Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Verb SUNĄĆ and its derivatives

SUNĄĆ - to glide

This verb forms the root of several common verbs all related to the motion of objects in relation to one another.


nasunąć – push forward, suggest, raise, pose (a question); with się, come to mind
obsunąć – sink, subside, drop, cave in
odsunąć – push back, shove away, retract; with się, be withdrawn
osunąć -  lower, slide down; with się, slide, slump, subside, collapse
podsunąć – push, shove up to
posunąć – push, shove, slide, move; with się, advance, move forward
przesunąć - move or slide something
przysunąć – draw up or towards oneself
rozsunąć – spread apart, draw (curtain)
usunąć – eliminate, remove, oust; terminate; extract
wsunąć - insert, poke in
wysunąć - put forward, propose; raise; advance
zasunąć - slide across, push shut, draw (blinds)
zsunać – slide down, move together

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

An unusual noun form - neuter nouns in -mię


Typically when encountering a noun ending in , one assumes the word is a feminine noun in the accusative, e.g. lampa -> lampę (lamp), szklanka -> szklankę (drinking glass), alchemia -> alchemię (alchemy). But there is a certain class of neuter nouns which in the nominative end in -mię. While there are only a handful of these nouns in current use, it is worth remembering how to decline them since several are relatively common words:

brzemię burden
ciemię crown (of head)
imię name
plemię tribe
przedramię forearm 
ramię arm, shoulder
siemię (bird) seed
strzemię stirrup
wymię udder
ślemię transom
znamię characteristic

The declension pattern is as follows:


Ex: ramię

             
Sing.                 Pl.    

Nom    ramię            ramiona
Gen     ramienia       ramion 
Dat      ramieniu       ramionom
Acc     ramię             ramiona
Loc      ramieniu       ramionach
Inst      ramieniem     ramionami
Voc     ramię              ramiona 


Note that this pattern differs from most other noun classes in that the Nom.Pl. and the Gen.Sg are not the same; the only others I can think of with this difference are the likewise neuter oko (oczy, oka) and ucho (uszy, ucha).