Comments on: Polish, English or Ponglish?

By: Kasia

Kasia — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:26:20 +0000

I went back to Poland after a 17 year absence. I found all the use of bastardised English quite confusing. I wasn’t sure whether to pronounce it the English way or the Polish way. I wasn’t even sure how a Pole would pronounce it!
So apart from feeling stupid with my broken Polish, I then felt stupid not knowing how to use their Ponglish as you call it.
I understand how it might be popular or trendy to use some English words but surely there’s a limit.

By: Anna

Anna — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:55:40 +0000

Justyna,
you’ve completely missed the point here. There’s a fine line between linguistic creativity and tackiness. And what’s happening in Poland is simply tacky.
Anybody who uses English on a daily basis should have been able to notice that.

By: justyna

justyna — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:48:34 +0000

Hi,

I totally agree with Kinga; I get the feeling that she really understands the nature of the language, especially the spoken form; there’s no point in controlling the speech as it is spontanous and by nature not organised; it’s natural that people draw from the resources available to them to pass the meaning and if they have two languages in their linguistic repertoires then why not to use them, and why not to combine them??

to me it’s either creativity in using the language or the economy of language use! I bet those who think similar things have been travelling or living abroad at least for some time

By: Kinga

Kinga — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:58:31 +0000

But why say “sandwicz” if there’s a perfectly good Polish word already - “kanapka”?
this perfectly good Polish word ‘kanapka’ comes from French kanape.
And as I understand it kanapka is used for the ‘traditional’ kind with one slice of bread, whereas sandwich is the two slices of bread, often grilled and bought in shops.

Generally I hate when people complain about “polluting” the language. So we already have a word for that? So what??? It’s quite useful to have synonyms.
And “ksiazki dzwiekowe”? Please! How about “zwis meski prosty” instead of krawat - which is a foreign word as well? Any attempts of controlling the language are just ridiculous.
It’s been like that for centuries. And the original “Polish langauge” you’re defending is just a patchwork made up of all sorts of influences. One day someone will protest against some new word to mean “audiobook” because we already have a “perfectly good Polish word for that” (’audiobuk’ that is).

By: David Snopek

David Snopek — Sun, 31 May 2009 16:06:05 +0000

I agree with russ. All languages will adopt words from other languages, its a natural process. But the should be adopted with normal Polish spelling!!

So many people study atleast a small amount of English right now, so it isn’t a big deal to pronounce “Audiobooki” or “Snowboardy” or whatever. But eventually English language will fall out of fashion and leave these weirdly spelled words in the Polish language with no one remembering how to pronounce them correctly.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:06:20 +0000

I have to agree - Ponglish has appeared in a lot of places! As a kid growing up with spoken English and Polish and having never learned to write in Polish, I found myself inventing words when I wasn’t sure what the correct Polish word was. I love Polish Blog as I’ve learned to write so much now! I recall playing a game of Monopoli with my sister and a Polish friend and when she landed on one of my properties I said “ty musi pejować” Turns out that the word I wanted was “płacić”! She asked my mum what “pejować” meant as she hadn’t heard it before. For about 2 years while we were still in touch, we continued jokingly to use the same Ponglish word!

By: khrystene

khrystene — Sun, 10 May 2009 12:21:28 +0000

As a total contradiction, weekend I don’t mind, especially when you spell it: Łikend.

By: khrystene

khrystene — Sun, 10 May 2009 12:18:58 +0000

One other that irritates me is NEWSY from news. When really it’s always just Wiadomości.

By: russ

russ — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:48:45 +0000

Older borrowed words from other languages like “pomidor” mentioned in another comment were correctly adapted to Polish pronunciation and orthography. The problem with the wild influx of “trendy” English words into Polish is that they get pronounced and spelled randomly, breaking about the ONLY nice thing about Polish for learners: pretty regular pronunciation and spelling.

E.g. the “Polish” word “weekend” should be pronounced “ve-e-kend” according to Polish orthography. More and more of these enter the language, and Polish orthography will eventually become as haphazard and difficult as English.

It’s funny because I’ve taught Poles learning English who complain about English’s ridiculous spelling, and proudly talk about how Polish spelling is allegedly so much more phonetic than English - and they don’t realize that Poles are ruining that nice property of Polish by haphazardly importing so many English words.

My favorite absurdity is Poles saying “cove boy” for “cowboy” (pronounced neither the English way nor according to Polish orthography!) Makes me laugh every time.

By: Tom Wysocki

Tom Wysocki — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:44:17 +0000

Where common Polish words exist for something, they should be used when speaking/writing for a Polish speaking audience. No need to “borrow” a word to replace a common existing word.

On the other hand, nothing wrong with borrowing words to describe ideas, things, etc. which originated elsewhere and have been “imported” into Poland or anywhere, especially if the word leads to a more precise or more “compact” designation.

Audiobooki - why not? More precise and compact than książki dźwiękowe (sound books). Maybe English should pick this one up!

Just came from the store in U.S.A. where pierogi are advertised as pierogi. Sure they could be called “dumplings” but “dumpling” isn’t really an accurate name for it. So the American store “borrowed” the Polish word. Good - all in order.