transubstantiation

ideas on translation…

Dialectal Differances II

Posted by transubstantiation on November 25, 2007

It seems that the “slipper” issue is more complicated and twisted than might be presumed (see previous post). The following words for “slipper” were previously mentioned:

kapcie
papcie
łapcie
chapcie

But aside from these and similar diminutives, such as kapciuszki, paputki, łapciuszki, etc. we also have:

ćapcie
papucie
laczki
klapki
klaputki

Such a small and insignificant piece of footwear but such a variety of synonyms.

9 Responses to “Dialectal Differances II”

  1. aggie Says:

    książęta - just another word for kapcie. I know someone who names her kapcie in that way( a token of a real affection, I must say), and when she can’t find them, she calls : “Książęta, where are you, come to your princess!”.

  2. transubstantiation Says:

    Is this dialectal or simply idiosyncratic?

  3. aggie Says:

    In this original way she expresses her affection for her ‘kapcie’. I think that she is a pioneer of personalizing items of clothing…

  4. transubstantiation Says:

    :-)

  5. ewa Says:

    and what about ‘ciapy’? i think that different names depend on the region of the country, but all of them are very sweet :) and there are many others examples of this kind, for example: i called pasta ‘kluski’ and my friend from other region called it ‘kluska’ :/

  6. transubstantiation Says:

    Yes, but how do we translate these words? What would we do if we had a list of these? We cannot simply write ’slipper’ ten times…

  7. Madzik Says:

    slipper-flipper :)

  8. Madzik Says:

    Well, If we talk about personalizing things.. I call my laptop “Kazio”, my mobile phone “Fruzia” and my mp3 player “Dyzio”… :P

  9. transubstantiation Says:

    The first step towards a jargon is the idiosyncratic use of particular formulations. If enough people use these terms then they become jargon.

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