Notes
Polish Alphabet
Since the Polish alphabet has many peculiar phonetic combinations which are difficult to one who does not know the language, it was decided to transliterate the names of persons and places in which such combinations occur in this book. The following are the letters and combinations which are met with most frequently:—
Polish Letters | English Sounds |
---|---|
c | ts |
cz | ch in “chief” |
sz | sh in “ship” |
szcz | shch |
rz | r followed by the French j |
w | v |
ż | j in French |
In this transliteration ch retains its ordinary English sound. Kh is used as the German ch, or the Gaelic ch in “loch;” so is h, as in Hmelnitski, and a few names in which it is used at the beginning and preceding a consonant, where it has the power of the German ch. J is the French j; the vowels e, i, u, are, respectively, ai in “bait,” ee in “beet,” oo in “pool,” when long; when short, “bet,” “bit,” “put” would represent their values.
The following names will illustrate the method of this transliteration:—
Polish Form of Name | Form in Transliteration |
---|---|
Potocki | Pototski |
Chudzynski | Hudzynski |
Czarnkowski | Charnkovski |
Rzendzian | Jendzian |
Bleszynski | Bleshyuski |
Szandarowski | Shandarovski |
Wlostowski | Vlostovski |
Żyromski | Jyromski |
In Jendzian and Jechytsa—the only names, as I believe, beginning in Polish with rz in this work—the initial r has been omitted in the transliteration on account of the extreme difficulty, for anyone not a Pole, of pronouncing r followed by the French j.
Accent
All Polish words, with few exceptions, are accented on the syllable next the last, the penult. The exceptions are foreign names, some compounds, some words with enclitics. Polish names of men and places are generally accented on the penult.
Titles of Rank and Address
The highest military rank in Poland was grand hetman; next in order came field-hetman, which has appeared inadvertently in these volumes as full hetman. “Your worthiness,” so frequently used, would be better translated “your dignity,” “dignity” being used in the sense of “office.” The terms Pan, Pani, and Panna are applied, respectively, to a gentleman, a married lady, and an unmarried lady; they are now equivalent to Mr., Mrs. or Madame, and Miss.