Dec 2, 2012 08:20
11 yrs ago
Polish term
jajecznica [-nica]
Polish to English
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From what little I know of Polish, I see that the -nica component often means something like 'place'. So what is it doing in the word for "scrambled eggs"?
Proposed translations
(English)
3 | a suffix | Grzegorz Mizera |
Proposed translations
8 hrs
Polish term (edited):
[jajecznica] -nica
Selected
a suffix
(see discussion)
Note from asker:
I can see it is a suffix -- but what is the semantics? |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks a lot for taking the time to explain this and sorry for my befuddlement. "
Discussion
Let us consider two soups:
kwaśnica and chłodnik
kwaśna zupa -> kwaśn + ica = kwaśnica
chłodna zupa -> chłodn + ik = chłodnik
-ica and -ik are determining the gender of a noun
Originally suffix -ica marked a diminutative.
http://instytut.ovh.org/publika/jezyk-tekst.pdf
Sufiks -ica (-nica)
Pierwotnie przyrostek -ica miał w polszczyźnie funkcję deminutywną, stanowił bowiem kontynuację dawnego -ka. Przykładem tego jest chociażby leksem drobnica,
służący na określenie małych, drobnych przedmiotów. Z czasem formant ten stracił swe pierwotne znaczenie ...
http://grzegorj.freehost.pl/lingwpl/slowzap.html
I see that the -nica component often means something like 'place'. So what is it doing in the word for "scrambled eggs"?
Pytający wie, że jajecznica to scrambled eggs, pytanie dotyczy formantu -nica.
( for instance -nik is an ending of noun of masculine gender )
-nica may denote place or tool, but generally it indicates the feminine gender of a noun.
Thus the possible explanation is:
potrawa(fem.) z jajek -> jajek + -nica = jajecznica
k is substituted with cz
PS. Note that the adjective made from noun is jajeczny.