08 listopada 2010

Kartofle Pantofle

This post is for one of my students. You know who you are. I seek to develop a larger catalogue of Polish rhymes. I don't notice rhymes in Polish very often but when I do, I feel very clever. 

Polish rhymes I've come up with on my own:
  • kartofle / pantofle (potatoes / slippers)
  • jutro / futro (tomorrow / fur)
  • rodzina / godzina (family / hour)
That's an embarrassingly short list. I don't think -ować verbs should be eligible - it makes the field too wide. In fact the more I think about it I think perhaps verbs in general are ineligible because the shared endings make it too easy to rhyme. I haven't tried to rhyme in cases before. Do Polish songwriters and poets have an easier time because they can apply the same case to nouns to rhyme them?

In the interest of vocabulary expansion, I implore you to submit your favourite Polish rhymes. I'll come up with some more in the meantime, and I promise to write more in Polish soon. I have a short composition brewing about my new umbrella. I know, it's very exciting!

Submit your favourite rhymes in the comments below! English translations optional. And enjoy the drizzle.

Edit: I got one more from a friend tonight (thanks K):
  • rym / dym (rhyme / smoke)
And during dinner, thought of another:
  • bóg / róg (god / horn or corner)
If anyone can think of a true 'double rhyme' (maybe there is a special term for this) in Polish and English (i.e. the Polish words and their English translations both rhyme) they will be declared champion of the rhyming contest. Obviously, a very serious contest!

12 komentarzy:

  1. Dlaczego/Dlatego/Wysystko come to mind quickly.

    Interesting topic! I will try and think of some more.

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  2. Kolin - you need only take a good look at the work of Pacze Moj ( link from my blog), busily translating Polish poetry into English in Ontario, to see there are many!

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  3. Nice. A real catalogue. Hours of vocab learning there! Dzięki.

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  4. Well, I'm sorry if I spoil the fun, but here's a Polish rhyming dictionary: http://www.rymy.eu/ Just write a word that you need a rhyme to, specify the type of the rhyme, and here you go...

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  5. Borsuk, chlorowodorokauczuk, politruk, fernambuk, wklęsłodruk :)

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  6. Great! Not really spoiling the fun at all. Thanks Anon. I'll use it to write Polish poetry. Hmmm. Good idea. Once I write something about my new umbrella I should try to write my first Polish poem. . .

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  7. How about kura (hen)/ nura (dive) / dziura (hole)? B

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  8. In Polish rhymes that are "too easy": are called "Rymy Częstochowskie".

    It come from rhymes popular in religious songs:
    "Matko Boska, Częstochowska, Królowo Polska" anything+wska is used for many lines in such songs:)

    For double (Polish-English) rhymes I would search among words stolen from Latin - they tend to look the same in both languages. But maybe it's cheating.

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  9. I'm impressed at the resourcefulness of my readers. Thanks for all the comments and feedback!

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  10. Skóra, fura i komóra lub fryzura ;)

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  11. "Do Polish songwriters and poets have an easier time because they can apply the same case to nouns to rhyme them?"

    Yes and no. Too easy rhymes are indeed considered to be "rymy częstochowskie" i.e. something every kid can come up with, while poets are held to much higher standards. However, on the whole, the Polish language is perhaps a better tool for rhyming because you're not limited to words in their basic form. Moreover, you can move the words around as it suits you. Poetry is _the_ Polish genre, just as novel is perhaps the strongest genre in the English literature.

    See a popular song by Agnieszka Osiecka for example "Okularnicy" (people who wear glasses). She rhymes various parts of speech thanks to cases, verb declination etc.:

    zeszłoroczne/mroczne (last year's/dark)
    zajmie/Einsteinie (to take care/Einstein)
    mgłą/drżą (fog/to shiver)
    wychudzeni/w kieszeni (famished/in a pocket)

    http://www.tekstowo.pl/piosenka,anna_maria_jopek,okularnicy.html

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