LINGUIST List 12.2450

Wed Oct 3 2001

Sum: Polish Word(s) for "Welcome"

Editor for this issue: Marie Klopfenstein <marielinguistlist.org>

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1. Michael Johnstone, Polish word(s) for "Welcome"

Firstly, a big thankyou to everyone who sent me their thoughts and
explanations about 'Witajcie', 'Witamy' and other Polish words for
"Welcome": Megan Carr, Tommy Trojan, Lucja Biel, Henriette Hendriks, Adam
Pawlowski, Daniel E. Collins, Donald S. Cooper, Bill Johnston, Magda
Derwojedowa, Marta Wolos, Maciej A. Baranowski, and Malgorzata
Suszczynska.

There isn't space to quote all the information and opinions I was given,
but I'll try and give a representative summary:

'Witamy' is present indicative, marked for 1st person plural subject, i.e.
"We welcome". The 1st person singular form 'Witam' can also be used to
welcome people (mutatis mutandis).

'Witajcie' is imperative, marked for 2nd person familiar plural, but has
the sense of "Welcome to you". The 2nd person singular 'Witaj' can also be
used in this way.

Other endings are also possible depending on whether you are greeting a
single person, a group of mixed gender, a group of men, a group of women,
respectful or informal.

'Witajcie' is described as slightly more informal/cordial (e.g. used for a
group of friends) and therefore perhaps less appropriate with strangers
(but could be OK in an informal studenty situation). It is slightly more
old-fashioned, and (according to Tommy Trojan) can be addressed only to
people physically present. Henriette Hendriks reports: "I'm not a native
speaker of Polish... but I have been in many "official" welcoming
situations in Poland and I have never encountered the form witacie... it
is definitely not the most frequently used form for "Welcome"".

'Witamy' is the safe neutral form as the addressee is unspecified. It can
be used to anyone, and is OK in writing.

In view of these nuances, it isn't surprising that people recommended
'Witajcie' and 'Witamy' to me for the student welcome booklet more or less
in equal numbers.

Donald Cooper also provides some lexicographical data: "The large Polish
English dictionary (Wielki slownik polsko-angielski, 1969) gives the
imperative as "Welcome!", e.g. "Witajcie w Polsce" (Welcome to Poland.),
so this usage can be taken as current. The Slownik jezyka polskiego
(Dictionary of the Polish Language) of the Polish Academy of Sciences
(1967) glosses "Witam, witaj, witajcie" as "form, formula of greeting".
The dated Polish dictionary of Samuel Linde (Slownik jezyka polskiego,
1860) notes "Witaj! Witajze!" with the German gloss "Willkommen". For this
reason I do not think that your source should exclude the imperative forms
as not genuine Polish, although they probably are not as old as the first
person ones. For details I concede to those with better resources. Those
who know Polish will note that I have omitted some diacritics on nasal
vowels and consonants, which would not come through; apologies."

It only remains for me to say thankyou again to everyone for helping to
clarify this question!

Michael Johnstone