Poland Languages

Most materials used in Polish research are written in Polish. You do not need to speak or read Polish to do research in Polish records, but you should know some key words and phrases to understand the records. Because the Roman Catholic Church was the predominant religion in Poland, many records  are in Latin. Other languages in Polish records include German and Russian.

Polish grammar may affect the way names appear in genealogical records. For example, names of your ancestors will vary from record to record in Polish.

For help in understanding name variations, see the “Names, Personal” section in this outline.

Alphabet

Aa Ąą Bb Cc Ćć Dd Ee Ęę Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Łł Mm Nn Ńń Oo Óó Pp Rr Ss Śś Tt Uu Ww Yy Zz Źź Żż

The letters q, v and x are also used, but only for foreign names or words.

Pronunciation Guide

c = ts
ch,h = kh
ć,cz,ci = ch
ś,sz,si = sh
ż,zi,rz = zh
ą = om, on
ę = em, en
j = y
dz = j
ł = w
w = v

Language Aids

The Family History Library has genealogical word lists for Polish (34098), German (34067), and Latin (34077). The following books and English-Polish dictionaries can also aid you in your research. You can find these and similar material at many research libraries:

Kierst, W. English-Polish/Polish-English Dictionary. New York, New York: Saphograph Co., 1956. (FHL book 491.85321 K847e.)

Pogonowski, Iwo Cyprian. Practical Polish-English, English-Polish Dictionary. New York, New York: Hippocrene Books, 1985. (FHL book 491.85321P751p.)

Another valuable research tool for reading records of the former Russian territories of Poland is:

Frazin, Judith R. A Translation Guide to the 19-century Polish-language Civil-registration Documents: (Birth, Marriage and Death Records). 2nd ed. Northbrook, Illinois: The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, 1989. (FHL book 943.8 V27.)

To read the Russian language records of this same area after 1868 use:

Shea, Jonathan D. Russian Language Documents from Russian Poland: a Translation Manual for Genealogists. 2nd ed. Buffalo Grove, Illinois: Genun, 1989. (FHL book 943.8 D27.)

The Polish genealogical Word List published by the Family History Library is available at this link: http://204.9.225.220/eng/Search/rg/frameset_rhelps.asp?Page=./research/type/Word_List.asp

Word List

This list contains Polish words with their English translations. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Polish-English dictionary. 

Polish is a Slavic language related to Russian and Czecslovakian. It is used in genealogical sources throughout Poland. Before 1918, Polish-speaking territories were divided between Russia, Germany, and Austria. Records written before 1918 may be in German, Russian, Latin, or Polish.

• In Russian Poland, Polish was the official language for vital records from 1808 to 1868. From 1868 to 1917, Russian was the official language.
• In German Poland, most records were kept in German or Latin, though some were kept in Polish.
• In Austrian Poland, most records were kept in Latin. Some records were kept in German and some in Polish.

Polish is also used in the records kept in some Polish communities in the United States.

Polish records often contain Latin and German words. See the German Genealogical Word List (34067) and the Latin Genealogical Word List (34077). Or at the following link:http://204.9.225.220/eng/Search/rg/frameset_rhelps.asp?Page=./research/type/Word_List.asp

Language Characteristics

Polish words for persons, places, and things (nouns) are classified as masculine, feminine, or neuter. Adjectives used to describe them must have the proper masculine, feminine, or neuter endings, for example:

stary maz-- old man

stara kobieta-- old woman

stare miasto-- old city

The endings of past tense verbs also change depending on the gender of the person or thing being described or performing the action. For example:

umarl-- he died

umarla-- she died

umarlo-- it [the child] died

Variant Forms of Words

In Polish, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in a sentence. Who-whose-whom or marry-marries- married are examples of words in English with variant forms. In Polish any word may change, depending on usage. This word list gives the standard form of each Polish word. As you read Polish records, you will need to be aware that most words vary with usage.

The endings of words in a document will often differ from what you find in this list. For example, the document may use the word starego (old), but you will find it in this word list as stary (old).

Certain endings, called genitive, give the meaning "of" to a word. The following endings are typical:

Nouns Endings Adjectives

-a (masculine) -ego

-y or -i (feminine) -ej

-ów (plural) -ich or -ych

Thus, ojciec zmarlego means "father of the deceased."

Plural forms of Polish words usually change the singular word as follows:

Words ending in -a change to -y

Words ending in -o change to -a

A -y or -i is added to form the plural

The plural form may change the basic word, for example:

Singular	Plural
miasto =city	miasta= cities
powiat =district	powiaty =districts
brat= brother	bracia =brothers
zona=wife	zony=wives

Additional Resources

This word list includes words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a Polish-English dictionary. Several Polish-English dictionaries are available at the Family History Library in the European collection. Their call numbers begin with 491.85321. See the "Encyclopedias and Dictionaries" section in this outline.

The following dictionary is available on microfilm for use in Family History Centers:

Stanislawski, Jan. English-Polish and Polish-English Dictionary.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: David McKay, 1946. (FHL film 1,045,473, item 1)

Additional dictionaries are listed in the Subject section of the Family History Library Catalog under:

POLISH LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES

Other dictionaries and language helps, such as Polish grammar books, are listed in the Locality section under:

POLAND - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES

Key Words

To find and use specific types of Polish records, you will need to know some key words in Polish. This section gives key genealogical terms in English and the Polish words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Polish words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used to indicate marriage.

English	Polish
birth	urodzin, urodzony, urodzil, sie zrodzony
burial	pochowanie, pogrzeb
Catholic	rzymsko-katolicki
child	dziecie, dziecko
christening	chrzest, chrzciny, ochrzczone
death(s)	zgon(ów), zejsc, umarl, zmarl, smierci
father	ojciec
husband	maz, malzonek
index	indeks, skorowidz, register, spis
Jewish	zydowski, starozakonny, izraelici, mojzeszowy
marriage	malzenstw(o), slub(ów), zaslubionych
marriage banns	zapowiedzi
mother	matka
name, given	imie, imion
name, surname	nazwisko
parents	rodzice
parish	parafia
Protestant	ewangelicki, reformowany, protestancki, luteranski
wife	zona, malzonka, zamezna, kobieta
year

General Word List

This general word list includes words commonly seen in genealogical sources.  Numbers, months, and days of the week are listed both here and in the separate sections that follow this list.

In this list, optional versions of Polish words or variable endings (such as some plural or feminine endings) are given in parentheses.  Some Polish phrases and their translations are listed [in brackets] under the most significant Polish word, not the first word, of the phrase.  Words in parentheses in the English column clarify the definition.

                              

A

Polish	English
aby	so that
adoptowany	adopted
akatolicki	non-Catholic
akt	an entry in a register, record
akta małżenstw akta ślubów	marriage records
akta urodzin	birth records
akta zapowiedzi	banns records
akta zejść	death records
akta zgonów	death records
akuszerka	midwife
albo	or
ale	but
archiwum	archive
asystencya	assistance
austriacki	Austrian

B

Polish	English
babka	grandmother
bakałarz	teacher, bachelor
bałtycki	Baltic
będą	they will
będzie	he/she/it will
bez	without
bezdzietny	childless
bezimienny	unnamed, nameless
białoruski	Belorussian
biały	white
biegunka	diarrhea, dysentery
bierzmowanie	confirmation
bieżący	current (of the current year)
biskup	bishop
bliski	near
bliżnięta	twins
błogosławil	blessed
błogosławiony	blessed, the late
bo	because
bóg	the Lord
bólu	of pain
bożnica	synagogue
Boży	the Lord's
bracia	brothers
brak	lack of, is missing
brat	brother
bratanek	nephew
bratanica	niece
bratowa	sister-in-law
brzemienna	pregnant
burmistrz	mayor
być	to be
był	was (were)

C

Polish	English
cały	entire
ceglarz	brick maker
cesarski	imperial
cesarstwo	empire
chałupnik	cottager, poor peasant
chce	he wants
chłop	peasant, country fellow
chłopiec	boy
choroba	disease
chrzczony	christened
chrzest	christening
chrzestna, chrzestny	godparents
chwilowo	temporarily
ciocia (ciotka)	aunt
cementarz	cemetery, churchyard
co	what
córka	daughter
cudzoziemski	foreign
cukrzyca	diabetes
cyrkul	district (of a city), ward
cyrulnik	barber-surgeon
czarny	black
czas	time
czasopismo	magazine, periodical
czasowo	temporarily
czemu	why
czerwca	of June
czerwony	red
część	part, portion
czeski	Czech
często	often
członek	member
czterdzieści	forty
czterdziesty	fortieth
czterechsetny	four hundredth
czternaście	fourteen
czternasty	fourteenth
cztery	four
czterysetny	four hundredth
czterysta	four hundred
czwartek	Thursday
czwarty	fourth
czy	whether (introduces a question)
czyli	or
czynszownik	renter

 

 

D

Polish	English
data	date
dawniej	formerly
dekanat	deanery, division of a diocese
diecezja	diocese
difteria	diphtheria
dla	for
długi	long
dnia	on the day
doba	time period of 24 hours
dobra	estate
dobry	good
dodatek	supplement, addition
dolina	valley
dom (z domu)	house (maiden name, from the house of)
datąd	until now, still
dowód	proof
drobny	minor, small
drugi	second
drugiego	on the second
drzewo genealogiczne	family tree
duży	great, big
dwa	two
dwadzieścia	twenty
dwadzieścia dziewięć	twenty-nine
dwadzieścia cztery	twenty-four
dwadzieścia dwa	twenty-two
dwadzieścia jeden	twenty-one
dwadzieścia osiem	twenty-eight
dwadzieścia pięć	twenty-five
dwadzieścia siedem	twenty-seven
dwadzieścia sześć	twenty-six
dwadzieścia trzy	twenty-three
dwanaście	twelve
dwieście	two hundred
dwóch imion	having two given names
dwódziesty	twentieth
dwór	estate
dwudziesty	twentieth
dwudziesty czwarty	twenty-fourth
dwudziesty drugi	twenty-second
dwudziesty ósmy	twenty-eighth
dwudziesty piąty	twenty-fifth
dwudziesty pierwszy	twenty-first
dwudziesty siódmy	twenty-seventh
dwudziesty szósty	twenty-sixth
dwudziesty trzeci	twenty-third
dwunasty	twelfth
dwusetny (dwóchsetny)	two hundredth
dyarya	diarrhea
dziad (dziadek)	grandfather, old man, beggar
dział	portion, share
dzieciątko	infant
dziecię (dziecko)	child
dziedzic	heir, country gentleman
dziedzictwo	heritage, inheritance
dziedzieczenie	inheritance
dzień	day
dziesiąty	tenth
dziesięć	ten
dziewczę (dziewczyna)	girl
dziewiąty	ninth
dziewię dziewiąty	twenty-ninth
dziewięć	nine
dziewięćdziesiąt(y)	ninety (ninetieth)
dziewięćset(ny)	nine hundred(th)
dziewiętnaście	nineteen
dziewiętnasty	nineteenth
dziś (dzisiaj)	today
dzisiejszy	today's

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