Proverbiorum_Polonicorum_a_Solomone_Rysinio

Tens of thousands of Polish proverbs exist; many have origins in the

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 ...

. The oldest known Polish proverb dates to 1407. A number of scholarly studies of Polish proverbs (paremiology) exist; and Polish proverbs have been collected in numerous dictionaries and similar works from the 17th century onward. Studies in Polish paremiology have begun in the 19th century. The largest and most reputable collection of Polish proverbs to date, edited by

Julian Krzyżanowski Julian Krzyżanowski (4 July 1892 – 19 May 1976) was a Polish literature and folklore scholar, best known for his study of Polish proverbs. Participant of the Warsaw Uprising. Professor at the Warsaw University and others. Recipient of Order of ...

, was published in 1970s.

History

The oldest known Polish proverb, dating to 1407, was written in

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

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 ...

: "''Quando sø lika drø, tunc ea drzi''", which translates to "When bast can be torn, then tear it." This is analogous to " Make hay while the sun shines" or " Strike while the iron is hot". The oldest Polish proverb thus reminded peasants to seize the opportunity when the time was right – to harvest bast in the spring, which they would turn into

bast shoes Bast shoes are shoes made primarily from bast — fiber taken from the bark of trees such as linden. They are a kind of basket, woven and fitted to the shape of a foot. Bast shoes are a traditional footwear of the forest areas of Northern E ...

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s, and cordage in winter. Some Polish proverbs have been medieval translations of

classics. Thus, "''Oko pańskie konia tuczy''" – "The master's eye fattens the horse" – comes from the Latin "''Oculus domini saginat equum''"; and the latter Latin proverb was likely translated from a still older

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

one. Other proverbs have taken their origin from other European languages. Many proverbs have been popularized by

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, ...

. For example, the popularity of "''Oko pańskie konia tuczy''" has been attributed to its inclusion in

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 ...

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

, '' Pan Tadeusz''.

Themes

As with proverbs of other peoples around the world, Polish proverbs concern many topics; at least 2,000 Polish proverbs relate to weather and climate alone. Many concern classic topics such as fortune and misfortune, religion, family, everyday life, health, love, wealth, and women; others, like the first recorded Polish proverb (referring to bast production), and those about weather, offer practical advice. A theme unique to Polish proverbs is about Poles and Poland; one of the most famous of these states that "Polacy nie gęsi lecz własny język mają" ("Poles are not geese, they have their own tongue"), in a 1562 verse by

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 commonly interpreted as stressing the importance of having one's own national language (here,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

). Similarly to English proverbs, Polish proverbs have been criticized for being sexist.

Polish paremiology

The first known Polish author interested in proverbs was the poet

Biernat of Lublin Biernat of Lublin ( Polish: ''Biernat z Lublina'', Latin ''Bernardus Lublinius'', ca. 1465 – after 1529) was a Polish poet, fabulist, translator, and physician. He was one of the first Polish-language writers known by name, and the most int ...

, who in 1522 published a collection of them titled '', mędrca obyczajnego i z przypowieściami jego'' (The life of

Aesop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales c ...

the Phrygian, a Decent Sage, and with His Parables). The first Polish scholar of paremiology was (Solomone Rysinio), who in 1618 published the first known Polish work dedicated solely to collecting and discussing proverbs (''Proverbiorum polonicorum a Salomone Rysino collectorum Centuriae decem et octo''). This work, first published in Latin, but subsequently in Polish (''Przypowieści polskie, przez Salomona Rysińskiego zebrane, a teraz nowo przydane i na wielu miejscach poprawione'', 1620), collected over 1,800 proverbs which, according to the author, were "of Polish origin". In 1632, Grzegorz Knapski, a Polish Jesuit, published an even larger collection (in volume three of his ''Thesaurus Polono-Latino-Graecus''), with over 6,000 collected proverbs. In 1658 Polish writer

Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro (1620 – 15 June 1679) was a Polish szlachcic and writer. He was born in 1620. Fredro studied at the Cracow Academy. He was castellan of Lwów from 1654 and voivode of the Podolian Voivodeship from 1676. He was Mar ...

published another collection of proverbs, ''Przysłowia mów potocznych albo przestrogi obyczajowe, radne, wojenne'', which was said to have been widely popular in contemporary Poland. The 19th century saw the first work dedicated more to analyzing the proverbs and their history than solely collecting them, the ''Przysłowia narodowe, z wyjaśnieniem źródła, początku oraz sposobu ich użycia, okazujące charakter, zwyczaje i obyczaje, przesądy, starożytności i wspomnienia ojczyste'' (1830) of . Other early works on Polish paremiology were published in the 19th century by

Oskar Kolberg Henryk Oskar Kolberg (22 February 1814 – 3 June 1890) was a Polish ethnographer, folklorist, and composer active during the foreign Partitions of Poland.Samuel Adalberg, the latter publishing a collection of over 30,000 Polish proverbs (''Księga przysłów, przypowieści i wyrażeń przysłowiowych polskich'' - The Book of Polish Proverbs - 1889–1894). Adalberg's work was praised as "the first modern work on this topic in Polish" and "the most extensive collection ever made in this field". The early 20th century saw further scholarly analysis of Polish proverbs by scholars such as

Aleksander Brückner Aleksander Brückner (; 29 January 1856 – 24 May 1939) was a Polish scholar of Slavic languages and literatures (Slavistics), philologist, lexicographer and historian of literature. He is among the most notable Slavicists of the late 19th ...

and Jan Stanisław Bystroń, the latter known as "the father of modern Polish paremiology", and the author of the monograph simply titled ''Przysłowia polskie'' (Polish proverbs, 1933). 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 ...

, significant contributions to the field of Polish paremiology were carried out by

. He was the editor of the largest and most reputable collection of Polish proverbs to date, ''Nowa księga przysłów i wyrażeń przysłowiowych polskich'' (New Book of Polish Proverbs and Proverbial Expressions, also known as ''Nowa Księga przysłów polskich'', A New Book of Polish Proverbs, published in several volumes in the years 1969–1978), dubbed the "bible of Polish proverbs". Despite the proliferation of similar works in later years, in 2012 his work was still described as "the most comprehensive" of its type in Poland. Other notable modern Polish paremiologists include , Dobrosława Świerczyńska, , and

Władysław Kopaliński Władysław Kopaliński (real name Władysław Jan Stefczyk; November 14, 1907 – October 5, 2007) was a Polish lexicographer, publisher, writer and translator. He was a prolific author and winner of numerous awards for his work. ...

. In 2009–2018 alone, 16 collections of proverbs aimed at young readers were published in Poland; many addressed to a mass audience are of varying quality.

List of Polish proverbs

* Heaven for the nobility, purgatory for townspeople, hell for peasants, paradise for Jews * Pole and Hungarian brothers be

References

{{commonscat, Polish-language proverbs Polish culture Proverbs by language Polish words and phrases

History

Themes

Polish paremiology

List of Polish proverbs

See also

References