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 |
Numbers
In many genealogical records, numbers— especially dates—are spelled out. The following list gives the cardinal (1, 2, 3) and ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd) numbers. Dates are written in ordinal form. In dates, ordinal numbers usually end with -ego, for example:
| pierwszy | the first |
| pierwszego | on the first (of the month) |
| Cardinal | Ordinal | ||
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 -100 -200 -300 -400 -500 -600 -700 -800 -900 1000 |
jeden, jedna dwa trzy cztery piec szesc siedem osiem dziewiec dziesiec jedenascie dwanascie trzynascie czternascie pietnascie szesnascie siedemnascie osiemnascie dziewietnascie dwadziescia dwadziescia jeden dwadziescia dwa dwadziescia trzy dwadziescia cztery dwadziescia piec dwadziescia szesc dwadziescia siedem dwadziescia osiem dwadziescia dziewiec trzydziesci czterdziesci piecdziesiat szescdziesiat siedemdziesiat osiemdziesiat dziewiecdziesiat sto dwiescie trzysta czterysta piecset szescset siedemset osiemset dziewiecset tysiac |
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 16th 27th 28th 29th 30th 40th 50th 60th 70th 80th 90th 100th 200th 300th 400th 500th 600th 700th 800th 900th 1000th |
pierwszy drugi trzeci czwarty piaty szósty siódmy ósmy dziewiaty dziesiaty jedenasty dwunasty trzynasty czternasty pietnasty szesnasty siedemnasty osiemnasty dziewietnasty dwudziesty, dwódziesty dwudziesty pierwszy dwudziesty drugi dwudziesty trzeci dwudziesty czwarty dwudziesty piaty dwudziesty szósty dwudziesty siódmy dwudziesty ósmy dwudziesty dziewiaty trzydziesty czterdziesty piecdziesiaty szescdziesiaty siedemdziesiaty osiemdziesiaty dziewiecdziesiaty setny dwóchsetny trzysetny, trzechsetny czterysetny, czterechsetny piecsetny szescsetny siedemsetny osiemsetny dziewiecsetny tysieczny |
Dates and Time
In Polish records, dates are usually written out, for example:
- roku tysiac osemset trzydziestego szóstego dnia dwódziestego trzeciego marca [in the year one thousand eight hundredth thirtieth and sixth on the day twentieth third of March (23 March 1836)] In some records, two dates are recorded:
- dnia piatego/siedemnastego Maja [on the day 5th/17th of May] The two dates are usually 12 days apart. The first date is based on the Julian calendar (used by the Russian Empire). The second date is based on the present-day Gregorian calendar.
To understand Polish dates, use the following lists as well as the preceding "Numbers" section.
Months
Polish often abbreviates dates by using a Roman numeral for the month. For example, 13 June 1864 could be written as 13.VI.1864 instead of 13.czerwca.1864.
English Polish
I. January stycznia II. February lutego III. March marca IV. April kwietnia V. May maja VI. June czerwca VII July lipca VIII. August sierpnia IX September wrzesnia X. October pazdziernika XI. November listopada XII. December grudnia
Days of the Week
English Polish Sunday niedziela Monday poniedzialek Tuesday wtorek Wednesday sroda Thursday czwartek Friday piatek Saturday sobota
Times of the Day
Polish birth and death records often indicate the exact time of day when the birth or death occurred. This is usually written out.
Polish English o godzinie drugiej at the 2nd hour o godzinie siódmej at the 7th hour w nocy at night poludnie/w poludnie noon popoludniu/z poludnia afternoon przed poludniem forenoon pólnocna godzina midnight rano/z rana in the morning wieczorem/w wieczór in the evening
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.
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 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 |