Name From Home

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Liz in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Hiya, Liz. What’s going on?

Well, so I’m calling because I moved to the central Wisconsin area about five years ago. And I live in Stevens Point, which has a really, really, really strong Polish influence. And I came across, in the first couple months that I was living here, people asking me what my name is from home. And it would either be, what’s your name from home? Who are you from home? Do you know who she is from home? Things like that.

The first time I was asked, I had no idea. My response was Fort Atkinson, that being my hometown. And after a long, you know, like back and forth and lots of me trying to figure out what they were asking, it finally realized that they were asking me my maiden name. And so my question is, is this like some sort of Polish translation, or is it just a Wisconsinism or a central Wisconsinism? Is it used in other parts of the country that have strong Polish influences, or what’s the deal? What’s your name from home, or who are you from home? That’s what they were asking?

Yep.

I tell you, there is a Polish expression that sounds something like, now, I’m not a Polish speaker, but that’s an approximation. And, Liz, you’ll see this in genealogies, for example, if you research your Polish heritage on the web. You’ll see this expression, and it’s used in the same way that we use in English the word spelled N-E-E. Are you familiar with that?

Oh, I certainly am because my mom’s maiden name is Nee.

No!

That’s true. It makes genealogy a little difficult on the Internet with our family. Lizzie’s mom was Ne-Nee?

Yep.

How do you pronounce that?

It’s Nee, N-E-E. So everybody in our family is Ne-Nee.

What are the odds?

Well, I’m sure that’s an old joke to you, but I’m loving it over here.

Oh, I still think it’s hilarious.

Oh, that’s fantastic. Martha, what was that Polish phrase again? Can you spell that in Latin characters?

Well, it’s actually two words. It’s Z space D-O-M-U. And it’s pronounced something like Jdomu. So the Domu, I’m speculating, is close to the Latin word for home then.

Hello. Yep.

Because domicile, right?

Right. Right. Domestic. Exactly. And so the idea with that expression is it’s roughly translated as maybe from home or from the house of. And so I can see how you would transfer that idea to English. And so this is what we call, and I’ve used this word on the show before, a calque, C-A-L-Q-U-E, right?

Mm-I think so.

Where something in one language is translated exactly and literally into another language.

Exactly. And, you know, but I only know a little bit about, I know this exists in Michigan and Wisconsin, but when I lived in Greenpoint in New York City, which is very, very Polish, I mean, it’s so Polish that when I would go into places, they would, you know, speak to me in Polish because they thought I was Polish. I never heard that, but then I wasn’t doing genealogy there.

So these are English speakers. Do they still speak any Polish?

There are a lot of people who still speak a little bit of Polish. Like everybody in town knows the word for beer is piva.

Oh, really?

But, I mean, these are people that have been, their families have been here for generations. And there’s even people in my generation, you know, say like late 20s, early 30s, who have lived here their entire life, who use it. Now, usually it’s people, you know, 60s and older who use it commonly.

Really?

But people who’ve grown up in this town say it all the time. Like there was a bartender I know who said, oh, yeah, she’s rowdy. It’s because she’s a Wojciechowski from home.

I got to say, the Polish names don’t really look that great on paper, but when you say them, they have a rhythm, don’t they?

Oh, they’re hilarious.

Not hilarious, but they’re very fun to say.

Well, thanks for calling this to our attention.

Yeah, thank you. So basically the answer is it’s not used really very many places other than here in Michigan, huh?

Not that I know of.

No, but it is a great local expression. You’re basically a field worker out there, Liz, and you’ve discovered something that people who study dialects would love to learn more about. That’s excellent.

Well, thank you so much for the opportunity.

Okay.

You’re welcome. Thank you for calling.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Everyone in Wisconsin and Michigan, you’re welcome to call us at 1-877-929-9673 and tell us what you know about what’s your name from home or maybe something else that comes from Polish. Or you can email us. The address is words@waywordradio.org.