Polish Grammar for Genealogists Copyright © 2013 by Fay Bussgang CONCEPTS of POLISH GRAMMAR • CASE: indicates function of word in sentence DECLINATION: process of changing the ending of a word according to its case CASE ENDING: depends on case, gender, number, and stem • GENDER: masculine, feminine, neuter • NUMBER: singular or plural • STEM: part of sentence that remains same or changes only slightly when endings are added 2 CASES USEFUL FOR GENEALOGISTS • NOMINATIVE: SUBJECT OF SENTENCE • GENITIVE: DENOTES “OF,” POSSESSION (used with “z / ze” to mean “from”) • INSTRUMENTAL: WITH OR BY WHOM SOMETHING IS DONE (used with “z / ze” to mean “with”) • LOCATIVE: LOCATION OF ACTION (used with preposition “w” / “we” meaning “in”) 3 SAMPLE DECLENSION Feminine Noun • NOMINATIVE: Warszaw/a • GENITIVE: Warszaw/y • INSTRUMENTAL: Warszaw/ą • LOCATIVE: Warszaw/ie STEM = Warszaw/ ENDINGS = “a” “y” “ą” “ie” 4 GENITIVE CASE: Feminine Town Names usually end in “a” in the NOMINATIVE; may end in “double consonants” or “ew” NOMINATIVE GENITIVE (add “y” or “i”) Warszawa Warta Horodenka Bydgoszcz Łódź Żółkiew Warszawy Warty Horodenki Bydgoszczy Łodzi (slashes dropped) Żółkwi (“ie” dropped) 5 GENITIVE CASE: Masculine Town Names end in consonant in NOMINATIVE most form GENITIVE by adding “a” Foreign cities & a few compound names add “u” NOMINATIVE Kra'ków Gdańsk Włocła'wek Po'znań Za'mość Lon'dyn Raj'gród GENITIVE Krako'wa (slash dropped) Gdań'ska Włocław'ka (e dropped) Pozna'nia (slash ➞ “i”) Zamo'ścia (slash ➞ “i”) Londyn'u Raj/gro'du (compound word) 6 GENITIVE CASE: Neuter Town Names Neuter Town Names end in “o,” sometimes in “e”; add “a” in GENITIVE NOMINATIVE GENITIVE Chełmno Radomsko Opole Chełmna Radomska Opola 7 GENITIVE CASE: Plural Town Names Plural Town Names end in “i,” “y,” and “e”, drop final vowel in GENITIVE NOMINATIVE Chęci'ny Suwał'ki Katowi'ce GENITIVE Chę'cin (accent changes) Suwa'łek (adds “e” before “k”) Kato'wic (accent changes) 8 ADDING OR SUBTRACTING “e”/“ie” Nominative Genitive Feminine Town Name [“ie” before final consonant removed before ending] Żółkiew Żółkwi Masculine Town/ Name [“e” before final consonant removed before adding masculine ending “a”] Włocławek Włocławka Herszek Herszka Mosiek Mośka (“si” becomes “ś”) Plural Town Name [“i/e” cut off, “e” added before final consonant] Suwałki Siedlce Suwałek Siedlec 9 GENITIVE CASE: SURNAMES NOMINATIVE Masc. Surnames Goldberg Nowak Fem. Surnames Kwarta Spira Surnames ending Spiro in “o” GENITIVE Goldberga Nowaka Kwarty Spiry Spiry 10 GENITIVE CASE: GIVEN NAMES NOMINATIVE Male names (ending in “a”) Female names Hersz Lajbuś Szlama Szaja Laja Ester/Estera Ruchel/Ruchla GENITIVE Hersza Lajbusia Szlamy Szaji/ Szai Laji/ Lai Estery Ruchli 11 GENITIVE CASE: SURNAMES LIKE ADJECTIVES NOMINATIVE Male Kowalski Sawicki Female Kowalska Sawicka Couple Kowalscy Sawiccy GENITIVE Kowalskiego Sawickiego Kowalskiej Sawickiej Kowalskich Sawickich 12 GENITIVE FOR WOMEN’S SURNAMES (TO INDICATE IF WOMAN IS MARRIED OR UNMARRIED) NOMINATIVE Mrs. Glasman: Miss Glasman: Daughter of Hersz: Glasmanowa Glasmanówna Sura Herszówna GENITIVE Glasmanowej (adj) Glasmanówny (n) Sury Herszówny (n) (TO INDICATE MAIDEN NAME OF MARRIED WOMAN) Rywka z Bursztajnów Najman (from the Bursztajn family) Ruchel z Kowalskich Nowak (from the Kowalski family) 13 INSTRUMENTAL CASE Men: (z / ze = with) NOMINATIVE INSTRUMENTAL Szmul Kron ze Szmulem Kronem '' (or) ze Szmulem Kron Aron Kowalski z Aronem Kowalskim Women: Ruchla Goldberg Fajga Kowalska Sura Moszkówna z Ruchlą Goldberg z Fajgą Kowalską z Surą Moszkówną 14 LOCATIVE CASE follows “w” or “we,” ending based on: • GENDER [masculine, feminine, neuter] • NUMBER [singular or plural] • STEM [hard, soft, or velar (guttural)] Nature of stem depends on sound of last consonant, not of last letter if it is a vowel 15 LOCATIVE CASE HARD STEMS (all genders) Stems “b, f, m, n, p, s, w, or z” (soften by adding “i” before “e” ending) NOMINATIVE Dęba Chełmno Lublin Warszawa Kraków LOCATIVE w Dębie w Chełmnie w Lublinie w Warszawie w Krakowie 16 LOCATIVE CASE HARD STEMS (all genders) Stems “d, ł, r, and t” (softened before adding “e” ending) d➞dzi ł➞l r➞rz t➞ci Rajgród Skała Góra Łańcut w Rajgrodzie w Skale w Górze w Łańcucie 17 LOCATIVE CASE VELAR STEMS Velar stem = final consonant “k, g, ch” Feminine (soften velar stem before adding “e”) ch➞sz g➞dz k➞c NOMINATIVE Bierwicha Struga Horodenka LOCATIVE w Bierwisze w Strudze w Horodence 18 LOCATIVE CASE VELAR STEMS Velar stem = final consonant is “k, g, ch” Masculine and Neuter (add “u” to stem) NOMINATIVE Tarnobrzeg Płock Włocławek Radomsko GENITIVE w Tarnobrzegu w Płocku w Włocławku (drop “e”) w Radomsku 19 LOCATIVE CASE SOFT STEMS Stems [c, j, l] [ć, ń, ś, ź, ż] [cz, rz, sz] Feminine (add “i” or “y” to stem) NOMINATIVE Dębica Bochnia Łódź Bydgoszcz LOCATIVE w Dębicy w Bochni w Łodzi [drop slashes] w Bydgoszczy 20 LOCATIVE CASE SOFT STEMS Stems [c, j, l] [ć, ń, ś, ź, ż] [cz, rz, sz] Masculine and Neuter (add “u” to stem) NOMINATIVE Mielec Opole Toruń Zgierz LOCATIVE w Mielcu (e dropped) w Opolu w Toruniu w Zgierzu 21 LOCATIVE CASE PLURAL all add “ach” to stem NOMINATIVE Brzeziny Chęciny Katowice Suwałki LOCATIVE w Brzezinach w Chęcinach w Katowicach w Suwałkach 22 WORKING BACKWARD LOCATIVE w Warszawie w Lublinie w Łodzi w Brzezinach w Warcie w Warce NOMINATIVE Warszawa Lublin Łódź Brzeziny ?Warc/Warca? ? Warc? 23 WORKING BACKWARD Hard stems: t➞ci Velar stem (if feminine): k➞c LOCATIVE w War/ci/e w War/c/e przy mat/c/e War/t + a War/k + a mat/k + a NOMINATIVE Warta Warka matka (mother) [przy = near/with] Irregular masculine soft stem: przy ojc/u ojciec (father) 24 MULTIPLE TRANSFORMATIONS t➞ci (town/city) a➞e NOMINATIVE miasto s➞ś LOCATIVE w mieście ALTERNATION of “a” to “e” / “ą” to “ę” Soften consonant preceding softened consonant a➞e z➞ź ą➞ę NOMINATIVE Ujazd Dąb LOCATIVE w Ujeździe w Dębie 25 ADJECTIVES USED IN TOWN NAMES NOMINATIVE GENITIVE LOCATIVE Common Modifier of Town Names [new]: Feminine Masculine Neuter Plural Nowa Nowy Nowe Nowe Nowej Nowego Nowego Nowych Nowej Nowym Nowym Nowych Region where town is located (Mazowie). Follows town name: Feminine Masculine Neuter Plural Mazowiecka Mazowiecki Mazowieckie Mazowieckie Mazowieckiej Mazowieckiego Mazowieckiego Mazowieckich Mazowieckiej Mazowieckim Mazowieckim Mazowieckich 26 ADJECTIVES USED IN TOWN NAMES NOMINATIVE GENITIVE LOCATIVE Compound Name (Adjective + Noun) Feminine Zduńska Wola z Zduńskiej Woli w Zduńskiej Woli Feminine Zielona Góra z Zielonej Góry w Zielonej Górze Masculine Białystok z Białegostoku w Białymstoku Białystok is a compound word “Biały” (white) “stok” (hill) Rarities: Town Names declinated like adjectives: Feminine Masculine Dobra (good) Głuchy (silent) z Dobrej z Głuchego w Dobrej w Głuchym 27