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Re: Father/Motherland (a correction)

From:P. M. ARKTAYG <pmva@...>
Date:Sunday, June 4, 2000, 22:06
Vasiliy Chernov ta nugatu-r:

>>There is also a (solemn rather) word _macierz_, related to _mac'_, >>_matka_. Besides, metaphorical _rodzicielka_, _matka_.
> - All meaning 'motherland', irrespective of the context? > I thought these words had other, more common meanings...
Of course. But I wrote "solemn" and "metaphorical". _Macierz_ is: 1. arch. 'mother', 2. 'fatherland' (e.g. _ziemie wróciły do macierzy_), 3. math. 'matrix' 4. techn. 'matrix' (in this case I am not certain of the English equivalent). First meaning of _matka_ is 'mother'. And _rodzicielka_ is 'that she gave birth to sb'.
> Oh, I'll have to take my Polish dictionary everywhere with me, from now > on ;)
Ehto ne povredit. (pravilno?)
>>> So I'm finally confused about Polish as a 'motherland' language... >> >>Why? Polish is my mothertongue and I'm not confused.
> - Did you read the initial thread (Father/Motherland, May 2000, week 4)?
Sorry, I did not. :-(
> My confusion was about classifying Russian and Polish as 'motherland' > languages, as opposed to e. g. German with its _Vaterland_. I noted that > Russian in fact has no word which would litterally translate to > 'motherland', but does have two words with similar meaning derived > from 'father'. It seems that in Polish, too, the most common word for > 'homeland' is derived from _ojciec_ 'father'.
You're right - Russian _rodina_ (and _otec<estvo_) is Polish _ojczyzna_.
> (Sorry for the typo again - I think you've heard this type of Russian > accent :) )
Nic nie szkodzi / never mind.
> So, having not read the book by Wierzbicka, I still wonder what was her > reasoning like. (Yes, I'm aware of the typical cultural associations, > and yet...)
> - Czes'c',
Privet! But this is probably for "hi!", not for "bye!", isn't it?
> P.S. Hmm... Arktayg... Don't you have any of S. Lehm's characters among > your relatives? ;)
Neither Ijon Tichy nor Pirx nor any of "Cyberiade" characters is my relative. :-) _Arkta_ is not Polish name. Why _Lehm_ and not _Lem_? Transcription from Russian spelling? -- P. M. ARKTAYG "Gandalf says jump, you say how high" - Sauron to Hobbits