On hearing that sentence many students doing a Polish course get really confused. Where has the speaker been? Włochy... what country is that? And where is Rzym located? True... Exonyms, i.e. names given to foreign geographical names in another language, Polish in our case, may puzzle many students of Polish. Suddenly, the inhabitant of Berlin finds out that he is from Niemcy (z Niemiec), and the citizen of Hungary is from ... Węgry (z Węgier). We’ll get back to the names of the three countries later on (Włochy – Niemcy – Węgry). For now, let’s take a look at the names of some of the foreign cities.
POLISH NAMES OF WELL KNOWN EUROPEAN CITIES
It is relatively easy to guess what names we have in mind when we say Paryż (Paris), Londyn (London), Lizbona (Lisbon), Wilno (Vilnius), Haga (the Hague), or Bruksela (Brussels). These have simply been transcribed using Polish sounds. Polish name of the capital of Belgium might sound a bit confusing when compared to the English way it’s pronounced, but if we think of the French Bruxelles, the Polish form is not that surprising anymore.
When talking about your holiday plans or a business trip it’s good to know that Ghent is Gandawa, Rome – Rzym, Milano – Mediolan, Wien – Wiedeń, Beijing – Pekin, Munchen – Monachium, Firenze – Florencja, Koln – Kolonia, and Cape Town is... Kapsztad.
WHERE DOES THE NAME NIEMCY COME FROM?
In Polish classes teachers are often asked about the etymology of the names Niemcy, Włochy and Węgry.
It is believed that the form Niemcy is derived from the word memy, which described a person who speaks unintelligibly, not clearly. In short, the name appeared as a result of communication problems our ancestors had with the tribes inhabiting the area of today’s Germany.
The word Włochy derives from the Proto-Slavic name describing Romans, which we took over from the Germans, who initially called all Roman tribes Walh. And that name comes from the name of a Celtic tribe – Volcae. Among the Slavs, the term Wołch became common. Using this word the Slavs referred to all Romans, while in the Polish language it only referred to the inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula.
In the Polish language as well as in other languages the name Hungary refers to the tribe of Huns, who used to inhabit the area of today’s Hungary before the ancestors of the present inhabitants . The Polish form Węgry is a transformed name of tribes that sounded like Onogur/Ongur. The Slavs are believed to have pronounced that as w-ągri.
THE LOCATIVE CASE OF NAMES OF COUNTRIES
When talking of the three above-mentioned countries we should bear in mind that they all have a plural form in the Polish language, and that they take an unusual ending in the locative case. Mówimy o (we talk about), opowiadamy o (we tell about), mieszkamy (live), pracujemy (work), and studiujemy (study) w Niemczech, we Włoszech but na Węgrzech.
Here you can learn more on the Polish declensions
