "mop" or "rag", became part of Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
. The Polish language exerted significant lexical influence upon Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
, particularly in the fields of abstract and technical terminology; for example, the Ukrainian word ''panstvo'' (country) is derived from Polish . The Polish influence on Ukrainian is particularly marked on western Ukrainian dialects in western Ukraine, which for centuries was under Polish cultural domination.[
There is a substantial number of Polish words which officially became part of Yiddish, once the main language of European ]Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. These include basic items, objects or terms such as a bread bun (Polish ''bułka'', Yiddish בולקע ''bulke''), a fishing rod (''wędka'', ווענטקע ''ventke''), an oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
(''dąb'', דעמב ''demb''), a meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...
(''łąka'', לאָנקע ''lonke''), a moustache
A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history.
Etymology
The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ...
(''wąsy'', וואָנצעס ''vontses'') and a bladder
The urinary bladder, or simply bladder, is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys before disposal by urination. In humans the bladder is a distensible organ that sits on the pelvic floor. Urine enters ...
(''pęcherz'', פּענכער ''penkher'').
Quite a few culinary loanwords exist in German and in other languages, some of which describe distinctive features of Polish cuisine. These include German and English '' Quark'' from ''twaróg'' (a kind of fresh cheese) and German ''Gurke'', English ''gherkin'' from ''ogórek'' (cucumber). The word '' pierogi'' (Polish dumplings) has spread internationally, as well as '' pączki'' (Polish donuts) and kiełbasa (sausage, e.g. ''kolbaso'' in Esperanto). As far as ''pierogi'' concerned, the original Polish word is already in plural (sing. ''pieróg'', plural ''pierogi''; stem ''pierog-'', plural ending ''-i''; NB. ''o'' becomes ''ó'' in a closed syllable, like here in singular), yet it is commonly used with the English plural ending ''-s'' in Canada and United States of America, ''pierogis'', thus making it a "double plural". A similar situation happened with the Polish loanword from English ''czipsy'' ("potato chips")—from English ''chips'' being already plural in the original (''chip'' + ''-s''), yet it has obtained the Polish plural ending ''-y''.
It is believed that the English word '' spruce'' was derived from ''Prusy'', the Polish name for the region of 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 ...
. It became ''spruce'' because in Polish, ''z Prus'', sounded like "spruce" in English (transl. "from 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 ...
") and was a generic term for commodities brought to England by Hanseatic
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...
merchants and because the tree was believed to have come from Polish Ducal Prussia. However, it can be argued that the word is actually derived from the Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
term ''Pruce'', meaning literally Prussia.
Literature
The Polish language started to be used in literature in the Late Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. Notable works include the '' Holy Cross Sermons'' (13th/14th century), '' Bogurodzica'' (15th century) and ''Master Polikarp's Dialog with Death
Master Polikarp's Dialog with Death ( pl, Rozmowa Mistrza Polikarpa ze Śmiercią, la, De morte prologus, Dialogus inter Mortem et Magistrum Polikarpum) is a late medieval dialog in verse, written probably in the early 15th century. Master Polika ...
'' (15th century). The most influential Renaissance-era literary figures in Poland were poet Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to the Polish literary language. He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz.
...
(''Laments
A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...
''), Mikołaj Rej
Mikołaj Rej or Mikołaj Rey of Nagłowice (4 February 1505 – between 8 September/5 October 1569) was a Polish poet and prose writer of the emerging Renaissance in Poland as it succeeded the Middle Ages, as well as a politician and musician. ...
and Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga (less often Piotr Powęski; 2 February 1536 – 27 September 1612) was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-Reformation in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Due to his oratoric ...
('' The Lives of the Saints'') who established poetic patterns that would become integral to the Polish literary language and laid foundations for the modern Polish grammar. During the Age of Enlightenment in Poland, Ignacy Krasicki
Ignacy Błażej Franciszek Krasicki (3 February 173514 March 1801), from 1766 Prince-Bishop of Warmia (in German, ''Ermland'') and from 1795 Archbishop of Gniezno (thus, Primate of Poland), was Poland's leading Enlightenment poet"Ignacy Krasic ...
, known as "the Prince of Poets", wrote the first Polish novel called ''The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom
''The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom'' ( pl, Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadki; in English, more accurately, ''The Adventures of Nicholas Empiricus''), written in Polish in 1776 by Ignacy Krasicki, is the first novel composed in the Poli ...
'' as well as ''Fables and Parables
''Fables and Parables'' (''Bajki i przypowieści'', 1779), by Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), is a work in a long international tradition of fable-writing that reaches back to antiquity. Krasicki's fables and parables have been described as being ...
''. Another significant work form this period is ''The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
''The Manuscript Found in Saragossa'' (; also known in English as ''The Saragossa Manuscript'') is a frame-tale novel written in French at the turn of 18th and 19th centuries by the Polish author Count Jan Potocki (1761–1815). It is narrated ...
'' written by Jan Potocki
Count Jan Potocki (; 8 March 1761 – 23 December 1815) was a Polish nobleman, ethnologist, linguist, traveller and author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a celebrated figure in Poland. He is known chiefly for his pi ...
, a Polish nobleman, Egyptologist, linguist, and adventurer.
In the Romantic Era
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, the most celebrated national poets, referred to as the Three Bards
The Three Bards (, ) are the national poets of Polish Romantic literature. They lived and worked in exile during the partitions of Poland which ended the existence of the Polish sovereign state. Their tragic poetical plays and epic poetry wri ...
, were Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...
('' Pan Tadeusz'' and ''Dziady
Dziady ( Belarusian: , Russian: , Ukrainian: , pl, Dziady; lit. "grandfathers, eldfathers", sometimes translated as Forefathers' Eve) is a term in Slavic folklore for the spirits of the ancestors and a collection of pre-Christian rites, ritual ...
''), Juliusz Słowacki
Juliusz Słowacki (; french: Jules Slowacki; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the " Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of m ...
('' Balladyna'') and Zygmunt Krasiński
Napoleon Stanisław Adam Feliks Zygmunt Krasiński (; 19 February 1812 – 23 February 1859) was a Polish poet traditionally ranked after Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki as one of Poland's Three Bards – the Romantic poets who influence ...
(''The Undivine Comedy
''The Undivine Comedy'' or ''The Un-divine Comedy'' ( pl, Nie Boska komedia or ''Nie-boska komedia''), is a play written by Polish Romantic poet Zygmunt Krasiński in 1833, published anonymously in 1835. Its main theme is sociopolitical conf ...
''). Poet and dramatist Cyprian Norwid is regarded by some scholars as the "Fourth Bard". Important positivist writers include Bolesław Prus
Aleksander Głowacki (20 August 1847 – 19 May 1912), better known by his pen name Bolesław Prus (), was a Polish novelist, a leading figure in the history of Polish literature and philosophy, as well as a distinctive voice in world li ...
('' The Doll'', ''Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
''), Henryk Sienkiewicz (author of numerous historical novels the most internationally acclaimed of which is '' Quo Vadis''), Maria Konopnicka
Maria Konopnicka (; ; 23 May 1842 – 8 October 1910) was a Polish poet, novelist, children's writer, translator, journalist, critic, and activist for women's rights and for Polish independence. She used pseudonyms, including ''Jan Sawa''. She ...
('' Rota''), ('' Nad Niemnem''), Adam Asnyk
Adam Asnyk (11 September 1838 – 2 August 1897), was a Polish poet and dramatist of the Positivist era. Born in Kalisz to a szlachta family, he was educated to become an heir of his family's estate. As such he received education at the Institut ...
and Gabriela Zapolska
Maria Gabriela Stefania Korwin-Piotrowska (1857–1921), known as Gabriela Zapolska, was a Polish novelist, playwright, naturalist writer, feuilletonist, theatre critic and stage actress. Zapolska wrote 41 plays, 23 novels, 177 short stories, 25 ...
(''The Morality of Mrs. Dulska
''The Morality of Mrs. Dulska'' ( pl, Moralność pani Dulskiej) is a play by Gabriela Zapolska that debuted in Kraków in 1906.
Hailed as a key work in early modern Polish drama, Zapolska's play tackles issues of social justice, socialism, mor ...
''). The period known as Young Poland
Young Poland ( pl, Młoda Polska) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts, literature and music, covering roughly the years between 1890 and 1918. It was a result of strong aesthetic opposition to the earlier ideas of Positivism. Young Pol ...
produced such renowned literary figures as Stanisław Wyspiański
Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter and poet, as well as interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created a series of symbolic, national dramas withi ...
('' The Wedding''), Stefan Żeromski
Stefan Żeromski ( ; 14 October 1864 – 20 November 1925) was a Polish novelist and dramatist belonging to the Young Poland movement at the turn of the 20th century. He was called the "conscience of Polish literature".
He also wrote under ...
(''Homeless People
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
'', '' The Spring to Come''), Władysław Reymont
Władysław Stanisław Reymont (, born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the 1924 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasant ...
('' The Peasants'') and Leopold Staff
Leopold Henryk Staff (November 14, 1878 – May 31, 1957) was a Polish poet; an artist of European modernism twice granted the Degree of Doctor honoris causa by universities in Warsaw and in Kraków. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize i ...
. The prominent interbellum period authors include Maria Dąbrowska (''Nights and Days
''Nights and Days'' ( pl, Noce i dnie) is a 1975 Polish film directed by Jerzy Antczak. This epic family drama was based on Maria Dąbrowska's novel ''Noce i dnie'', and was described by ''The Washington Post'' as "Poland's Gone With the Wind". ...
''), Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (; 24 February 188518 September 1939), commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period.
...
(''Insatiability
''Insatiability'' ( pl, Nienasycenie) is a speculative fiction novel by the Polish writer, dramatist, philosopher, painter and photographer, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy). ''Nienasycenie'' was written in 1927 and was first published in 1 ...
''), Julian Tuwim, Bruno Schulz
Bruno Schulz (12 July 1892 – 19 November 1942) was a Polish writer, fine artist, literary critic and art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish-language prose stylists of the 20th century. In 1938, he was awarded the Polish Academ ...
, Bolesław Leśmian
Bolesław Leśmian (born Bolesław Lesman; January 22, 1877The exact date of his birth is disputed: the act of birth mentions 1877, Leśmian himself used 1878, while the date mentioned on his tombstone is 1879. – November 5, 1937) was a Pol ...
, Witold Gombrowicz
Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937 he published his ...
and Zuzanna Ginczanka
Zuzanna Ginczanka, '' pen name'' of Zuzanna Polina Gincburg (March 22, 1917 – January 1945) was a Polish-Jewish poet of the interwar period. Although she published only a single collection of poetry in her lifetime, the book ''O centaurach'' ( ...
.
Other notable writers and poets from Poland active during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and after are Zbigniew Herbert
Zbigniew Herbert (; 29 October 1924 – 28 July 1998) was a Polish poet, essayist, drama writer and moralist. He is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers. While he was first published in the 1950s (a volume title ...
, Stanisław Lem
Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...
, Zofia Nałkowska
Zofia Nałkowska (, Warsaw, Congress Poland, 10 November 1884 – 17 December 1954, Warsaw) was a Polish prose writer, dramatist, and prolific essayist. She served as the executive member of the prestigious Polish Academy of Literature (1933–1939 ...
, Tadeusz Borowski, Sławomir Mrożek, Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Julia Hartwig, Marek Krajewski, Joanna Bator, Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books '' The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hun ...
, Adam Zagajewski
Adam Zagajewski (21 June 1945 – 21 March 2021) was a Polish poet, novelist, translator, and essayist. He was awarded the 2004 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award, the 2017 P ...
, Dorota Masłowska
Dorota Masłowska (Polish pronunciation:; born 3 July 1983) is a Polish writer, playwright, columnist and journalist.
Life and work
Masłowska was born in Wejherowo, and grew up there. She applied for the University of Gdańsk's faculty of psy ...
, Jerzy Pilch
Jerzy Pilch (; 10 August 1952 – 29 May 2020) was a Polish writer, columnist, and journalist. Critics have compared Pilch's style to Witold Gombrowicz, Milan Kundera, or Bohumil Hrabal.
Early life and education
Born and raised in the smal ...
, Ryszard Kapuściński
Ryszard Kapuściński (; 4 March 1932 – 23 January 2007) was a Polish journalist, photographer, poet and author. He received many awards and was considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kapuściński's personal journals in bo ...
and Andrzej Stasiuk.
Five people writing in the Polish language have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz (1905), Władysław Reymont
Władysław Stanisław Reymont (, born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the 1924 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasant ...
(1924), Czesław Miłosz
Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation, ...
(1980), Wisława Szymborska
Maria Wisława Anna SzymborskaVioletta Szosta gazeta.pl, 9 February 2012. ostęp 2012-02-11 (; 2 July 1923 – 1 February 2012) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator, and recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Prowent ( ...
(1996) and Olga Tokarczuk
Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk (; born 29 January 1962) is a Polish writer, activist, and public intellectual. She is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland; in 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize ...
(2018).
See also
* Polonism (words of Polish origin)
* Adam Mickiewicz Institute
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute ( pl, Instytut Adama Mickiewicza) is a government-sponsored organization funded by Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and headquartered at ''ulica Mokotowska 25'' (the Sugar Palace) in Warsaw.
Nam ...
* ''''
* BABEL Speech Corpus The BABEL speech corpus is a corpus of recorded speech materials from five Central and Eastern European languages. Intended for use in speech technology applications, it was funded by a grant from the European Union and completed in 1998. It is dis ...
* '' Holy Cross Sermons''
* Lechitic languages
The Lechitic (or Lekhitic) languages are a language subgroup consisting of Polish and several other languages and dialects that were once spoken in the area that is now Poland and eastern Germany. It is one of the branches of the larger West S ...
* University of Łódź School of Polish for Foreigners
* West Slavic languages
The West Slavic languages are a subdivision of the Slavic language group. They include Polish, Czech, Slovak, Kashubian, Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian. The languages have traditionally been spoken across a mostly continuous region encom ...
* West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic lan ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
The Polish Language: A Cheatsheet for Beginners
from Culture.pl
Podręczniki języka polskiego dla obcokrajowców
Basic Polish Phrases Audio Course
King's College London: Polish Language Resources
University of Pittsburgh: Polish Language Website
*
A Touch of Polish
, BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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