Read The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 1 (of 2) Page 4
NOTES.
POLISH ALPHABET.
Since the Polish alphabet has many peculiar phonetic combinations whichare difficult to one who does not know the language, it was decided totransliterate the names of persons and places in which suchcombinations occur in this book. The following are the letters andcombinations which are met with most frequently;--
Polish Letters. English Sounds.
_c_ _ts_ _ch_ _h_ _cz_ _ch_ _rz_ _r_ followed by the French _j_ _sz_ _sh_ _szcz_ _shch_ _w_ _v_ _[.z]_ _j_
In this transliteration _ch_ retains its ordinary English sound. _J_ isthe French _j_; the vowels _e_, _i_, _u_, are, respectively, _ai_ in"bait," _ee_ in "beet," _oo_ in "pool," when long; when short, "bet,""bit," "put" would represent their values. _I_, when unaccented andfollowed by a vowel, is sounded as _y_.
The following names will illustrate the method of thistransliteration:--
Polish Form of Name. Form in Transliteration. Potocki Pototski Chudzynski Hudzynski Czarnkowski Charnkovski Rzendzian Jendzian Bleszynski Bleshynski Szandarowski Shandarovski Szczaniecki Shchanyetski Wlostowski Vlostovski [.Z]yromski Jyromski
In Jendzian and Jechytsa,--only names, as I believe, beginning inPolish with _rz_ in this work,--the initial _r_ has been omitted in thetransliteration on account of the extreme difficulty, for any one not aPole, of pronouncing _r_ followed by the French _j_.
ACCENT.
All Polish words, with few exceptions, are accented on the syllablenext the last, the penult. The exceptions are foreign names, somecompounds, some words with enclitics. Polish names of men and placesare generally accented on the penult.
* * * * *
MAP OF THE POLISH COMMONWEALTH.
This map, though diminutive, contains data through which the reader maysee, at least in part, the historical course of the Commonwealth.
The territory is indicated which was lost to the Teutonic Knights, andwhich became later the kingdom of Prussia. On the east are indicatedthe Russian lands which became connected with Poland, and which roseagainst Polish rule in 1618. These lands are included between the linesrunning north and south on the map, and which are designated,respectively, "Western limit of Russia before the Tartar invasion,""Eastern limit of the Polish Commonwealth at the accession of YanKazimir."
The names of more important places mentioned in FIRE AND SWORD and THEDELUGE appear also on the map. A few of these names are not so familiarin their Polish forms, which I have preserved; therefore the German isgiven, as follows:--
The highest military rank in Poland was grand hetman; next in ordercame field-hetman, which has appeared inadvertently in these volumes asfull hetman. "Your worthiness," so frequently used, would be bettertranslated "your dignity," "dignity" being used in the sense of"office." The terms Pan, Pani, and Panna are applied, respectively, toa gentleman, a married lady, and an unmarried lady; they are nowequivalent to Mr., Mrs. or Madame, and Miss.
Map of the Polish Commonwealth at the accession of YanKazimir.]