This is odd, but during the last two weeks two different readers, in two different countries, in two different ways mentioned the issue of Polish diminutives. So, who am I to argue with such a coincidence? And because I don\u2019t want any bad karma hanging over my head (those \u201csexist\u201d occupation nouns can wait), we shall start on the subject of diminutive forms today. We will only start, because, honestly, thick volumes were written on this subject.<\/p>\n
Polish seems to be THE language for diminutives. And I\u2019m not talking here only about first names, like for example mine (and by the way, see how many variants you can create from \u201cAnna\u201d), but normal everyday nouns. And adjectives. And adverbs. And other assorted parts of speech. I\u2019ve even heard verbs beaten into submission and mangled into zdrobnienia<\/strong> (singular: zdrobnienie<\/strong>).<\/p>\n But not all diminutives are what they appear on the surface.<\/p>\n Take the word \u201c\u015bmietana<\/strong>,\u201d for example. Its diminutive form is “\u015bmietanka<\/strong>“. Almost all dictionaries translate both words simply as \u201ccream.\u201d But hey, it just wouldn\u2019t be Polish, if it were THAT simple, now would it?<\/p>\n For most Polish speakers and dairy manufacturers, \u201c\u015bmietana<\/strong>\u201d signifies sour cream. If you add \u201cbita<\/strong>\u201d in front of it, then you have \u201cbita \u015bmietana<\/strong>\u201d which is definitely not sour, but whipped cream. And \u201c\u015bmietanka<\/strong>\u201d normally refers to the stuff you pour into your coffee. If you were trying to use \u015bmietana<\/strong> instead, you could be in for a rude surprise \u2013 few people I know like their coffee with sour cream.<\/p>\n So yeah, technically, \u015bmietanka<\/strong> is a diminutive form of \u015bmietana<\/strong>, but somewhere along the way they\u2019ve evolved to mean different things.<\/p>\n Another one of those \u201cfake\u201d diminutives is \u201csa\u0142ata<\/strong>\u201d and \u201csa\u0142atka<\/strong>\u201d:<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s \u201cchusta<\/strong>\u201d. And \u201cchustka<\/strong>\u201d. And \u201cchusteczka<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n There is some overlap in meaning between the last two words, but mostly when spoken by older people.<\/p>\n These are just a few examples to show you that not all diminutives are what they appear to be. In our next installment, we will tackle diminutive versions of names. So yeah, just how many different ways can you say \u201cAnna\u201d anyway?<\/p>\n PS. I even found photos of packages of both \u015bmietana and \u015bmietanka, but due to technical difficulties with uploading pictures, I will have to add them at a later date<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is odd, but during the last two weeks two different readers, in two different countries, in two different ways mentioned the issue of Polish diminutives. So, who am I to argue with such a coincidence? And because I don\u2019t want any bad karma hanging over my head (those \u201csexist\u201d occupation nouns can wait), we…<\/p>\n\n
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