On my last visit to Poland, I learned that Poles will add an "uh" sound to the end of a lot of town names when asked where they are from.   For example, let's say there was a town named Grodz (I just made that up).  The way a Pole would say "I am from Grodz" would be "I am from Grodze" (note the -e or "uh" sound at the end).   This means that if you are looking at a town name written on a document like Grodze, the real town name may be Grodz.  If the person writing the paper asked the passenger where they were from, they may reply with the "uh" sound at the end, and the writer may have added an -e as he tried to spell the name.   Maybe some of our Polish speakers on the board can explain better?

Hm, I thing it is difficult to explain but you can find some examples name of the town in Polish-> name of the town in answer for question where are your from?>name of the town in answer where were you born? Warszawa> Warszawy>Warszawie Kielce>Kielc>Kielcach Proboszczewice>Proboszczewic>Proboszczewicach Plock>Plocka>Plocku Przemysl>Przemysla>Przemyslu Radom>Radomia>Radomiu Gdansk>Gdanska>Gdansku Bielsk>Bielska>Bielsku Bialystok>Bialegostoku>Bialymstoku Olsztyn>Olsztyna>Olsztynie Gdynia>Gdyni>Gdyni Legnica>Legnicy>Legnicy Sopot>Sopotu>Sopocie Drobin>Drobina>Drobinie Lublin>Lublina>Lublinie Szczecin>Szczecina>Szczecinie Krakow>Krakowa>Krakowie Suwalki>Suwalk>Suwalkach Machcino>Machcina>Machcinie Piaseczno>Piaseczno>Piasecznie I'm not able to explain the rules for that - if you have problem with such endings write a message and I will try to help you Best regards Bogdan : born in 'Plocku", from 'Piaseczna' (near Warsaw), grow up in 'Machcinie' 2008/8/28 <rootswebblobcom.10.junkymail@spamgourmet.com> > On my last visit to Poland, I learned that Poles will add an "uh" sound to > the end of a lot of town names when asked where they are from. > > For example, let's say there was a town named Grodz (I just made that up). > The way a Pole would say "I am from Grodz" would be "I am from Grodze" (note > the -e or "uh" sound at the end). > > This means that if you are looking at a town name written on a document > like Grodze, the real town name may be Grodz. If the person writing the > paper asked the passenger where they were from, they may reply with the "uh" > sound at the end, and the writer may have added an -e as he tried to spell > the name. > > Maybe some of our Polish speakers on the board can explain better? > > > > > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at > Poland-Roots-admin@rootsweb.com > ---------------------------------- > Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the list as > long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this list: > researching our Polish roots. > ---------------------------------- > Browse the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots > Search the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > POLAND-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

An explanation of the unknown (unsigned) writer's observation is actually quite simple. Polish is a declined language and, as such, endings of nouns and adjectives are determined by their usage in the sentence. One just needs to understand the rules which govern the various situations. With regard to place names we have, as listed in Bogdan's note, a lengthy exemplar of town names in Nominative, Genitive and Locative Cases. And the following rules apply: Nominative Case - used to give the actual name of the town; Genitive Case - used after the preposition "z" (from); Locative Case - used after the preposition "w" (in). Warszawa jest stolicą Polski. Warsaw is the Polish capital. Jestem z Warszawy. I am (come) from Warsaw. Mieszkam w Warszawie. I live in Warsaw. Those of you who wish to understand more will need to read up on Polish grammar. Two fine resources, authored by Oscar Swan, University of Pittsburg, may be examined at > http://polish.slavic.pitt.edu/firstyear/nutshell.pdf > http://polish.slavic.pitt.edu/grammar.pdf The referenced Nutshell is an especially lucid exposition of the basics. Roman Bogdan Kajkowski wrote: > Hm, > > I thing it is difficult to explain but you can find some examples > name of the town in Polish-> name of the town in answer for question where > are your from?>name of the town in answer where were you born? > Warszawa> Warszawy>Warszawie > Kielce>Kielc>Kielcach > Proboszczewice>Proboszczewic>Proboszczewicach > Plock>Plocka>Plocku > Przemysl>Przemysla>Przemyslu > Radom>Radomia>Radomiu > Gdansk>Gdanska>Gdansku > Bielsk>Bielska>Bielsku > Bialystok>Bialegostoku>Bialymstoku > Olsztyn>Olsztyna>Olsztynie > Gdynia>Gdyni>Gdyni > Legnica>Legnicy>Legnicy > Sopot>Sopotu>Sopocie > Drobin>Drobina>Drobinie > Lublin>Lublina>Lublinie > Szczecin>Szczecina>Szczecinie > Krakow>Krakowa>Krakowie > Suwalki>Suwalk>Suwalkach > Machcino>Machcina>Machcinie > Piaseczno>Piaseczno>Piasecznie > > I'm not able to explain the rules for that - if you have problem with such > endings write a message and I will try to help you > Best regards > Bogdan : born in 'Plocku", from 'Piaseczna' (near Warsaw), grow up in > 'Machcinie' > > > > 2008/8/28 <rootswebblobcom.10.junkymail@spamgourmet.com> > >> On my last visit to Poland, I learned that Poles will add an "uh" sound to >> the end of a lot of town names when asked where they are from. >> >> For example, let's say there was a town named Grodz (I just made that up). >> The way a Pole would say "I am from Grodz" would be "I am from Grodze" (note >> the -e or "uh" sound at the end). >> >> This means that if you are looking at a town name written on a document >> like Grodze, the real town name may be Grodz. If the person writing the >> paper asked the passenger where they were from, they may reply with the "uh" >> sound at the end, and the writer may have added an -e as he tried to spell >> the name. >> >> Maybe some of our Polish speakers on the board can explain better? >>