Grex Language Conference

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Grex Language Item 59: Polish Paczki's!
Entered by jimbob on Sat Mar 26 18:32:02 UTC 1994:

I think if we have a german item and a french and russian and spanish
items we should have a polish item...respond if you will...

8 responses total.

#1 of 8 by brighn on Thu Jul 7 00:14:26 1994:

The item title reminds me of the difficulty of transcribing languages
that have diacritics.  Without a diacritic, "paczki" (maybe the last vowel
is different) means package; with a hook under the "a" (making it nasalized)
it means (roughly) "jelly donut".  This results in some humorous signs
in American grocery store windows, round about Mardi Gras, when donuts are
 popular, but packages aren't.

#2 of 8 by rcurl on Thu Jul 7 05:46:58 1994:

But is there a connection -  such as a jelly donut being a little
package for jelly? Is the nasalization a diminutive?

#3 of 8 by marcin on Sat Nov 19 05:05:08 1994:

 Proponuje aby w tym item uzywano tylko polskiego jezyka i aby nasze responds
 bily krasomowstwem.
                                             Niech Zyje !!!

#4 of 8 by keesan on Mon Jan 12 02:21:19 1998:

To translate (if that is not forbidden), Pawel suggests that only Polish be
used in this item and that our responses be eloquent.  Apparently nobody else
in Grex for over three years has mastered Polish.  Pawel, if you are still
there, can you confirm for me that Woszczak means candle-maker?  We are
analyzing last names in another conference.  Niech zyje polski jezyk!

#5 of 8 by keesan on Mon Jan 12 02:35:30 1998:

The nasal a (with the diacritic) is a totally different vowel, pronounced
either as a nasal o or as on or om, depending on the following consonant. 
Paczke jelly donuts is thus ponchki (cz - ch).  My dictionary, an old one,
does not even given jelly donuts as a meaning, only bud or gemma (botanical
term).  Whoops, on the next page is 'doughnut'.  To float like a doughnut in
oil means To be in the lap of luxury, to be in clover.    Maybe jelly donuts
looked like buds to someone.  The czk (singular czek) is often a diminutive.
There is also a word pak, same meaning as paczek, which would be a little pak,
and the adjective is formed as pakowy (which they translate as buddy!).  The
related word in Czech is puk (shoot), and the word for bud is pupen.  The verb
for sprout, shoot, bud, is pucet (with c from k before e).  More than you ever
wanted to know about donuts?

#6 of 8 by srw on Mon Mar 23 03:47:30 1998:

I had heard that they were made in order to get rid of all the lard in 
the house in preparation for lent. What do I know? I'm Jewish.

The pronunciation is Polish always surprised me. I have a friend in the 
UK whose name is Jarzebowski. We always pronouce that as written, but 
one day he confided to me that the original Polish pronunciation is 
closer to Jarzemboski. Is this like the punchki pronunciation? It sounds 
liek a similar thing is happening here.

#7 of 8 by keesan on Tue Mar 31 02:52:03 1998:

e has a little mark under it, and is therefore e plus an n or m before a
following consonant (m before b or p, n before d or t).  The rz would be
pronounced as in Zsa Zsa Gabor (zs) or regime or garage (the g before e).

#8 of 8 by srw on Mon Apr 6 20:53:18 1998:

gotcha. The little mark obviously vanished in the English 
transliteration of the name, but you're right about how he pronounced 
the rz.

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